Pepper Spray Prevents Escalation of Student Violence in Texas

Two 16 year old students were fighting at a Fort Worth, Texas charter school when a teacher used pepper spray to stop the fight and prevent further violence. The police were called and arrived at around 2 pm but the incident was quickly and peaceably resolved with no injuries due to the timely intervention. There were no arrests reported.

By the time police arrived on the scene at Richard Milburn Academy, the students were no longer there (having been picked up by parents or left). If the teacher had not thought to use pepper spray to break up the fight who knows how different the outcome would have been? Police, who needed to travel to the scene, would not have broken up the fight as quickly. Breaking up the fight by physically intervening would have put the teacher in physical danger and is not recommended by school officials. Also, some teachers are not the physical type that would be able to successfully intervene physically in a fight.

Pepper spray provided a way for the teacher to intervene without putting him or herself in harm’s way (inviting injury and possibly escalating the fight even further). A spokesperson from the Richard Milburn Academy, Lara Brooks, noted that the incident is still under investigation. Certainly pepper spray should be used sparingly and with great caution but clearly it can be to the advantage of teachers to carry pepper spray for incidents such as this. A small, discrete container of pepper spray provides peace of mind for anyone in a situation where this sort of violence is possible.