Where ever you stand on the issue...

[MegCanada]

... this is NO way for a principal to act!

Teen says principal bullied him over pro-gay shirt
By QMI Agency


A 17-year-old student at a high school in Madisonville, Tenn., says his principal bullied him for wearing a homemade Gay Straight Alliance T-shirt.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the principal shoved the teen, bumped him in the chest and verbally harassed him last week.

Chris Sigler made a T-shirt that says, "GSA: We've Got Your Back." On Sept. 27, he wore it to school and a teacher ordered him to cover it up in the future.

But Sigler wore it again on Sept. 30. The ACLU says when principal Maurice Moser saw it, he told Sigler to take it off, cover it up or call his mother. Sigler opted to call his mother, but kept the shirt on as he went to class.

That's when, the ACLU says, Moser entered Sigler's classroom and asked all the students to leave. Sigler's sister, who was also in the classroom, refused.

Once the other students were out of sight, Moser "grabbed Sigler's arm, shoved him, and chest-bumped him repeatedly while asking 'Who's the big man now?'" the ACLU said in its release.

The confrontation was reported to police after Sigler's mother arrived to find Moser allegedly leaning over her son and yelling at him.

"All I want is to have a GSA at my school to help stop the bullying against gays and lesbians and their friends who support them," Sigler said in the ACLU release. "The shirt was a way to use my voice and show my support for the club. The way I was treated shows even more why we need a GSA here."

The GSA is a support group for teens to discuss sexual orientation, but it has met with resistance at the school.

In September, students told local TV station WATE they were threatened with suspensions if they continued their efforts to get the club going.

School officials issued a statement about the allegations against Moser.

"The Monroe County School System is aware of the alleged accusations. We have received written statements from all eyewitnesses. Our documentation clearly indicates that there are always two sides to every story. We'll gladly provide more information as it becomes available."

Now, our schools have clear rules - no political t-shirts (including any references to sex, drugs or religion). But if a student did wear, say, a Conservative Party t-shirt to school, he'd simply be asked to either turn it inside out or go home. There'd be no yelling. And certainly no chest-bumping! There may be "two sides", but I can't imagine anything good about a principal emptying a classroom so he can be alone with a student he's upset with.

The principal sounds like he's got some serious rage issues. It was smart of the boy's sister to insist on remaining in the room as a witness (I'm guessing she's his twin, if she's in the same class?).

(And what a way to turn a very boring club into the hippest, edgiest thing since smoking in the bathroom! :lol: Kid's will be joining just to stick it to the principal.)

 

[dalynnrmc]

If that happened, I agree the principal shouldn't have acted like that... but it really sounds crazy. It doesn't make a lot of sense that the principal would send all the kids out of a class instead of just taking him OUT of class. Sending all the kids out of a class "except one" puts a huge target on his back for lawsuits and all sorts of accusations. Why would he do that? It makes absolutely no sense. If it really happened that way, he probably should have been out of the school system a long time ago. Chances are there are more stories like this in his past, since people don't generally get principal jobs right off the bat - they are generally teachers first.

Anyway, maybe I'm wrong, but it sounds crazy. LOL

 

[Jackie]

Sigh.... If everything is as reported, I have to agree the principal was out of line, and needs some kind of repremand or something. And yes, I can see it happening just that way. But I can also see a student trying to set up an antagonizing confrontation on purpose. Not saying he did; I know nothing about him, so I can't say.

 

[Emma's#1fan]

"That's when, the ACLU says, Moser entered Sigler's classroom and asked all the students to leave. Sigler's sister, who was also in the classroom, refused."

Where was the teacher? I am assuming there was a teacher in the class. Was the teacher also asked to leave? I am assuming the students from the class were outside the door with the teacher. If the Principal was yelling, wouldn't the teacher have heard? My point is, there has to be others who heard the principal if he was yelling. If the story is true, I hope the teacher is released for not stepping in to defend the student.

