ONE question, above all others, just screams out concerning the knife incident involving teacher John Holmes at Landau Forte College:
What on earth was he thinking about?
He, the pupil directly affected by the "threat", the other children in the classroom and the disciplinary bodies who investigated it seem to be agreed that it was not intended to be taken seriously.
But what a "joke" for any adult to embark upon – grabbing a pupil and putting him in a headlock, pulling a knife from his pocket, extending it and then threatening to kill him with it.
Not meant to be taken seriously? No alternative reaction could be contemplated by the school or, in the fullness of time, the National Council for Teaching and Leadership.
Even had Holmes not had a knife in his possession, the "mere" act of grabbing a pupil in a headlock would seem guaranteed to land him in hot water.
That in itself could have ended his career.
You wouldn't even get away with it in a staff v school rugby match.
Holmes has now been banned for teaching anywhere for at least the next two years.
There may be some who feel this is a heavy-handed response for a moment's madness, but it really cannot be defined or dismissed as that.
What was he doing with a knife in his possession in the first place, whether or not this geography class incident was premeditated?
Police, when called into the investigation, issued him with a caution.
He is extremely fortunate to escape with that.
People found with a knife in their pocket in the street can expect to finish up before the courts – certainly if they brandish it.
And to take it into a school, where security issues have always been prominent and a concern, ever since the Dunblane horror two decades ago? Mind-boggling in its stupidity.
Teachers are intended to be role models.
The memory of this incident will surely live with everyone who was in that classroom for a very long time.
Landau Forte, remember, was the school in the spotlight when a youngster was stabbed in a nearby underpass in February of last year.
Crass as a descriptive word scarcely does justice to this whole incident.
This was not some rookie teacher, perhaps only a few years older than his pupils.
He was 53 and, according to the disciplinary body, "is an experienced and successful teacher, valued by the school and many of its pupils. His current employer has provided a positive testimonial."
Holmes will be extremely fortunate if he finds a school willing to employ him in two years' time.
What a tragedy this whole incident has been, with the probable loss to the profession of a capable teacher who perpetrated an act of such stupidity.
