http://www.reuters.com/article/oddl...0080403?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews
Wow......kids grow up so fast, don't they.
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Wow......kids grow up so fast, don't they.
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9-year old kids plotted to tie up and hurt their teacher.
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She must have done something really nasty to piss them off so badly. 
Thinking back to my school years, I can certainly sympathise.
Thinking back to my school years, I can certainly sympathise.
She must have done something really nasty to piss them off so badly.
Thinking back to my school years, I can certainly sympathise.
apparently, she just told one of them off for standing on a chair. lets hope this is another "only in america" things...
Tuesday?
Methinks the kids were plotting an April fool's prank. I've not read the story but tbh I think the authorities are over-reacting on this one.
On a sidenote, this kind of plot (kids get their own back on an authority figure) is standard in 90% of kids cartoons and tv programs. Can you blame them for thinking hey lets have a go at trying this out on our teacher ?
Adults know the different between fact and fantasy, but it's harder for young kids, especially when they watch it for 2-3 hours a day.
I know my young daughter started acting out tom and jerry cartoons after watching them too much - she would hit people quite hard with bits of equipment and then expect them to get up afterwards. She said to me 'why is it bad, it doesnt hurt!? Like tom and jerry haha!'
Needless to say, t+j are now banned in our house, and her behavour has improved. A year later, she still remembers t+j and sometimes pesters me to let her watch them again.
Methinks the kids were plotting an April fool's prank. I've not read the story but tbh I think the authorities are over-reacting on this one.
On a sidenote, this kind of plot (kids get their own back on an authority figure) is standard in 90% of kids cartoons and tv programs. Can you blame them for thinking hey lets have a go at trying this out on our teacher ?
Adults know the different between fact and fantasy, but it's harder for young kids, especially when they watch it for 2-3 hours a day.
I know my young daughter started acting out tom and jerry cartoons after watching them too much - she would hit people quite hard with bits of equipment and then expect them to get up afterwards. She said to me 'why is it bad, it doesnt hurt!? Like tom and jerry haha!'
Needless to say, t+j are now banned in our house, and her behavour has improved. A year later, she still remembers t+j and sometimes pesters me to let her watch them again.
Quick, name a kids' movie. Does the plot go like this?
The "good" adults (the parents) are portrayed as one-dimensional, boring, naive, stubborn characters who won't even so much as listen to the kids tell their story when they realize the plot involving the bad guys. They certainly refuse to investigate or take any action. (Message number 1: Adults are useless.)
Thus motivating our heroes to take matters into their own hands. (Message number 2.)
And the bad guy? Another one-dimensional, greasy, scheming, dirty authority figure who fools all the adults with his fake sincerity but all the kids see through immediately. (Maybe, just for fun, he's got a nephew who looks, acts, and thinks exactly like he does, e.g. the class bully. Message number 3: You will turn out exactly like your parents -- how uncool is that! -- and Message number 4: Don't trust authority figures, they're probably bad.)
And how do the kids save the day? Generally involving some plan that involves lots of physical injury to the bad guy in slapstick situations, causing our heroes to laugh and smirk in the process. (Message number 5: Take matters into your own hands. Do whatever it takes. Hurting people is OK as long as you think they're bad guys. And hey, it's fun!)
Finally, after it's all over, the real authority figures -- the parents, the police -- arrive just in time to survey the damage. The room is destroyed, a mess everywhere, the bad guy tied up and helpless, covered in goop. And what happens? They praise the kids for their quick thinking and saving the day. (Message number 6: See? You were right. This is how they wanted you to handle the situation, even though they told you "no" before.)
The "good" adults (the parents) are portrayed as one-dimensional, boring, naive, stubborn characters who won't even so much as listen to the kids tell their story when they realize the plot involving the bad guys. They certainly refuse to investigate or take any action. (Message number 1: Adults are useless.)
Thus motivating our heroes to take matters into their own hands. (Message number 2.)
And the bad guy? Another one-dimensional, greasy, scheming, dirty authority figure who fools all the adults with his fake sincerity but all the kids see through immediately. (Maybe, just for fun, he's got a nephew who looks, acts, and thinks exactly like he does, e.g. the class bully. Message number 3: You will turn out exactly like your parents -- how uncool is that! -- and Message number 4: Don't trust authority figures, they're probably bad.)
And how do the kids save the day? Generally involving some plan that involves lots of physical injury to the bad guy in slapstick situations, causing our heroes to laugh and smirk in the process. (Message number 5: Take matters into your own hands. Do whatever it takes. Hurting people is OK as long as you think they're bad guys. And hey, it's fun!)
Finally, after it's all over, the real authority figures -- the parents, the police -- arrive just in time to survey the damage. The room is destroyed, a mess everywhere, the bad guy tied up and helpless, covered in goop. And what happens? They praise the kids for their quick thinking and saving the day. (Message number 6: See? You were right. This is how they wanted you to handle the situation, even though they told you "no" before.)
Those kids are quite the precocious ones, aren't they? It's almost cute, in a twisted kind of way.
