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Everyone take a deep breath, dont feed the Trolls. I dont want the thread closed because I value everyones opinion. I guess I asked for this. I will try to take his opinion gracefully and move on.
In IMHO this matter is not being handled properly. I understand the OP's seeking advice from the board. However, I feel that it was a mistake to name the school and give evidence as to which teacher it may have been who acted improperly. The question should have been handled anonymously.
I can see only one way to handle it: call the child's parents and let them make a decision as to what to do. Upset as you and the other board members may be, it's really not anyone but the parents who should be deciding what to do.
I can see that the OP may be concerned about the teacher's judgment and question whether she wants her child to continue in that class. I guess talking to the disabled child's parents to learn the teacher's reaction (assuming that they did contact her) and going from there would be appropriate.
I will never forget an incident which makes me question children's perceptions of a situation. Granted my son was younger at the time, but still I feel that this tells me something. Years ago there was a character on Seseme Street - a little black boy with curly hair and big brown eyes named Roosevelt Franklin. My son came home from school one day and said "Mama, Mama, Roosevelt Franklin's in my class!" The next time I had carpool I went into the classroom and asked my son to show me Roosevelt F. He pointed to a little white boy with curly blond hair and enormous blue eyes. I asked him how he knew that that was Roosevelt F. and he said, "Can't you tell? Look at his big eyes and curly hair." I know kids are color blind but....
I just don't think one can condemn a teacher or anyone on the testimony of a child. Certainly investigate, but not post it on a public form.
I did speak to the parent. I have already posted that. I will not call the teacher...I previously posted why. This teacher is extremely tough. My son is scared to death of her. I do not want to make anything worse for him. I am very proud of him for speaking up about something he knew was wrong, even if he is scared. I would not want him to think twice before trusting me with this kind of info.
I actually agree with you barbj. I am relatively new to this and did not realize such a large amount of people in my area view this forum. Kind of a beginners mistake I guess.
Last edited by cjb113072; 02-23-2008 at 03:53 PM..
Reason: spelling
I did speak to the parent. I have already posted that. I will not call the teacher...I previously posted why. This teacher is extremely tough. My son is scared to death of her. I do not want to make anything worse for him. I am very proud of him for speaking up about something he knew was wrong, even if he is scared. I would not want him to think twice before trusting me with this kind of info.
You did the right thing, and of course, your son did the right thing. I don't think I or anyone else questions that. The only problem comes when we assume that a child's perceptions are accurate and act on them before we investigate.
I actually agree with you barbj. I am relatively new to this and did not realize such a large amount of people in my area view this forum. Kind of a beginers mistake I guess.
Don't worry about it. Everyone who starts in on this forum has to learn the in's and out's of it. I personally have mellowed a lot since I first started posting about five months ago. I think that the area where you live has a lot of frequent posters. Another poster and I were talking one day about how careful one has to be because your post may come up on a Google search - as mine has.
I admire your concern - I know I would have felt the same way had my child come home and told me the same thing. It was much easier for me and the other board members to sit back at our computers and think it through calmly. You who are so close to it are emotional.
I'm sorry that your son is having a hard time with his teacher. It's not good when a little kid is frightened of his teacher - they hold so much power over him.
See, that is the other thing. I have known this kid for 9 years, I know when he says something like this, I need to listen up. My 6th grade son, is completely the opposite. I know they are both still children and they both see things from their own unique perspectives. That is why I was on the fence about calling the parents.
The laps for punishment thing seems to be in other schools as well. At DDs school it's used for non-completion of homework among other "reasons"....I don't thing it's very effective, as friends will walk together even if they're not "supposed" to walk.
Of course in this case with the child's issues it's totally unacceptable if all is as it seems.
And to the poster who wondered why children with special issues are there, as another said, IT'S THE LAW, they're entitled to an education, separate is NOT equal, I could go on and on but that's not supposed to be the point of this post.
Thanks to the OP for asking for opinions, I feel you did the right thing. I would certainly want to know if my daughter were punished in an unreasonable fashion.
For curiosity's sake, what do all of you think is fair punishment for unruly behavior in a classroom? I'm a substitute teacher and believe me, I deal with EXTREMELY unruly behavior at times. What would be a fair consequence for such behavior? It seems people seem to think so much is out of bounds for punishment these days it puts the educator in a tough spot. How do you control the class if there are no consequences?
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