It’s the advance planning that makes me think there’s something wrong with the teacher. It’s easy for a group of kids to get stirred up spontaneously and go ahead and act while in their initial rush of excitement. But this involved at least an overnight break (maybe even longer, as it’s not clear when the “scolding” incident occurred). Most 8-9 year olds can’t even remember from one day to the next what they were excited about the day before. They’re also prone to forgetting to take their lunchbox or lunch money to school with them. But a majority of this class remembered and still cared enough the next morning, to bring their assigned weapons and tools for the attack. If was a parent of a child in this class (perpetrator or not), I’d be asking tough questions about the teacher.
> It’s the advance planning that makes me think there’s something wrong with the teacher.
You’ve got a good point. The planning is quite impressive and, as you say, at least one night would have passed: it wasn’t spontaneous.
It would be interesting to find out whether any of the kids complained about their teacher to anyone (parents &tc) before the event. That is what I’d expect normal kids to do if there was something wrong with the teacher.
That said, it’s difficult to imagine the teacher being in any real danger. 8 year olds are still pretty small. Even in angry swarms of nine or more, how would they overpower an adult? Their plan lacks a sense of realism.