Tiwana Turner GoFundMe raises more than $3,500 after Rockdale county student attacks teacher in viral video

On Thursday, January 26, 2023, Rockdale teacher Tiwana Turner broke her leg after she was allegedly assaulted by a student in a classroom altercation.

According to Yahoo, the incident occurred at Heritage High School in Rockdale, Georgia. Tiwana Turner reportedly tried to discipline a female 9th grader, accused of punching the teacher several times after the argument escalated.

Due to the severity of Tiwana Turner's injuries, members of the community have raised a fundraiser to support the teacher while she recovers financially. The fundraiser has raised over $3000 of a $50,000 goal.

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The course of events that led to the Rockdale incident

On the GoFundMe page, organizer Jean Cannon said that Tiwana Turner's injuries might be life-changing. Cannon said that when the incident happened, Turner had been working as a substitute.

She said:

"Ms. Turner was covering another class in lieu of her co-worker’s absence. When Ms. Turner attempted to redirect the off-task behavior of one of the students, the student proceeded to physically attack her."

She added that Ms. Turner would not be able to return to work until further notice.

She said:

"During the attack, Ms. Turner was thrown to the ground and sustained multiple injuries. She is currently hospitalized with knee and leg injuries, and is unable to walk. She will not be returning to work anytime soon, and she will require extensive rehabilitation and therapy."

A student at the scene, whose identity was withheld, told Channel 2 reporters that while the suspected assailant should not have beaten the teacher, Tiwana Turner also had a role to play in the incident.

The student said:

“It wasn’t scary, it was shocking. She’s a pretty good teacher, but how she talks, she talks with aggression. How she talks to kids is not a proper way to talk to them.”

The student's mother said that to prevent such incidents in the future, teachers need to find a calmer way to engage with misbehaving students.

She said:

“What I think the problem is, is the teachers are not taking a class on how to deal with children. You have to learn de-escalation techniques to help those kids versus aggravating a situation.”

The parent of a student at Rockdale High school told Yahoo reporters that other students should have stepped in to help Turner.

She said:

“All these other kids, they should’ve gotten up and done something. I mean why do you let them treat a teacher that way?”

According to Jean Cannon, Tiwana Turner is an English Language Arts Educator with almost three decades of experience in the public education system. The Rockdale school administration has stated that the attack is currently under investigation and that the suspect will face consequences.