Teacher lets students vote out classmate

[Red Chimp]

Article (http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/24/30gtteacher-lets-students-vote-out-classmate-5/)
1-Did I miss the part about the teacher being reprimanded?
2-What happened to her? This is the kind of teacher this school wants?

What makes this even worse is this five year old is being diagnosed for having autism. Does he really need social ridicule at this time of his life, if ever? That's a horrible thing for a teacher to do, even if the child wasn't autistic.

[LiteMare]

Did they forget to mention out why he was kick out?

But, since that wasn't mention, i guess I'll have to point out from the information Given. it's unjustified. Having someone who may stand out from the rest of the class mates, be voted off. If the children were any older, they'd feel the guilt upon them.

[Mikeh]

I wish this article was less biased. Also, the parent annoys me to no end with their pathetic attempts to gain sympathy.

I'm not saying what the teacher did was right, but there has to be some sort of a reason. We're not getting the full story here.

[Video.Head]

That teacher is so stupid! Teachers can't go around kicking students out of class! I don't think it said anything about what happened to the teacher though. She should be fired if there's not a good reason.

[Ro'trep Kobalt]

Here's a video: (There is an ad that plays.)
width='506' height='494'

This is the timestamp: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 27, 2008

I'm too lazy to look for the result.

[Red Chimp]

That teacher must not have children. What a dumb biznitch.

[Dan]

Wow, that's just messed up.

[BEETS]

That teacher sounds like a mental case.

[Matt]

That is so cruel... that teacher really needs to meet some consequences for that. What a *****.

[denacioust]

I'd say given the publicity this is getting the school will be under pressure to take fairly immediate action.

The teacher should not be teaching, or at least not to such young children. Tough love can be a little too tough at that age.

[Blastedt]

That's terrible.

[DarkReality]

Wait, so it's the teachers fault that 5 year old kids are, in general, cruel bonsai terrorists? The teacher did nothing but give them an opportunity to say what they wanted to. Sure, it wasn't right, but she's not the she-devil and certainly not the only person who should carry the blame for this.

The kids should have been told of Alex's "disorder" (I'm not sure how Asperger's is referred to, not sure if it's considered a disorder or not) and the teacher should have been informed of this to give Alex the consideration and treatment he needed.

What happened to us? Kids used to be hit in school and at home. Disciplinary action used to mean something back then. And now? It's no wonder that teachers are becoming more and more desperate. We've sort of slipped into this laissez-faire mentality, believing that children will listen to reason and argumentation. They won't. They CAN'T. Parents completely fail at raising their children, misdiagnose their lack of parenting as ADHD and then let the little snots loose on their teachers. Can you imagine a room filled with 20 kids, half of them hyperactive and intolerant? I wouldn't be caught dead in this room for more than 5 minutes (not least of all because I can only successfully take on approximately 14 angry 5-year-olds >_>)

Why is a teacher who exposes a child to the cruelty of the world considered evil? Is it not worse to protect a child until they finish school and then throw them into the cold water by themselves, expecting the world to protect them like their school did? Sure, it's not nice and wasn't necessary, but the level of disgust this has warranted in this thread is pretty astonishing. I mean, what are we expecting? Teachers to solve all of our problems? To make children behave? To make sure everyone is happy and feels good about themselves? That's not "teaching", that's idealistic protection from the real world. That's not the purpose of school.

I'm not saying this teacher shouldn't be reprimanded in some way, but what was she doing? Letting kids democratically speak their minds. Is that a crime now? No, it isn't. Quite on the contrary. It's certainly better than leaving Alex in that class, oblivious to what his classmates think about him.

[Matt]

The teacher must have known there was something wrong with the kid. (Sorry, I don't mean wrong as in wrong but as in handicapped and I haven't a clue how to put it nicely) and should have seen that most of the kids didn't like him. Then there is the entire thing about the vote, why put on a vote for just ONE kid, the one kid that is different and is going to have problems his whole life knowing that they will vote him out because he is weird and they don't like him. Think about it, little kids will often go "You're weird, don't talk to me" and she's making him stand in front of the class, allow all theother kids to say whatever they want to him with no fear of getting in troubl e then have the chance to VOTE HIM OUT OF THE CLASS BECAUSE THEY DON'T LIKE HIM. You can't say the teacher is being fair and that that isn't cruel.

[denacioust]

Uh, Dark, I don't think children should be exposed to the real cruelties of the world at 5 years of age. I cannot stand people who get mammied to death and can't survive on their own, and I can't believe it when there's people in the world who can't even make their own breakfast.

When someone is doing something wrong, maybe he's a little aggressive, or a little annoying, at five years old the way to deal with it is to punish him, not humiliate him.

[Danielle]

Reminds me of a friend of mine. His little brother has a stuttering problem, and his first grade teacher told him not to talk because he sounds stupid. So he stopped talking. He's 9 now and the only people he talks to are his mom and brother.

