Are our schools out of control? One retired school resource officer says yes, and something has to be done.
Now that he’s no longer with the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Officer Gerald Luttmann is speaking his mind publicly.
He’s certainly seen his fair share of problem pupils. He says he’s seen a lot over the years.
“They were abusing teachers, physically hitting teachers. I’ve had teachers that have had things thrown on them,” Luttmann said.
He says student behavioral problems are only getting worse. That’s why he’s sharing his experiences and advice in a book called “Schools Out Of Control.”
“It basically talks about the breakdown of students and society and education, leading to the behavioral problems that we have today,” he said.
Luttmann believes the classroom crisis is starting at home with poor parenting.
“It’s almost like, ‘you can’t tell me what to do. I’m a child.’ I believe that all goes back to the parenting and home situation,” Luttmann said.
Besides some parents, he also says some school resource officers like the one involved in the Parkland shooting are failing kids as well.
“The officer that’s there, is in my opinion, responsible for the safety of the children, the staff and everybody else that’s on that campus.”
Luttmann also shared his thoughts on the most recent SRO incident making headlines in Pasco County where a student was slammed to the ground.
“I’ve been in that position myself. From what I’ve seen, he handled it pretty much the way I would. But every situation is unique and totally different. Very different.”
Luttmann says unless severe changes are made, and soon, we will eventually have a society of spoiled, enabled and out of control school children.
