Posted on 06/14/2007 8:18:08 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
INDIANAPOLIS -- Sixth-grader Matt Porter didn't enjoy getting "Most Likely Not To Have Children" and "Sir Clowns-a-Lot" awards from two teachers at his school.
His parents aren't pleased, either.
Matt said he received the awards in front of classmates during a ceremony at the Decatur Intermediate Learning Center at the end of the recently finished school year. His mother and his stepfather have asked the Decatur Township school system to reprimand the teachers, and they want an apology.
"Words cut deeper than any knife could. They hurt," said his stepfather, Joseph Sims. "When you hurt a child like that, you not only hurt him mentally, but it does hurt physically because you withdraw within yourself. That is what Matthew has done."
The certificates were signed by the teachers who distributed them. Matt recalled what the ceremony was like.
"I was standing in the middle of (the two teachers), and they (were) reading them off," he said. "Everyone was laughing."
Matt felt humiliated.
"They (were) putting us down and everything," he said. "That is not what their job is for, to put kids down. They are supposed to teach us."
Amy Sims, Matt's mother, said she met with a school official over the matter but was not satisfied with the response.
"She just told me that the teachers would call and apologize to him, and we've not heard anything at all," Amy Sims said.
Gary Pellico, spokesman for the school system, declined to say whether the teachers have been disciplined. He said system officials regret the incident.
"We don't feel like it was an appropriate awards ceremony at all," Pellico said. "It wasn't part of the school's award ceremony, and it will not happen again."
Amy Sims said her son needs counseling because of the awards. The school has offered it, but an agreement on who will provide it has not been reached, Thomas reported.
Bring back the dunce cap and let kids get a serious taste of the real world.
You got it....
It's one thing for a teacher to discipline children - it's quite another to belittle them.
I remember today with horror how when I was in grade school a teacher encouraged me and the other children to make fun of a child who showed up to school late and who wore an oversized coat to school.
In reality, he was late because his father had left his mother and she was working nights to support herself and her children. He came in to school late sometimes because his mother had to drive straight from work to his grandmother's house to pick him up and bring him to school, since his grandmother couldn't drive but was the only person she trusted with her children.
He wore an oversized coat because his mother couldn't afford to buy him a new winter coat and instead altered one of his father's coats for him.
That teacher was a vicious c***, and the worst part is that she encouraged myself and other 8 year olds to mock and laugh at another little boy who was going through hell.
Thank God my mother is a Christian woman who set me straight on that one.
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover—years ago I had the most angelic looking child in my class, smart as a whip—and I swear on a stack of Bibles, demon possessed...he would go off on other students for no reason, throwing desks over his head at them...cursing at them with language that would make a sailor blush, and guess what I was told by admin?
Ignore it. He’d been classified ‘special ed’ due to his behavioral problems and legally I couldn’t do *ANYTHING* to try to correct his behavior. Put up with that crap for half a year, until finally his parents had him institutionalized—the mom was pregnant and he would draw pictures of him stabbing the baby to death and make statements about all the horrible ways he planned to kill it after it was born—when he started saying he was going to cut it out of the mom, they locked him up. Order was restored to my classroom, finally, but those other students in my class were the ones who suffered because of his behavior.
Give the teachers the benefit of the doubt—until you hear their side of the story, you just never know.
Don’t EVEN get me started on *that* subject!!! Grrrrrrr. >:-(
“Only a “breeder” would be awarded “Most Likely Not To Have Children”. The alternative lifestyle kids would not be subject to having their lifestyle choice (in the sixth grade no less) questioned.”
WeeGee, you have some serious issues.
This isn’t a thread about homosexuality, ok?
This is about a kid getting being teased by teachers. Do you think you might be able to comment on it without yammering on about your #1 obsession?
Holy crap, anyone would think there’s a gay pride parade on your front lawn every day of the week the way you go on.
I'm not a woman and I believe you have absolutely nailed it.
Exactly. What the hell?
“Future Doctor award?”
It might have been exactly that!!
Holy crap... are you Mrs. Stick????
I don’t know. When my son was in 5th grade a teacher gave ‘sarcastic’ awards. My big tough kid was hurt and humiliated by this. It’s really not funny-I consider it an abuse of power. I taught for almost 20 years and once accidentally humiliated a kid (using humor). I apologized. Teachers need to careful. The effects of their words are extremely powerful.
My children were high achievers in school, but the school was more interested in making a big deal of the athletes. I recall being at their school and an announcement was made that a particular football player was going to make an announcement at a certain time in the library as to which college he chose to attend. It's all about the money, you know. It's no wonder why kids get labeled nerds and the sports players are looked on as the cool ones.
I was the smartest boy in my 4th grade class (the fact that I was the only boy in my 4th grade class notwithstanding!)and when someone dd something wrong, I was ALWAYS the one blamed. Gee, did I miss something here? Tell the kid involved to STFU, and tell the teachers involved to grow up. Society would be better served if the parents involved would grow up as well! In short, who the hell cares about this?
I'm not sure that what happened to this kid - Most likely not to have kids - wasn't malicious. I read it to be. If not, OK. But clearly the kid thought it was malicious.
I've been told by another poster the kid was humiliated because he had misbehaved in class all year.
That's more information than I have.
Unfortunately, in today’s modern public education, the last group I would give a benefit of a doubt to are the teachers, especially teachers who thought this was “ok”.
The kid is a poorly socialized lout.
And when you are a lout, you are a lout.
Didn’t anybody ever read a few strips of the “Li’l Abner” comic strip by Al Capp? That journal of the foibles of humanity was peopled EXCLUSIVELY by louts.
I haven’t read one reply yet, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar that someone has already cited the actions of these two individual teachers (stupid actions) as “another reason to homeschool.”
In any event, while the one award --- "Sir Clowns A Lot" --- seems fine, the "Most Likely Not To Have Children" award seems over-the-top and not appropriate for a 6th grader.
My thoughts exactly.
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