[RANT] When those in roles of responsibility fail us
A story has come to my attention today that I wanted to mark here, and give my thoughts on the matter.
The story is thus: due to disciplinarian issuese a five year old child was made to stand in front of his class by his teacher while she had the children in her class tell him what they didn't like about him, and then held a vote to see if he should be thrown out of the class.
Story links:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/24/30gtteacher-lets-students-vote-out-classmate-5/
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/27/st-lucie-teacher-reassigned-after-student-voted-ou/
It should not matter, but the kicker here is that he is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspergers, AND THE TEACHER KNEW THIS BECAUSE SHE WAS ON THE IEP
For those not in the know Aspergers is one of the Autism Spectrum disabilites characterized by difficulty in relating to others. An IEP is the Individualized Education Program - a document/process that the parents, teachers and other necessary individuals participate in to make sure that the child in question can get a free and appropriate public education.
The pending diagnosis aside, for a teacher to not only support but actually instigate this type of bullying within her classroom in a place that should be a safe haven for children where they can learn and grow supported and protected is just - I have no words.
I do not understand how a woman with 12 years of teaching experience could do something so incredibly mean spirited to a child so young and in need of help. Yes, dealing with misbehaving children is frustrating but how could it ever occur to you that inciting the ridicule of the classroom and directing it at this troubled child could make this any better. I do not understand how someone who is in a role where they can teach respect and understanding could turn this and twist it as she did, creating a mob scene.
Furthermore, I do not understand how the state attorney's office could possibly conclude that her actions did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse when her actions clearly violate both Florida's Child Abuse Law and it's newly enacted Anti-Bully Measure not to mention any person's common sense of decency. I sincerely hope this woman gets the punishment she so justly deserves and is removed from teaching at that district or any other. And I also hope that the family does press charges.
I realize we live in a world with an increasingly entitled younger generation that most of us would prefer to smack or throttle given half a chance. But by encouraging a group of these younglings to do the very thing we detest about this subset of society this "teacher" is setting the worst possible example of what is allowable in our world today. Children are what we help them to be and you, Ms. Wendy Portillo, are quite obviously attempting to create a mass of unrepentant monsters.
The story is thus: due to disciplinarian issuese a five year old child was made to stand in front of his class by his teacher while she had the children in her class tell him what they didn't like about him, and then held a vote to see if he should be thrown out of the class.
Story links:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/24/30gtteacher-lets-students-vote-out-classmate-5/
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/27/st-lucie-teacher-reassigned-after-student-voted-ou/
It should not matter, but the kicker here is that he is in the process of being diagnosed with Aspergers, AND THE TEACHER KNEW THIS BECAUSE SHE WAS ON THE IEP
For those not in the know Aspergers is one of the Autism Spectrum disabilites characterized by difficulty in relating to others. An IEP is the Individualized Education Program - a document/process that the parents, teachers and other necessary individuals participate in to make sure that the child in question can get a free and appropriate public education.
The pending diagnosis aside, for a teacher to not only support but actually instigate this type of bullying within her classroom in a place that should be a safe haven for children where they can learn and grow supported and protected is just - I have no words.
I do not understand how a woman with 12 years of teaching experience could do something so incredibly mean spirited to a child so young and in need of help. Yes, dealing with misbehaving children is frustrating but how could it ever occur to you that inciting the ridicule of the classroom and directing it at this troubled child could make this any better. I do not understand how someone who is in a role where they can teach respect and understanding could turn this and twist it as she did, creating a mob scene.
Furthermore, I do not understand how the state attorney's office could possibly conclude that her actions did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse when her actions clearly violate both Florida's Child Abuse Law and it's newly enacted Anti-Bully Measure not to mention any person's common sense of decency. I sincerely hope this woman gets the punishment she so justly deserves and is removed from teaching at that district or any other. And I also hope that the family does press charges.
I realize we live in a world with an increasingly entitled younger generation that most of us would prefer to smack or throttle given half a chance. But by encouraging a group of these younglings to do the very thing we detest about this subset of society this "teacher" is setting the worst possible example of what is allowable in our world today. Children are what we help them to be and you, Ms. Wendy Portillo, are quite obviously attempting to create a mass of unrepentant monsters.