5 year old "voted out of class" by classmates

[EglMtn]

Anyway, I hope that POS excuse for a teacher rots in the black bowels of screaming hell.

Perfect post! Who in their right mind would do such a thing to a five year old?

 

[crazytom]

Perfect post! Who in their right mind would do such a thing to a five year old?

The same kind of people that would wish that on a teacher without knowing the whole story.

 

[themadchemist]

Wow, this is disgusting. It just makes me feel so angry, and like the child in question, sad. Children can be so cruel to each other as it is, without adults abetting and conspiring.

 

[atszyman]

The same kind of people that would wish that on a teacher without knowing the whole story.

Aren't you doing the same thing to the mother in your defense of the teacher? There is more to this story on both sides and we have no clue how bad things were on either side.

I think the main point we can agree on is that this form of punishment crossed a line, it may have been an acceptable illustration had the mother been informed and consulted in how to go about doing this, but in the long run, this will probably make the child more distrustful of teachers and other authority figures leading to more problems.

This type of punishment should be done only with parental consent so that the child can talk to their parents about it as well and it might even be effective if they can go home and talk about it in an environment where it doesn't seem like everyone is against them. However, by bypassing the parent and now having the parent angered about the extremity of the punishment there is no consistency in discipline and the child is learning that not all authority deserves respect which could cause more problems with other teachers in the future.

 

[crazytom]

Aren't you doing the same thing to the mother in your defense of the teacher? There is more to this story on both sides and we have no clue how bad things were on either side.

No, I'm doing the same thing to those that are posting snap judgements without looking into it. I'm satisfied with the discussion we've had up to this point: we know that there's more to the story which may never come out (unless the mom and teacher go on Dr. Phil).

I was just having a bad day and didn't like the 'drive-by' posting....but I've been on MR long enough to expect nothing less from the random masses. My bad.

On another note, I'd still like to hear from GFLPraxis....s/he said he'd provide prospective. Where'd s/he go?...

 

[atszyman]

No, I'm doing the same thing to those that are posting snap judgements without looking into it. I'm satisfied with the discussion we've had up to this point: we know that there's more to the story which may never come out (unless the mom and teacher go on Dr. Phil).

I was just having a bad day and didn't like the 'drive-by' posting....but I've been on MR long enough to expect nothing less from the random masses. My bad.

On another note, I'd still like to hear from GFLPraxis....s/he said he'd provide prospective. Where'd s/he go?...

You've made comments like "Where's the father?" that made it sound as if you were attacking the parenting of the child without knowing the whole story from that side.

I think we've mostly come to the agreement that the punishment was extreme, there should probably be some repercussions for the teacher (not career harming ones unless there is a pattern of overreaching punishments that we are not being told about), and that there's a lot of information missing on both sides.

 

[theBB]

That depends on the situation and the age of the child. My teenager is much more likely to engage in a conversation/debate, my son is more likely to get a "because I said so." He simply doesn't understand why I require him to be nice, polite, and considerate of other people. But I require it, whether he understands it or not.

You're right. A very young kid may not be able to grasp your reasons, but explaining the reasons in as many situations as possible will ingrain in him the understanding that there is (or should be) a reason behind everything.

 

[eMace]

Add me as another one who's not ready to write the teacher off as the devil incarnate just yet. The way she dealt with it was definitely inexcusable, but I don't believe that it necessarily makes her any worse a person than a lot of teachers, or any of us for that matter. I've seen many a teacher in my day just lose it because he/she couldn't manage a disruptive kid. They weren't bad people, they just didn't have the patience required to be a teacher. A lot teachers would be able to better handle these kinds of situations with a little more training on how Asberger's and other learning disabilities (sorry, don't know if that's the right word to use) might affect the child's behavior and the best ways to deal with it. Just throwing a teacher into a classroom and asking him/her to come up with their own disciplinary techniques is gonna create cases like these. The school administration in this case, should've took a stronger role in disciplining the kid instead of blowing it off to the point where this teacher's nerves were so frayed she decided to vote this 5 year old boy out, Survivor style.

Also, it sounds to me like this parent is one that expects the school to raise her kid. From what I read in the article, the kid has had disciplinary problems for a while now, and while I don't fault the kid at all for this at his age, the mom needs to do a better job of parenting! Asberger's or not, I refuse to believe that a kid with Asberger's cannot be taught to behave. I understand that it's an uphill battle, but we need to stop coddling parents by telling them "oh its ok if your kid's unruly, he has asberger's", etc. No it's not ok! Your kid needs to follow rules and have manners just like everyone else.

As far as the bullying by the class and teacher, are any of us surprised really? This whole country, and perhaps the whole world, has become a nation of bullies. The most popular youtube videos are the star wars kid, chocolate rain guy, and anyone else we can laugh at to feel better about ourselves. William Hung and all the other American Idol rejects become mini-celebrities because thousands of people love laughing at them. Don't get me wrong, i laugh sometimes too, but at least I can see the writing on the wall and I know I'm not any better than the "bullies" or anyone else you deem morally inferior. Just look at some of the replies here. You wanna deal with this bully teacher by slapping her across the face or having her burn in hell? And we act shocked when something like this happens? Come on now. I mean, if it were my kid, I'd probably get someone (I wouldn't be able to hit a woman) to beat the teacher down to the ground, but I can't throw stones at this teacher and especially not the other kids when I'm participating in a culture that encourages that kind of behavior.


EDIT: btw I'm just noticing that this topic hasn't been touched in about a week so sorry for rehashing it

 

[tsice19]

Wow. That's is horrible. I'd hate to be that kid... outcast from day 1.

 

[crazytom]

You've made comments like "Where's the father?" that made it sound as if you were attacking the parenting of the child without knowing the whole story from that side.

Yes, that's true. I make assumptions, just like everybody else. I'm more than happy to have faults in logic pointed out to me. I felt the need to tread on the 'other side' of the assumption process to see if anybody would catch it. I'm glad there's smart cookies like you around here to keep me in line!

I think we've mostly come to the agreement that the punishment was extreme, there should probably be some repercussions for the teacher (not career harming ones unless there is a pattern of overreaching punishments that we are not being told about), and that there's a lot of information missing on both sides.

Yes. Let's agree to agree.

As far as the reports go, it says that the teacher scored high marks on her performance reviews....but if there's bad administration, that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

Last check it looks like the mom is considering Dr. Phil. I have a feeling that he'd out her for poor judgements (in addition to the teacher's poor judgement). That'd probably be the only time I'd ever WANT to watch Dr. Phil.

On Wednesday, the "Dr. Phil" show called looking for Barton to appear as a future guest.

Barton said she is amazed at the attention the story of her 5-year-old son is getting. She said she will check with others before deciding on the talk show appearance.

“I don’t want it to be a tabloid thing. I want it to be an awareness thing,” she said. “All I want is justice for Alex.”