Every morning I get pulled out of my homeroom to go mow the lawn," 11-year-old Kyron Sloan of Portland, Ore. told KATU News. What sounds like a good deed to keep the school grounds tidy, is actually this special needs student's punishment for falling asleep in class. Sloan, who is a 6th grader at Ott Middle School, has ADD, Aspergers, and what doctors think may be a medical condition which causes him to sleep. Cutting grass with a push reel lawnmower also makes his allergies act up, he says. "... I try to keep myself awake," Sloan told KATU, "... drink water, walk around school (and) stand up. I try everything to keep myself awake." The student's mother, Krisit Sloan-Ceron, says her son is so embarrassed that he doesn't want to go back to school, and that what school officials are bullying her son. According to the station's report, the school is investigating into the punishment, but declined to give a comment. Earlier this month, the New Jersey parents of 15-year-old Julio Artuz were outraged after the student recorded his teacher bullying him for being a special needs student. I think this is half the problem in schools today. They complain about bullying but I find that the administration tends to bully kids and discipline them for their disabilities. I know that we have dealt with that here. Kids learn bullying from somewhere and I believe a lot of time its from teachers and administration and how they deal with children.
Earlier this month, the New Jersey parents of 15-year-old Julio Artuz were outraged after the student recorded his teacher bullying him for being a special needs student. "Don't call me special," Artuz told the teacher. "What? Oh my god, f-ing. What does the sign on the front of the school say? Special education," the teacher fired back. After Artuz told the teacher that he couldn't call him that once he graduated from the class, the teacher responded with a threat. "...I will kick your a-- from here to kingdom-come until I'm 80 years old." Around the same time, parents of a special needs student at Miami Trace Middle School in Ohio hid an audio recorder in their daughter's clothing, hoping to prove the abuse their daughter insisted was occurring. What they found was heartbreaking. "No wonder you don't have friends," former teacher's aide Kelly Chaffins is heard saying. "No wonder nobody likes you." Chaffins and the classroom teacher later made remarks about the girl's weight. Chaffins was ordered to step down, while the teacher, Christy Wilt, will undergo a probationary period. This was also recorded. Totally unbelievable!
That makes me so sad.... how can someone be so heartless to children that are already having a hard enough time. Classrooms should be a safe harbor for children, not just another place that they fear being tormented.
So true..... My ds had tremors after being in ps until 4th grade. It saddens me what he went through while he was there. But, I thank God every single day that my husband was finally in agreement to bring him home.
This is sad. If you do not want to teach or be a teacher please find another career. The abuse these kids have endure will stay with them for a lifetime. People like this should not be allowed to continue to teach.
