Chicago, IL
Six years ago, Norma Brown, a Chicago Public Schools teacher for more than 30 years, took a stand against a fourth-grader who refused to remove his baseball hat in the school's lunchroom.
A fight ensued. A group of 11- and 12-year-olds surrounded Brown, yelling and cursing. One cocked his fist and punched her squarely in the left eye. Brown stumbled for the door and two girls, a sixth-grader and an eighth-grader, began punching and kicking her. She fought to remain standing.
"I knew that if I fell to the ground they would stomp on me," she said recently. "When you fall, you're dead meat."
What happened to Brown may be extreme, but police records show reports of violent attacks against teachers and school staff have risen sharply in Illinois over the past decade. As doctors and psychologists work to return these assault victims to the classrooms, there is growing acceptance that they may suffer more than physical injuries.
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