I can relate here. My two kids watch those cartoons a lot but they do NOT act that way. One thing we did was explain that those are 'fake' and 'not real' and asked them 'what happens to someone if you hit them with an ironing board/anvil/hammer/insert cartoon object here' to which each replied with 'it will hurt' which reassured us that they would not act that way. They don't.
Now when my oldest was younger and he wasn't explained these things started acting out like the tv. He watched power rangers and I know his mom (we were divorced) didn't take time to talk to him about what he was watching and he would kick, punch, hit, etc and it was very unsettling. He was banned from watching PR period and I approved the decision and upheld it when he would stay with me.
When he finally calmed down my wife (his stepmom) and I sat down with him and talked to him explaining these things and he was allowed to watch again. He never went back the way he was and we were satisfied all was ok.
Now I'm not big on talking, I prefer the belt to Dr. Phil. But I am seeing the beauty of talking at a level they can understand. Heck I watched those cartoons when I was a kid and NEVER did I ever try to act those things out. I'm sure that's the same for quite a lot of us. So what has changed? Who knows.
As far as those kids, who knows what is the root cause. Lack of parenting, lack of discipline, lack of hugs
.I have found that being very active (30mins of your attention in our busy lives is a long time for a young child) or as active as we can be in our kids lives has a positive effect. Example (though a twisted one LOL) we often times will loose our temper and yell at our kids for silly things (it happens) and yet not more than 5mins later our kids will still hug us and give us a kiss goodnight. Any frustration is totally gone when that happens and we kinda apologize to each other and make a deal or just talk for another 10mins on what was bad that was done and how we can keep it from happening again.
Some kids will get yelled at and instantly harbor resentment or anger and will fuel them inside for days. I know this because that's how I was (I swear I'm a changed man LOL). Most likely that's the case with those kids in the story.
Best thing is to stop that before they get to a stage where that will be an issue. I'm not going to speculate on those kids upbringing but I do (IMO) think it was lack of several things.
I don't believe TV shows, Ozzy, Megadeth, etc are to blame for kids behaviors. I believe in lack of education, morals, etc in those kids lives. One can say "they didn't know better", but can one say with all honesty "we tried to teach them to know". With a bit of intervention (like my wall of text above) a child can enjoy the sat morn/boomerang cartoons and not actually act on them.
Sorry for the wall of text. It's a wierd subject for me. I was brought up with very little parental guidance and yet I believe it makes a big difference in kids lives.
I'm going to need this concept fleshed out a little bit, maybe add a sassy animal sidekick too. Do that I think we have next year's family box office hit on our hands.
I only occasionally notice these sorts of articles, but - perhaps by bizarre coincidence - they are always about people from Atlanta!
This happened around my area. Just a BTW for everyone these kids were in a "Special Education" class.
Special Education classes don't always have mentally retarded children in them. It could of been an autistic class or something.
Yeah, they're special alright.
I wonder what it must be like the day afterwards..
"Uh, hi class.."
I wonder what it must be like the day afterwards..
"Uh, hi class.."
In a weird sort of way almost surreal...but not hilarious...I teach second grade!
As far as Tom and Jerry goes, my two children 4 and 6 watch it (as did I as a child) and none of us have acted it out. We have laughed out loud as a result, but never hit anyone, smashed anyone, etc. as a result of a cartoon. That being said, if parents don't teach children over and over the difference between real and make believe the children won't know the difference. Kind of like the fourth or fifth grader who said to his teacher when speaking about death...I dont' care if I die, I can just hit x to respawn!
I teach second grade and I have had more than one second grade student who have watched Halloween, Friday the 13th, etc. so it is no wonder we have kids now a days who act (or try to act) things out!! In fact, one of these students the other day knew who Batman was, Spiderman, but didn't know Superman. Well I told him and he said to me "Oh I know, Do you ever watch the show Smallville? Because that is Superman!" Not that Smallville is all that bad, but it goes to show who he is watching TV with- his teenage sisters and their friends who bully him and dont' treat him well! Parents are no longer involved in their kids lives and they need to be more now than ever! Media is so accessable to children. I remember the day when it was impossible to see an R rated movie...I had one friend who had a sattelite dish back in the day(size of a swimming pool!) But most "bad stuff" involved a Playboy in the tree house! Now a days kids can see killings on the news, on the tube, on the net, on their own street even! Parents need to be involved in their kids lives and know what they are doing and care who they are doing it with!!! Kids want and need this structure. I am not saying don't let kids have a life- quite the opposite. Let kids do things, go places, see things, but know who they are doing it with, where they are going and build the trust with your children so that they are willing to tell you the truth when they tell you these things!
As far as special education goes- special education could be ADD, ADHD, as well as many others types of disabilities.
We were talking in the teacher lunch room about this and commented on how resourceful the children were to plan it all out including clean up!
I read someplace though that most of the children didn't know what was planned and were just told to bring in certain things for a prank or joke. I imagine what happened is one child or two have serious emotional and possible physical disabilities that were behind it and they told others to bring in things to make a joke or something like that.