 

[tiffharmon2001]

But I can also see a student trying to set up an antagonizing confrontation on purpose. Not saying he did; I know nothing about him, so I can't say.

I don't know anything about this student or the principal either, but it does seem like this student was trying to antagonize the principal. He had already been told multiple times that the shirt was not allowed and continued on to class wearing it when he wasn't supposed to. Unfortunately, the principal seems to have taken the bait.

 

[Emma's#1fan]

Unfortunately, the principal seems to have taken the bait.

Assuming the whole story is true. While it is possible, I keep asking myself, where was the teacher? I had a teacher who lost it a few times. He was released until he was treated for his alcohol addiction. So it is possible but there seems to be more to this story that we are not reading.

 

[MegCanada]

Sigh.... If everything is as reported, I have to agree the principal was out of line, and needs some kind of repremand or something. And yes, I can see it happening just that way. But I can also see a student trying to set up an antagonizing confrontation on purpose. Not saying he did; I know nothing about him, so I can't say.

I think that kids can often sense when an adult is "on the edge", and zero right in to drive them crazy. And on purpose or not, he's still the child and the principal is the adult. "He's deliberately trying to antagonize me!" is no excuse for unprofessional behaviour as an educator.

Certainly an adult should never deliberately arrange to be alone with a youth. He should be disciplined for that, if nothing else.

My son pulled something similar with his (sleep deprived, new dad) French teacher a couple years back. My boy always walked the fine edge of passive-aggressively polite so it was difficult to discipline him, and every time his teacher over-reacted it make him look like a bad guy to all the other boys in the class. Who then took the bait and ran with it. That classroom was utter chaos the whole year - even the other teachers were commenting on it.

 

[MegCanada]

Assuming the whole story is true. While it is possible, I keep asking myself, where was the teacher? I had a teacher who lost it a few times. He was released until he was treated for his alcohol addiction. So it is possible but there seems to be more to this story that we are not reading.

Outside with the other students, perhaps? Or in the room with the principal? Or heading down to the office to look for the kid's mom, since she was on the way to pick her son up? You're right - it's an excellent question.

I know my mother, bless her, would never have allowed that principal to come into the room and disrupt her class. She used to teach in a prison, and once the warden and bunch of guards came in to pick up a prisoner. My mother blocked the door and said, "I am TEACHING! You will NOT interrupt MY class, and you will NOT put one hand on MY student!"

This was back in the Sixties and she was just a young woman. But those big tough guys backed right down. :lol:

Another time she was teaching in a university, and a student showed up who had been expelled from campus. A lady in administration called the police and they showed up to remove him from my mother's class. They didn't get any further than the prison guards did! She told them they were welcome to wait outside until her class was done and escort him off campus then. But as long as she was teaching, her class was a safe haven for all students, and police were not welcome.

I can only imagine how she would have reacted to the principal trying to send all her students out of the room. It would have been a treat to see!

P.S. It occurs to me that if the kid was scared of the principal, he may have refused to leave the room with him. If he stayed parked in his seat, trying to say he was just "in class", minding his own business, that would lead to the principal wanting to empty the room. Basically, if the kid wouldn't come away with him, then he'd send everyone else away from the kid.

 

[Jackie]

I think that kids can often sense when an adult is "on the edge", and zero right in to drive them crazy. And on purpose or not, he's still the child and the principal is the adult. "He's deliberately trying to antagonize me!" is no excuse for unprofessional behaviour as an educator.

Certainly an adult should never deliberately arrange to be alone with a youth. He should be disciplined for that, if nothing else.

I agree on all accounts.

 

[JosieB]

But if a student did wear, say, a Conservative Party t-shirt to school, he'd simply be asked to either turn it inside out or go home.

All I can think is...I'd paint the inside of the t shirt so I could still wear my message...Don't tell any teenagers that though! LOL

 

[Lindina]

All I can think is...I'd paint the inside of the t shirt so I could still wear my message...Don't tell any teenagers that though! LOL

Sonita, you're such a rebel! :lol: