14 year old boys masturbating in class

[grinch45]

I am a regular education teacher.  I have two male students, age 14, who have,  masturbated in class.  One more frequently than the other.  They are not diagnosed with anything more serious than ADHD. I want them to get the help they need.  I also know that their behavior is obvious enough to impact the learning environment.  I have been told this is not the case because no parent has complained.  I feel that most 14 year olds find this behavior extremely embarrasing and will not mention it.  I have been told that they cannot be removed from my class.  Please help.

[MontanaMan91]

At 14, they are not 'boys.' They are young men who have the innate responsibility of their very powerful male sexuality. No doubt they are rubbing themselves rather than full on masturbating, a distinction most women these days don't understand. Thus by their actions, they prove they both have experienced their respective semenarches and are now responsible for where and how they express their male sex drive. The first issue is not to moralize their actions and condemn their male sexualities, but rather to address these 14 year olds as young men. Once you explain to them that their male sexuality is powerful and critical to the survival of society (ref Camile Paglia), then you will witness a stunning turn around.

It's not like this sort of thing didn't happen in the classroom 50 years ago. It's just that women teachers knew how to handle it, for they understood that being born male was a huge responsibility that they would never fully understand, but demanded it be honored, and honored by the very ones who were, in fact, born male.

[MontanaMan91]

I should also say that I recognize that the teacher is a man, the breadwinner of his family, and probably knows why these young men are rubbing themselves for attention, but is hamstrung by the administration to the point that he is ordered not to even address the subject with their parents. Amazing, but is the sad state of our society reflected in the education system where men are fearful for their jobs rather than boldly leading young men into their own manhoods. That's what these young men are desperate for: men who will lead them.

[AnnieBrooke]

Handy35, we all agree that it is gross and inappropriate, and it probably does make the school district vulnerable to a lawsuit from some girl's parents.  But saying things like "who knows what one of them might try on a girl in class during the heat of the moment!" is not going to assist in the problem-solving intent of this conversation.  A kid with who is masturbating [apparently by the way he is sitting and moving, not by exposing his penis] is not the same as someone who intends to commit rape.  Rape has its roots in an impulse to harm, it is an act of violence that uses the most personally insulting and degrading method.  It is not an act of stress relief or habit.  Please don't stir things by adding such imputations, it is hard enough for the people who have been writing on this thread to keep their calm.  We all agree it is outrageous, and all are having difficulty understanding how grinch is in such an impossible position, and it is hard to discuss, but going off into tangents won't help grinch solve his problem.

[lisaob1]

hi..this post has been so long and so on going that i too have racked my brains with it...i look over it and understand how people feel and how the teacher feels..i sympathize to an extent..but i too feel,that if my daughter was in this classroom..i would cause the utmost uproar..it most definitely is unacceptable..no question! and i then try to put myself in the teachers point of view...and as harsh as it sounds..if that kind of behaviour was going on in my classroom..i wouldnt wait for the educational system.or parents to intervene..i would kick off,i just couldnt let it happen under my nose and wait for others to tell me it was wrong...no job in the world is worth letting behaviour like that happen

[Handy35]

i apologize for all the typos in my comments.  I am using a new laptop and i hate the keyboard it has and am still getting use to it!  :{

[Handy35]

To risk the proper education of 30 other children for the sake of allowing 2 children to continue masturbating in class is unacceptable and thats how i wod look at the overall picture!  It simply is a matter of principle, and apparently the school has none, and its a disgrace to the education system and all those allowng it to continue shold be ashamed and frankly fired!  If i were a parent of one of the other childre, i wold file a lawsuit agaist the school district for knowingly and delibritely puttng my child in quite frankly what is an unsafe environment.  Oed of these boys masturbating in class and have an erection gong on, who knows what one of them might try on a girl in class during the "heat of the moment"!  It's shameful that this is even going on and it makes me so mad i cant begin to say how i really feel!

[Handy35]

These children having add or adhd is not a reason or excuse for masturbating in the classroom!  Having add doesnt prevent a child from knowing right and wrong behavior.  Your posting which comes across as saying add excuses their behavior is disturbing! If thats not what you meant to do, it is indeed what you have done!  There is no room for even a hint of excusing their behavior!  Even f the kids did have mental health issues, this behavor IS NOT excusable in a REGULAR CLASSROOM SETTING, which the original poster has said this is!  End of story!