...as to whether I'm really doing the best thing for my dd8 by homeschooling, I'm usually provided an unsettling reminder by way of the news, that yes, for MANY reasons, homeschooling will always be our primary option. This reminder is particularly horrifying...not only the terrible things that happened to these poor, innocent 6 year olds, but MOST horrifying is the role the school district had and the stance they are assuming regarding responsibility. If the schools aren't to be held responsible for protecting the children in their care to the greatest extent possible, then WHO IS responsible for protecting them and keeping them safe!?!?!!! This is sickening and I'm so very sad for these little boys and my heart just breaks for them and their families, when it ALL could have been prevented!!! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17030722/ Following are the first 2 paragraphs of the article:
This is the reason I am homeschooling now this is our first year at it and it seems to be going okay I have four aged 7,6,2,10mo. so it has been alittle rough to get used too , but I would not have it any other way ! My daughter was in first grade last year and learned more about sex over any other subject my husband and I were horrified by some things she told us! I always wanted to homeschool her from the start but my husband was not very sure untill last year and he is totally behind me now with this so that really helps the transition . And its not just PS it is also private my girlfriends son is in a private christian school and her son walked in on two boys doing the same thing you posted about and told the teacher , as far as what the school did she is unaware of what happened to them.
Last year when Crystal was a 7th grader in public school, she walked into the girls locker room to find one of the girls in her class cutting. The girl had a razor blade and when Crystal told the coach/PE teacher he didn't go into the locker room or call for a female teacher to go in there and check on the girl. Finally she came out and told the teacher nothing had happened. Then she was mad a Crystal for telling the coach. He finally talked to the two of them together and the other girl told him she had the razor blade and that was pretty much it. I asked Crystal if she was sure the girl was cutting and not just trying to get attention. Crystal said, " Mama I saw the blood going down the sink." Of course the school would never tell us if the girl got any help because they can't discuss another student with you but I seriously doubt if she did. It is so scary to me to think about what our kids see in public school. I am glad my girls are not there anymore. A lady at church last night asked me if I was still homeschooling. It struck me odd that she said that. Nobody has ever asked me if my kids STILL went to school when they were in public school. I know my kids are better off now and I hope I never have to have them back in public school. My boys have one more year of high school after this year and they want to finish there so we will try to stick that out but after next year no more public school!!!!
Schools cannot protect all chidlren at all times. But the school KNEW something had happened, and did NOTHING to prevent it from happening again. To me, that is the sticking point. If a student presents a danger to himself or other students, then that student needs to be removed. Period. To allow him to continue (or to just transfer to another school in the district!) would make the school liable.
That is the saddest and scariest story I have heard in a long time. I'm with Apple, WHO IS responsible if the teachers and the adults in charge will not accept responsibility. Those poor little boys. This is yet another example that reaffirms I am doing the right thing for my children. It is such a shame that it had to be a special needs child to be the attacker. If this had been stopped after the first child, maybe he could have gotten help instead of getting sent to a juvenile detention center.
I think it's terrible that they put this boy in the hall, out of sight of the teachers and right by a bathroom for 1st graders. HELLO?!!! How can you NOT be liable when you do something like that?! How could these parents NOT win the case---that is so blatantly wrong!!! And now these boys are scarred forever after having something like that happen---And IT COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED!!! It makes me want to cry when the school district does not care about the little boys, but only about how to fanagle their way out of a lawsuit!!! :cry: If I could I'd go talk with the parents about homeschooling their children! These people are all certainly in my prayers!!!
Another question. Was the teacher even aware of the situation? Sometimes with special needs kids, there's a resource room teacher or some such who has an idea of what's happening. But if the child then goes to a mainstream classroom, information isn't always given to the classroom teacher. That's also true when a student is transfered due to a discipline issue. The new school doesn't always have the details. Now, I agree they SHOULD have the information and the school was STILL negligent in protecting these students from what they KNEW was a potentially harmful situation. But it may not have been the fault of the classroom teacher.
Right Jackie, I agree. But somebody knew, and should have informed the teacher, to prevent this kind of thing from happening! there was obviously a breakdown in communication and the right process! My point is, SOMEONE or some people knew and allowed him to stay, and that was absolutely wrong, and led to this stuff happening!
I get askef that all the time. and I'm totally with you - I hope they never go back. It's so sad what happens to some kids at the hands of other children.