[Red Chimp]

---

It's not the role of the kids to discipline the students. I wouldn't trust a 5 year old to have the maturity and communication skills to explain the problem to another 5 year old. The teacher is there to maintain discipline, not to encourage a "democratic" mob rule. The children's criticisms weren't constructive at all. I don't think anyone would enjoy being told they had to stand at the front of a crowd and be told they are disgusting and annoying. That's not constructive, its belittling. This situation does not call for dragging him to the front of the class to be told he is an awful person, as I guarantee that that will not solve any of the problems.

There is a difference between objective discipline and this kind of petty meanness. I don't see how anybody could side with the teacher here.

[DarkReality]

You're missing the point. Whether the students ridicule him in class on in recess, they're going to. I'm not saying it was right, but the heat the teacher is receiving is completely unrepresentative of what she did. I'm not siding with the teacher, she should have worked towards resolving those problems rather than sending Alex out, but she isn't at fault for him being ridiculed or humiliated. If anything, she made sure it was in a potentially controlled environment. Who knows what she was expecting from the kids. Maybe she was expecting said reason and constructive arguments. Maybe Alex was being a little jerk, incapable of taking constructive criticism from the teacher.

We don't know what was said or done. The article said something about him being called annoying and disgusting, but that's certainly not the whole story. Nor do we know what she said after he was sent out, which is essential to be able to judge her capability as a human being and teacher.

[denacioust]

You're missing the point. Whether the students ridicule him in class on in recess, they're going to.


Well, if he's getting it in the schoolyard shouldn't that be enough? His teacher shouldn't be encouraging it. His teacher should be discouraging the pupils ridiculing him.


and I know we don't really have the full story and this could be taken out of proportion, but on what the story is made out as, the teacher is 100% wrong.

[Matt]

They do it because, what do you know! the teacher says we can! Let's all go make fun of him because we wont get in trouble and everyone else is doing it!

[Red Chimp]

but she isn't at fault for him being ridiculed or humiliated.So it's okay when students humiliate him when there's a teacher around but not when they are unsupervised? This just means she's condoning it, not "keeping it under a controlled environment."

Who knows what she was expecting from the kids. Maybe she was expecting said reason and constructive arguments. If she was expecting constructive criticism from the kids and a lesson to be learned for this five-year-old, she's ignorant and should be fired for that. Even though he might have gotten the message that his behavior was disruptive, he probably wouldn't make a conscious effort to change himself anyway because:
1) He's five years old.
2) He has Asperger's and can't help it.

Maybe Alex was being a little jerk, incapable of taking constructive criticism from the teacher.Yeah. Maybe he was. But if he was that much of a disruption, she should have discretely sent him to the nurse's office right away instead of ridiculing him in front of the class and then sending him to the nurse.

It doesn't matter if he was disruptive or if he would have been mobbed up outside of the classroom anyway. This represents a failure on the school's part to remove him from the class before it got this far, and if anything partially the parent's fault in recognizing that their kid has a problem and to take action.

[Defective]

That is just terrible. How can someone do that? I would think it would cause emotional damage because of what the kid was saying. Anyways I feel sorry for the kid, he was being tested for an autism that would give him eccentric behavior, I am sure he thought he was being punished for being different. Also those kids were mean as hell, they might be 5 but still they should have some manners.

[DarkReality]

So it's okay when students humiliate him when there's a teacher around but not when they are unsupervised? This just means she's condoning it, not "keeping it under a controlled environment."

How the #### did you manage to interpret that out of what I said? 5 year old kids WILL ridicule someone, no matter what you do. I never claimed it was OK to do so while no teacher is around, I said it isn't the teachers fault for what 5 year old kids will naturally do. Of course she shouldn't have provoked it and maybe she was expecting too much of 5 year old kids, but she's not the one that ridiculed him and called him names.

(and once again we don't know what the kids specifically said)

Of course it was a failure on the teacher's part (and possibly the parent's part, depending on how far into this diagnosis Alex was) and of course she shouldn't be commended for betraying the trust a 5 year old child has in her, but she's not the sole reason for the way he feels or even for what happened.

Would he have told his parents if the children did it on the school playground? Would he have told someone if the mobbing was done in a more discrete manner over a long period of time? Did you tell your parents each time you were shoved face first into a toilet? I don't think it's good what she did, but it put a quick end to what could have turned into a childhood full of ridicule and humiliation for Alex and I'm more than convinced that this was, in the long run, the better way to make it clear to his parents that Alex needs special attention.

[Red Chimp]

How the #### did you manage to interpret that out of what I said? 5 year old kids WILL ridicule someone, no matter what you do. I never claimed it was OK to do so while no teacher is around, I said it isn't the teachers fault for what 5 year old kids will naturally do.

No, you said she wasn't at fault because she at least made sure this kid was being ridiculed in a controlled environment. You're saying she's not at fault which means you think it was acceptable at the time, as long as they were ridiculing him under supervision. You're smart! Then you say the obvious again:

5 year old kids WILL ridicule someone, no matter what you do.

Of course they will, ffs. But it's still wrong and the teacher is only condoning it if she allows it in the classroom. Which makes her at fault.

but she's not the sole reason for the way he feels or even for what happened.Then who is?

Now on to another subject: what's with all the animosity? Break the elementary school teeter-totter as a kid? Lunch lady kick your ass? Do tell.

[Lokigen]

Whoa...Whoa...Whoa. Chill guys. I see both your cases, and both hav some validity to them, but we'll really never know what's better or worse or right and wrong, will we? The point is, the kid was singled out for something out of his control, mostly. Of course it hurt him adn was a bad experience and I send my condolances to him, injustice is never a fun thing to deal with. I will say however, that I hope that instead of just cuddling him and trying to make him feel better, that his mother uses this window of opportunity to teach him and strengthen him for the trials that lie ahead of him.

And don't shower me with your insensativity speaches, because I know how this form of autisim works. My uncle, who is only like 23 who I grew up with like an older brother has it, so I happen to know, firsthand what I'm talking about. Telling him that he's special doesn't help the situation, it still makes him different. See, when my uncle was in school, the whole, lets label any "abnormality" in a person craze wasn't in full swing yet. so he got to about highschool without anyone telling him he had asburgers, or however the hell you spell it. he managed okay, but you have the kids in school that make sure you know you're different, and he was alright. But then when he got diagnosed, not only were other people telling him that he was different, HE told himself that he was different. And he shut himself up for many years. for the longest time, I was the only person he would actually talk to. One day, he just came out of it, and he's livilng a totally normal life.

I asked a year back, what made him decide to branch out again. He said that he just decided that he was okay with being different. He said that one night when we were eating dinner, like 5 years ago, my family and I were talking about a friend of mine, and my other uncle was cracking jokes about him. Basically the conversation came down to that my friend was wierd. My uncle with autism said that he never forgot what I said that night. I told my other uncle that " We're all different, and ironically, that's what makes us the same. So if he's [my friend] wierd, then you're wierd too."

that's my story for the day, I don't even remmeber why I started telling now.

Well, tooles.

[shane23]

I have a sister that is autistic and I find this EXTREMELY disturbing. This kid works harder than every other child in that classroom just to get by, and that sick excuse for teacher allows A kindergarten class vote him out?! This lady needs to be locked up or put in a mental institution.

[*blank*]

I can see her problem with the kid. The article said "He has discipline issues because of his disease." So I'm assuming that she got frustrated with his actions, but to take it to such an extreme level as in leading the kids into voting the kid out of his "education" (It's only kindergarten, but you got to learn your colors somewhere.) This teacher should be suspended or fired for her actions.

[tigerx102]

Autistic children are incapable of responding properly to criticism without some kind of over sensory reaction. Since we can blame the naivete and immaturity of all the kids and the teacher's apparent lack of judgment, let's blame this kid for having an autistic disorder. This is a classroom, not a concentration camp. No kid deserves that kind of ridicule no matter what.

The teacher or school administration should have been aware of the kid's condition and implemented a specially designed academic program for him. Not special education, but an alternative, because obviously his autistic disorder does not allow him to fit in with what is considered socially acceptable.

[PlagueFTW]

He's 5 and has Autism, so he gets kicked outta the class.
Great setup for a comedy. Bad situation in Real life.
Whos the hipocrates? You and me.
/Thread

[Dragon]

He's 5 and has Autism, so he gets kicked outta the class.
Great setup for a comedy. Bad situation in Real life.
Whos the hipocrates? You and me.
/Thread

Do you know the definition of hypocrite? Because that honestly doesn't apply with what you just said.

[DarkReality]

Or he could have meant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocrates

I don't know why though.

>_>

[Pharmapac]

So, Since when do students have the power to kick each other out of classrooms?

[shane23]

When crazy people get hired as teachers.

[Bcousin00]

That's the kind of #### in this world that just pisses me off

[Meatwad]

Thats terrible. I think there should have been some kind of disciplinary act towards the teacher, even if it was an in-school activity. Since they were kind of young it doesn't seem as bad, or maybe it seems more bad. I still think if a high school teacher would have done something of the sort, the student would become more aware of his short comings, but definitely not if he/she were born with them.
Ouch.

[Caesar Augustus]

Here's a video: (There is an ad that plays.)
width='506' height='494'

This is the timestamp: WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., May 27, 2008

I'm too lazy to look for the result.

yes the teacher is clearly wrong, but comparing her to al-kida is going a bit far. in my opinion, that was about the worst thing she could have said; I have absolutely no sympathy for people who streach the truth, sorry.

[Meatwad]

A facebook for the kid? Get a life.

[DarkReality]

yes the teacher is clearly wrong, but comparing her to al-kida is going a bit far. in my opinion, that was about the worst thing she could have said; I have absolutely no sympathy for people who streach the truth, sorry.

As soon as she said that other people think what they're doing is right, I was expecting her to mention Hitler.

[mattz1010]

I was thinking that was the next thing she was going to mention if he didn't interrupt her 'oh-so-timely'. Probably would have made a good example.

Should've started off with Hitler though.

[Mysterio619]

I hate this world. Where's the peace? So what if people have flaws? Live with it, don't pick on them about it! There's so much bullies. And the cliques: jocks,nerds,preps etc. One of my friends has an autistic brother and everyone steals his stuff just to make him mad and calls him stupid and says GO AWAY!