Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
When "Vote him off the island" is a *really* bad idea.
Via dKos, this delightful little news item:
St. Lucie teacher has students vote on whether 5-year-old can stay in class
PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.
After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.
By a 14 to 2 margin, the class voted him out of the class.
And then the kid was actually kicked out. Methinks the teacher has watched too many reality shows.
Turns out the kid has Asperger's. And probably had some behaviour/discipline issues. But so do most 5 year old kids. The teacher knew this, but decided to take this action anyway.
Kids can be cruel. Anyone who does not conform can be singled out, taunted, teased, even beat up. I learned at a very early age to hide my intelligence from all but my teachers, just to avoid that kind of treatment.
That a teacher thought that this was a good way to deal with any child boggles the mind. Not only was it cruel to the kid (he was made to stand in the front of the class, as each of the other children stood one at a time and said what they didn't like about him), but think of what it taught all the other kids in the class: reinforcing their simple cruelty, giving it the stamp of authority, saying that individual rights don't matter - only the wishes of the majority matters.
Any even minimally competent teacher should be able to handle a kindergarten class, and deal with the behaviour problems that are sure to crop up. That this teacher could not, or did not, is an indication of her incompetence, pure, plain, and simple.
Jim Downey
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How can they say it's not emotional child abuse?
I find that hard to believe, especially given Alex's reaction. I would guess that a competent psychologist can prove the state attorney wrong. Maybe the state attorney needs some education on the subject as well.
As for the teacher, that's not someone who should be teaching, especially little children. I'm surprised she wasn't pulled from the classroom. If I were the parent of one of the other children in the class, I'd wonder when that sadistic teacher would turn the class on my child, if s/he wore the wrong color shirt or didn't colour neatly enough within the lines.
Maybe the rules for following an IEP are different in Florida (although since IDEA is a federal law, I doubt it), but in states where I've been involved in special education matters the parents could demand a hearing to force compliance with the IEP and proper procedures to be followed in the future. In fact, if they could show that the school has acted to the child's detriment and the child is not able to obtain a proper education at the school, the school district could be required to pay for in-home or a private placement for the child in an appropriate educational environment.
They're gonna hate that.
"95% of all managers are
"95% of all managers are idiots."
That's what Bruce Leander, president of Ambion, told my biotechnology class back in 2004 when we toured their site in Austin. I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration back then... I wasn't *quite* as extroverted and aggressive as I am now. ;-) But more and more, that's what I think of people in charge.
I feel so bad for this kid... :-(
Ugh
As a parent of a child with Aspergers, this is just too revolting for words. Kindergarten can be terrifying for children with ASD, and I suspect that this particular child did not make the transition well and it's certainly true that the school made things exponentially worse.
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