> Wanton cruelty isn’t a valid personnel management methodology, and anyone who engages in it should be fired.
So in a perfect world, and given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, what should this teacher have done, both to control this child Alex and the other 14 5-year olds?
You have described the treatment as “wanton cruelty”. Fair enough — what would be the “humane and effective” remedy for dealing to a disruptive influence like Alex, amid 14 other 5 year olds?
I place 95% of the blame squarely with the parents of Alex for “bucket-headed stupidity and selfishness”, and 5% of the blame with the school system for “reckless disregard”. Yup, the teacher gets a Pass.
Alex did not belong in that class. He was ill-equipped and he suffered as a result.
So in a perfect world, and given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, what should this teacher have done, both to control this child Alex and the other 14 5-year olds?
Oh, I don't know...maybe ask administration for quidance on what she was to do...since they sent him BACK to the classroom.
“So in a perfect world, and given the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, what should this teacher have done, both to control this child Alex and the other 14 5-year olds?”
I don't know. I wasn't there.
But there are any number of “solutions” that would have resolved the behavior problem but unfortunately, also not have been appropriate. After all, the teacher could have just strangled the child to death. Or maimed or mutilated the child physically in a way to prevent further disruptive behavior.
Nonetheless, they, too, would have been wrong.
“Fair enough — what would be the ‘humane and effective’ remedy for dealing to a disruptive influence like Alex, amid 14 other 5 year olds?”
I've managed mixed age groups of children of up to a couple of dozen, with an occasional disruptive child or mixed in, including public school “rejects” (Our local public schools have been given to a new tactic, taking kids they can't control or educate and strongly “suggesting” that their parents try homeschooling. These children are different from ordinary homeschoolers, and often present troubling behavior problems, including vandalism, theft, abusive language, cheating, and physical violence. Yet, after a few months within the homeschooling community, most of these kids improve markedly, and often, their disruptive behaviors eventually disappear). Never had a problem keeping control of the kids. I've used different techniques with different children, including temporary exclusion from the group.
However, I've never held a child out for extended public ridicule from other children.
As awful as the experience must have been for this child, I wonder whether the lessons taught the other children - that wanton cruelty directed at folks who make their lives difficult is an appropriate behavior - wasn't worse.
“I place 95% of the blame squarely with the parents of Alex for ‘bucket-headed stupidity and selfishness’,”
The parents receive no blame whatsoever. They were in the midst of seeking out the answers to the problem that their son experiences. Their son had not yet been diagnosed with Asperger’s, and thus, it's not likely the school would have yet approved an alternative curriculum for him. As well, in most states, school attendance is mandatory, thus, taking the boy out of school could have resulted in truancy charges.
“...and 5% of the blame with the school system for ‘reckless disregard’.”
I don't know to what degree the school or the school system deserves blame, as the article doesn't really provide much detail as to how things were handled prior to this crime.
“Yup, the teacher gets a Pass.”
In this case, the teacher should get a pass. Right out of teaching into a career path more suited toward her. Like cleaning up elephant dung in a zoo.
“Alex did not belong in that class.”
That may turn out to be the case. But, the child was in KINDERGARTEN, for pete’s sake. It isn't as if the parents and the school had waited years to address the problems he displayed. The parents and school were working on figuring out what were the underlying causes of his behavior, and apparently acting responsibly.
The teacher, on the other hand, obviously isn't cut out for the demanding job of teaching Kindergarten.
“He was ill-equipped and he suffered as a result.”
He suffered most from the cruelty of an incompetent whore who displayed greater behavior problems than Alex, and incited a class of children to join her in her inexcusable, anti-social, evil behavior.
sitetest
Alex did not belong in that class. He was ill-equipped and he suffered as a result.”
Teacher doesn't get a pass. They are supposed to know how to deal with kids like that. Including starting the IEP process themselves. The only way to know if Alex belongs in that class is to follow the process. That is the law here. May be different where you live, but here we have laws that describe how to do this. I'm all for suing the teacher, and I am a teacher.
Now, if you'd said that about a teen, I'd agree with you.
Here is some info you might be able to use: