Posted on 08/24/2009 1:09:24 PM PDT by Federalist Patriot
Here is disturbing cell phone video just released last week of what is reportedly an autistic child in Pittsburgh being slapped by a teacher back in 2008. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the parents of the child are suing but had not seen the video until it was posted on YouTube just recently. The teacher was removed from the classroom last year. On the video, you clearly see the child being slapped in the face and being screamed at. . . . (Video)
(Excerpt) Read more at freedomslighthouse.com ...
let me guess...at a government school?
Yes, I believe it was at a public school. That kind of behavior by a trusted teacher is about as bad as it gets.
if that was my kid.. i would have 1 word for the teacher...
“RUN”
arth ping
I agree!
It would be interesting to see the behavior of the kid beforehand.
OK - let me preface my reply with the statement that I in NO WAY condone slapping students. Period.
But while I believe, from the short video, that this was a horrible incident (and probably not isolated), I would strongly encourage you - especially if you have a child in public school, to take a day or two off your busy schedule and go down to your child’s school and spend a day. I believe a lot of folks have really twisted idea of what school is today. 50 years ago, it was quite unlikely a student was going to get up and slap/hit/beat a teacher. 50 years ago, it was very unlikely a teacher would have been cussed out in class. 50 years ago, the odds were pretty slim of a student coming into the classroom with a firearm and opening fire.
50 years ago, the average classroom did not have students with a lot of behavior/mental problems. There were alternatives, or they were generally dealt with.
For that matter, I recall much more recently when I was in high school - the biggest behavior problem students were self-contained - and mostly because they were also the “special ed” kids. I’m not necessarily saying this is the right way to do it - just making a point.
Today, the legal push is to “mainstream” all students, regardless of their ability level, their psychological situation, their emotional situation, or even if they are proven to be dangerous to others. - they are to be placed in regular classrooms.
But again - I’m not going to argue the pros and cons of the segregation of certain students - that is for another thread. What I am saying - go check out your local schools, spend time there and truly watch. Volunteer to substitute (that will give you an eye opening!) While little of what you might see would change the fact that the “teacher” in the cell phone video was completely wrong in her behavior, I think one might be able to see how a human being might be pushed to the breaking point and act so badly.
I truly believe, if more citizens - especially parents - would spend real time at the schools (not just a concert, athletic event, or conference), that things would change. There are some smart people out there that might be able to observe and come up with some really revolutionary ideas on how to fix the many issues with the schools - including the discipline problems.
P.S. - I am glad that “teacher” was yanked from the classroom.
See post 8 (mine) immediately below yours.
I’ve seen teachers screaming at kids before, but have to admit, hitting a special needs child is beyond anything I expected to see...
The teacher is gone, case closed. Now the parents are just treasure hunting.
Watch the video. She clearly slaps the kid and screams "STOP MOVING YOUR CHAIR!"
Gee, that's a real good reason to go balistic and slap a handicapped child, hmmm?
I have one word for her too.... A-Hole!
Who knows.
We only get to see the end of the scene.
And the word is "ballistic".
Gimme a break.
He could have tossed feces. He could have "wee-wee'd" on another student.
Retarded kids can do some very nasty stuff, some of which does
NOT merit a hug. At some point someone has to show them that
some behavior is NOT acceptable. But we can't see what led up to this.
This is my point. we don't know.
The school did the right thing by removing this unbalanced "educator" and firing her.
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It's irrelevant what the kid did. The teacher is supposed to be the adult in this situation. If she can't handle her job, she needs to find another one.
I find it reprehensible that anybody would even think of finding a reason to excuse the behavior of this teacher. I also find it reprehensible that people imply that the victim of any hitting or beating deserves it because of some alleged behavior on their part that is merely a matter of speculation, and not of any substance.
Beating women and children in our society is not acceptable and nobody deserves it simply because of what they may or moy not have done moments before.
He could have tossed feces. He could have "wee-wee'd" on another student.
Retarded kids can do some very nasty stuff, some of which does NOT merit a hug. At some point someone has to show them that some behavior is NOT acceptable. But we can't see what led up to this.
This is my point. we don't know.
No, we don't know. So why assume the worst with absolutely no reason? Just because the child is autistic or retarded do we presume that he did something *nasty*? Is that what you really think first when encountering retarded or autistic individuals ?
Even if the child had done something like that, do you really think that that justifies that adult's behavior? Don't you think that there would have been some better way to deal with behavior issues than slapping the child in the face and screaming at him?
Why are you excusing beating autistic children?
As a group? Where did you see that?
Suppose they want to beat you up or start a fire?
How about throwing little kids into traffic?
Is there any line you draw? Let 'em just do whatever they wish?
I think not. Stop means stop.
You act like there’s a difference between a little boy moving his chair a couple inches to the right, and that same little boy throwing babies into traffic. You gotta draw the line somewhere.
A few years ago I attended a musical program on a Friday evening at our local high school. It was to support one of the students in my Sunday school class who was performing in the program.
I was shocked to see the behavior of the teens in the audience. They entered the auditorium pushing and shoving their friends. They lounged in their seats with their feet propped on the backs of the seats in front of them. They draped their legs over the arms of the auditorium seats. They called loudly from the audience to their friends on stage. Their were loud burbs, farts, and other disturbances.
I was shocked. If I were the principal, I would have interrupted the concert, emptied the auditorium of students, lined them up in the hall, and firmly instructed the students on behavior expected at a concert. If there were any more auditory disturbances that section of the auditorium would be escorted out of the concert. Any student who did not sit properly in their seats would be required to leave.
The following Monday, every student in the school would be required to **practice** how to be a polite and respectful audience member.
This was a government high school that served one of the wealthiest sections of our county. This would be considered an award winning school! I simply can not understand why a principal and the teachers tolerated such infantile behavior.
You might want to review my replies. I hope you're not including me in this, because I was arguing the same point as you are. There is NO EXCUSE for this "teacher's" behavior and I'm glad she was fired, in fact, she should have been charged criminally.
IMO it doesn’t really matter what the child did. Corporal punishment is ok but the child needs to understand what they did. Did this child understand what they did wrong?
And slapping a child is different than spanking them. there are differences to how people handle the two types of physical punishment.
Yes public schools are broken. yes this teacher is probably a good person pushed too far and lacked the proper training. Doesn’t really matter, physically abusing a handicapped person is not necessary.
I’m sure Metmom was just giving you a courtesy ping, as I’ve done for her with this post. You’ve done a good job making your position clear. I can’t imagine that anyone would think you support beating disabled kids. Very few people do, and you made it clear you don’t.
Unbelieveable, even for you. There is no reason to hit a child in a classroom. They have procedures in place to handle an out of control child, and the article stated the girl who recorded it did so because this teacher had hit the child before.
Correct. That's why I'm careful to make sure the names in the *To* field are in the proper order. I was always under the impression that the first person listed was the one to whom the comments were addressed and everyone else was included because they had some part in the previous discussion and they might wish to follow the rest of the comments. That's why I try to follow that pattern.
I know that no decent person would advocate slapping a child, or anybody, like a woman or police officer, across the face in rage or a beating. That just isn't within the standards of civilized behavior and I generally presume that people don't endorse it, unless they are seen excusing it or blaming the victim.
Sorry for the misunderstanding, Bullish.
Is that what this kid did?
How about throwing little kids into traffic?
Where does it say that this 10 year old was throwing little kids into traffic?
Is there any line you draw? Let 'em just do whatever they wish?
Is there any kind of line YOU draw in the behavior of people like this teacher?
So, *normal* adults are permitted to use that kind of force to control an autistic child? Slapping them across the face and screaming at them to not move their chair again is real effective, isn't it?
Just for the record, where do you get the idea that slapping a CHILD across the face and screaming at them is appropriate behavior by an adult towards a child for any infraction?
We don't know. The video does not show the beginning of the scene.
How about throwing little kids into traffic?
We don't know. The video does not show the beginning of the scene.
Is there any kind of line YOU draw in the behavior of people like this teacher?
Again, we did not see what led up to the incident.
Do you mean to imply any and all behavior should be accepted?
