Travis Heckstall, a former Clayton County teacher, has been charged with making terroristic threats against a student and his family. The former science teacher was pushed to the edge of sanity and apparently jumped. In an effort to keep control of his class after he was threatened by students, Mr. Heckstall issued a few threats of his own. He allegedly cursed, spat, threw chairs, threatened to “rip a student’s eyeballs out” and to kill the student’s family.
Read the story HERE.
According to family and friends, specifically Mr Heckstall’s father Joe Heckstall (a Georgia state representative), this was not characteristic of his son. If we are to believe the elder Hesckstall, Travis Heckstall has been threatened before and brought his concerns of students’ behavior to the administration only to be told to “deal with it”. I am inclined to believe it.
We have all heard the trouble teachers have with unruly students and lack of support from administration. School systems are fearful of lawsuits so they tie the teachers’ hands leaving them with little to no recourse to reasonably discipline the demon seeds they’ve be charged to teach. And guess what? The little darling demon seeds “know” this and they dayum near have free reign to intimidate and antagonize instructors without any real consequences. The patients are running the asylum! I am surprised more teachers haven’t cracked and gone off the deep end.
This doesn’t excuse Mr. Heckstall’s behavior but I can certainly understand. Teachers have my utmost respect because this is NOT a job I could do. I would be facing a long stint in the state pen for beating one of those Devil’s spawn to the white meat. NO DOUBT!
I Am Chocl8t 
Travis looks like he is a terrorist anyway…he could be a part of Al Queda and them folks. LOL!
Having worked in the Baltimore city school system as a substitute I know exactly how this guy feels. Exactly what you said Choc, these kids know that you can’t touch them or their parents will sue. Not that I want to touch another person’s child but some of these kids are downright disrespectful to teachers or any person in authority. That is why their parents send them to school in the first place because they can’t deal with them. I don’t want to excuse his behavior because he should have handled it better (lord knows I have said some things to students but nothing about killing). As an adult you have to try to keep your cool because some of these kids like to get a rise out of you and when they do you pretty much let them know that they can control how you act. It is all a mind game. That is why I specifically stick to substituting for elementary level and not at the middle or high school level. With my small 5’7″ frame kids at the middle and high school level will try to take me on physically and I don’t want to have to go to jail for injuring someone else “billy bad butt” kids.
If there’s no respect at home you just know there’s no respect at school for the teachers! Hell, now the little asses are attacking teachers in the classroom and having their buddies tape it on a cell phone and put it up on YouTube! What’s next??
Spare the rod…..
Sad because it affects other students who are actually there to learn and who are taught respect for others at home. I hope this man doesn’t have to give up teaching. If all that is alleged is true, then he needs to be reprimanded for making a bad decision, but I certainly can understand his position. I guess we all have a breaking point at one time or another. But when you go to your superiors for help, and it doesn’t come, I feel more than one person is to blame. You can let teachers down as well as students. When they ask for and need your support and assistance, it should be given at all cost.
Don’t even get me started on the “administration” who only job is to save their own jobs. I ran into a few principals and such in the baltimore system who truly didn’t care about the teachers predicament in the classroom. It is a shame that teachers are expected to teacher and pass these children in this high stakes testing environment with little to no support from officials when student act out of order. I am quite sure this teacher complained but officials being officials they tried to sweep the problem under the rug. Best believe they are looking to save their own face in light of this. He should have recorded and document every attempt he made to resolve his issue with the administrators then they too would be in some hot water.
and we wonder why they cant learn, a shame
When my kids were in high school, they went to a charter school, which, in Philadelphia, are run by a board of directors (parents and community leaders). I was president of the board at that time. Being there everyday, one gets a sense of what goes on and how bad it is. Charter schools here are basically the “good schools” as opposed to most of the public schools. The noise and disturbances are outrageous, but, compared to some of the other school, theirs was not so bad. The teachers that I witnessed had a great desire to teach, but, were less than willing to discipline. I use “discipline”, but, that only meant “Sit down”, “Stop talking”, or “Wait your turn”. Our school was virtually free from violence and fights of any kind, but, the teachers. with their zest for teaching, lost their will to “discipline”. I imagine that this teacher did go off the deep end, but, a lot of the time, especially concerning people of color, we must be mindful of the term “terroristic threats”, as it is basically used to help incarcerate and continue that same incarceration by making it seem as though the person is a complete monster, when ofttimes that is not the case. “Terroristic threats” include “I will slap you silly”, just to show how asinine the term can be. I hope that all fares well with him and that no students were harmed. We need an answer. Perhaps this situation will be a part of what Barack Obama and team have in mind when they say “Change!” Peace.
And this is why your girl Shae is NOT a teacher. Some of the kids are so out of hand that you don’t even realize there are good kids in the class. Problem students should be removed way before it gets to this extreme. And problem teachers should be dealt with.