Principal left blind in one eye after pupil "knocked it out of the socket"
An assistant principal has suffered a serious injury after an "aggressive" pupil hit her in the face with a wooden hanger.
A shocking case of school violence is making headlines around the world.
Candra Rogers, an assistant principal at a school in Texas, was left blind in one eye after a middle school (grade 7-10) learner hit her in the head with a wooden clothing hanger.
The educator spoke about the incident for the first time during a press conference on Tuesday. "The hanger hit me in my right eye and knocked it out of the socket,” she said.
According to CBS News Texas, Candra was injured on August 15 after a behavioural teacher at Collins Intermediate School called for assistance. The pupil had already assaulted another child when she arrived at the classroom.
"I entered where the student was still irate and found the room ransacked with overturned furniture. I knew I had to be as calm as possible. And I spoke lowly and slowly so as not to enrage him any further."
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Candra says the boy then picked up a chair and threw it at her. She was able to block the chair mid-air. Another female assistant principal tried to intervene, but got a chair thrown at her, which Candra blocked before it hit her.
It was at this point that the boy threw a wooden hanger at her.
"I couldn't stop it fast enough... I grabbed my face while blood was pouring out of my head and stumbled out of the classroom door," Candra told reporters.
She was airlifted to the hospital, where she underwent surgery. Doctors reinserted her eye but told her the injury had blinded her.
"[They] currently believe that my damage is permanent."
CBS News Texas reports that Candra is calling for changes to the education system that will ensure better protection of students and educators.
"As educators, we care about our students and their safety, but we must also care about the safety of our education staff. Our safety is important too. We should never have to fear being in a classroom with an aggressive student. Everyone's protection is paramount. Over aggressive students need services to meet their needs, but I do not believe the safety of other students and the education staff should suffer," she said at the news conference.
A woman claiming to be Candra's daughter asked for prayers for her mother.
"This is my mom. She’s been in education for 30 years. Please continue to pray for her healing and that her vision is restored in her right eye," Elyane Rogers wrote on Instagram.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help her during her recovery. It has already raised more than $10,000 (R180,000).
"I just wanted to take a second to say THANK YOU for all the calls, texts, visits, flowers, food, but most of all your prayers. This is an arduous situation and will take time. Please continue to pray for me, my family, my school, and my district, even the child who caused this incident and his family. I love you all," Candra reportedly wrote on Facebook after the assault.
Social media users are shocked by the incident, with some making suggestions on what changes are needed.
"Children with behavior disorders or emotional disturbance disorder need like a specialized school. They do not need to be with the regular population until they’re able to manage those behaviors. As a special education teacher and future behavior analyst, general education teachers and admin are truly not equipped to deal with behavioral disorders," one Instagram user commented.
A mother also shared her views.
"This was a student who was in a BEHAVIORAL classroom. This sucks for her and I wish this hadn’t happened to her but [there] are kids who have Autism or ADHD and this is the tricky part because we have never had kids like this before until within the past 10 years. This scares me because my baby is 4 and he throws chairs at school. His speech isn’t like the average 4-year-old but it’s there and we teach him right from wrong."
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