I wasn’t surprised by the arrival of the stalker about half an hour after I joined the thread. You weren’t surprised, were you? I didn’t think so.
No, but we heard from the teacher what he did. The teacher herself lets us know. Listen to the stinkin' video.
She screams at him, after slapping him across the face, "Stop moving your chair back. And stop it. And you stay up there."
Now, what makes you think that this kid had *tossed feces*, *"wee-wee'd" on another student*, threatened to beat up the teacher, or start a fire, or tossed little kids into traffic?
BTW, autistic children are not *retarded*, as you also implied in post 15. *Retarded* and *autistic* are not interchangeable terms.
No, it isn’t. Sadly, it’s not surprising.
So you accept the diagnosis provided by YouTube as being the correct one?
Fast forward almost 30 years---and there is mass nationwide hysteria (including on a conservative forum) over a teacher slapping an "autistic" child. Whether the teacher was right or wrong, I am a little upset of the society we are in today which finds that behavioral correction in children should only be handled by the parents---many of whom do very little of it themselves.
Not a bit.
That's pretty weak really.
*:o)
Why not? Give me a good reason to think not.
Inappropriate or dangerous behavior by an autistic child is not acceptable and should be corrected. No one implied otherwise. However, slapping a child and screaming at them is not acceptable behavior for a teacher and should also be corrected. It doesn’t matter what the child did she handled it incorrectly. She should have addressed the behavior in an APPROPRIATE way. I think you realize what everyone is trying to say and you just like to argue.
Actually, that has nothing to do with the comment.
The comment was, "*Retarded* and *autistic* are not interchangeable terms. "
Aside from that, on what basis should we accept your diagnosis that the child is retarded as opposed to autistic?
Do you have any expertise or personal experience in this area that gives you an ability to diagnose *retarded* versus *autistic* based on a 20 second video?
What gives you credibility that you deny others?
Do you know something about this situation that we don't know?
Are you sharing personal information about this child that is confidential or protected by HIPPA?
Slapping a child isn’t behaviorial correction. It is abuse. Discipline is about explanation and then consequence. “Okay, son. I told you not to move your chair and you didn’t obey me. Now here is your consequence.” Then give the spanking calmly and hug on your child. Slapping a child is about taking your anger for their behavior out on the child. Discipline is about correcting the child’s behavior lovingly for the child’s benefit.
I disagree - that child is autistic and this teacher did this enough times that an aide in the classroom took the bold move to record this abuse. I doubt there was no knowledge of this teachers behavior prior to this. She probably spoke harshly of the kids in a break room or around other teachers and no one stepped forward to try to stop her. This isn’t treasure hunting in my opinion - lots of people dropped the ball in this school to allow this to happen repeatedly.
What kind of psychology promotes spanking followed by a hug?
"...the video was made by an intern using a cell phone who had seen the teacher abuse the student in the past."
So, this incident wasn't even the first! That poor child! I can't understand how people at that school didn't put that woman in her place long ago. She apparently felt comfortable enough slapping that child and screaming at him in front of an intern.
I dont put much faith in psychology or frankly any faith at all. I do however believe the Bible. Hebrews 12:11 “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
When done in love and not anger a spanking produces peace in a child. I have witnessed it both ways. If I spank in love they want to ask forgiveness and mend the relationship. If I spank out of annoyance for the behaviour or anger, they are defiant and angry. They should be. Then I need to ask for forgiveness. Spanking a child in anger causes a rift in the relationship. Spanking a child because it is what is best for him bring peace.
The kind in which the well being of the child is the goal.
What kind of psychology promotes hitting a child in the face and screaming at him for moving his chair a couple inches?
You have the right attitude. Children are to be loved, not hated.
That attitude is my goal. I dont always live up to it.
Have you ever hit any of your students in the face?
To clarify. I always love my children. I am not always patient with them. But always being patient with them is my goal.
None of us live up to all of our goals. But the sad fact is, there are some among us whose goal is to be abusive toward anyone they think is weak enough to be easily victimized. They make it that much more enjoyable to encounter someone like you, who tries to be an example of God’s love.
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