This reminds me of a substitute teacher at one of the high schools. A few weeks ago parents were angry because after class he told one of the female students to come and visit him during lunch because he wanted to wrestle on the ground with her. The girl called her parents right away and the teacher admitted to saying this. Here is what stinks, he was released from his duties, according to the high school, but he was later hired as a temp at another high school in the area. Previously, he was releases from a school down the hill for the same thing. Parents want to know how he can continue to be hired at different schools and why other schools are not notifed about these teachers. The principle told the parents, unless the person is charged for caring out a crime, there is no site or connection between districts to notify them about these possible dangers. Because, he never contacted the girl and never actually made any sexual (words) advances toward her, charges cannot be pressed. That is so sick!! So the parents took it to the newspaper instead. The paper investigated and this is how they found out the man was released previously. It makes me wonder, when the children are at school, other then a few teachers, who is actually looking out for their safety? Patty
The bottom line is that, if no charges were filed, the school district CANNOT legally tell another district about the problem. A person is innocent until proven guilty. So when district A contacts district B, all district B can say is that we let that person go. If they mention any ALLEGATIONS against the man and he doesn't get the job as a result, then the guy can actually sue District B for slander.
Special Need students always seem to get away with things at school. I was sexually harrassed by a special needs student in HS. The boy really liked girls and was always trying to touch them where he don't need to be touching. The school didn't take care of the situation. They laughed it off saying he don't know any better. I did something about and defended myself and got suspened. I am not against specail needs children. I have a cousin who it and there is one at our church. I just don't like how the schools and teachers will just brush it off and say it's okay for them to do what they want, they don't know any better.
I agree with you homeschooler06. They may not be able to completely understand the effects of their actions or why some things are not appropriate, but that is no excuse to allow the safety of another person to be violated. This article brings up so many wrongs on so many levels, each of which is apalling in and of itself, but combined the situation is just totally unthinkable! Another point: WHY would ANY student, much less a special needs student (REGARDLESS of past history) be out of the sight of a supervisory adult?!? I can almost imagine the classroom teacher's exasperation w/ the student, and he or she probably had no help from admin. who directed her to mainstream this student into the classroom, and perhaps, at her wit's end, she couldn't think of any other immediate solution other than to stand him out in the hall while she calmed down and talked herself out of "boxing his ears"...I can see, ESPECIALLY if she hadn't been given any background info on this particular student, how she might not have realized how dangerous this was. My cousin is a kindergarten teacher who dealt w/ a special needs girl who physically harmed my cousin, kicking, biting, scratching....but the worst was the spitting. Admin. kept promising an aide to help with this particular girl, but none came. My cousin, who's wanted to be a teacher all her life and finally landed a job in the school she wants to teach in for probably the rest of her life, was very close to quitting altogether because this situation was unhandleable. She made it through the end of the year, thank goodness and hasn't had a similar situation since. My thoughts are that the responsibilities for this incident lies in the hands of the administration. JMHO.
apple- as a teacher who spent 4 yrs teaching in the inner city, then 4yrs teaching "in the holler", I have seen more than my share of bad admin. and poor teacher support. The teachers who WANT to do a good job encounter so many obstacles! My sixth grader came home one day and told me the names the other boys were saying when talking about body parts. I have spoken honestly and frankly about our bodies since my boys were babies, but these weren't the words we have used. He was shocked by the words and said, "it sounds bad to talk like that". I asked what he did at the time and he said he just shrugged and acted like he wasn't interested in the conversation. I remember feeling like that as a pre-teen and even in my teen years- I didn't understand crudness. Now, this wasn't one of my main reasons for homeschooling, but I consider it a bonus that my boys can grow up in a home where they see affection, but don't have to filter through all the negative sexual stuff that is going on. my kids don't need to be subjected to the affects of abuse and desensitizing on so many children today.
This is what I find appalling, the school can legally let the teacher go because of his conduct but they can't share with other districts the conduct of the teacher. It makes me wonder who the system is trying to really protect! Now that the newspaper has gone public with this information, hopefully he will not be working around here anymore. I guess he will just go to another area that knows nothing about him and start to pick up on the young girls at another school. YUK!!! Sadly, the next student may not be so fortunate.:x Patty
There is a woman and her son that have moved in near us recently, rumor has it that they recently got a settlement from the school board for a molestation that took place against her kid years ago at the elementary school. When I was in Jr. Hi. it was common for this one group of jerks to go up to girls and grab their crotches. Not just a light goosing, which would be bad enough at that, they would try to get past undergarments with fingers etc. Afterward, the males would make use of oldfactory nerve function and make comments. They usually did this during PE when kids were dressed out in shorts and tshirts, however in FL there were girls wearing shorts and skirts almost year round.
Man, this is SCARY stuff. We've been contemplating trying "regular"school next fall with the baby coming.... Might be rethinking even thinking about it. The thought of all of this scares me WAY more that the thought of hsing two with an almost 3yo and newborn! :shock:
Jackie, you are right. There is a lady here in the local school who is out on leave for slapping a young child for chewing gum in her class. Another one in this town happen yesterday a 12 year old boy had a sleep over and messed with the other boys. one boy said he's been doing it to him for along time. They went to the school he was at and they can't force him to leave unitl he is found quilty. I just know it's scary out there.
My old school I went to used to be quite nice. Then the government got a nice idea... They put an apartment complex for released prisoners across the street. The neighborhood went downhill and the 42 sex offenders who lived in the apartments thought it fun to hang out in school bathrooms.
