Posted on 11/10/2005 1:55:38 PM PST by Abathar
ELIZABETH, Pa. -- Angry parents told a school board it should fire an elementary school principal who publicly shamed an 8-year-old girl falsely accused of stealing $5 from another student.
William Penn Elementary School Principal Marlene Whitby paraded the girl from class to class last month, calling her a liar and thief. Soon after, the student who made the theft accusation recanted her story.
Whitby apologized privately to Katie White after the family complained to school administrators, but not publicly, said Ryan White, the girl's father.
Elizabeth Forward School Board members told angry parents at a meeting Wednesday they are "appropriately" handling the issue.
The president of the board, Lowell Meek, said he understood White's anger.
"If you understood my anger, (Whitby) would be gone," White said.
White said he spoke to Whitby and she acknowledged that she didn't look at a school bus video or talk to the bus driver to verify the theft accusation.
Tom DeRosa, a Forward Township supervisor who has a third-grade daughter, asked the board why it has taken nearly a month to investigate Whitby.
"There's no mystery about what happened," DeRosa said. "It should have taken one day."
Whitby, who remains the school's principal, didn't immediately return a message left at the school Thursday.
School board officials have refused to say what kind of discipline Whitby could face.
It was the CHILD who beared false witness. The principal was going on a he said/she said from the kids.
Look I've said before her problem was not investigating further. But this story leaves out important details in other areas as well. Did the punished child have a history of stealing?
I've been around my Xstep-kids friends enough to see there's plenty of loser kids in public schools. And every last one of them had parents that would protect their deliquent butts every time they got into trouble (my Xstep-kids included).
Like I said, will this incident scar this child for life? Hardly. If I were her mom I would have gone to the principal, ALONE, and asked her if she would politely apologize to my child for the incident. And then I'd be happy - done - and moved on (and my child would too because suing doesn't fix a DAMN thing!)
You have set up a straw man. It possibly may not reduce the child into a cringing nothing afraid to venture out on the street, but ever so slightly this child's idea of justice will be cheapened.
And the teacher who furthered the lie, not even bothering to take obvious steps to verify.
Guilt by similarity?
DDT
"Will this child be scarred for life for this? Hardly. We treat our children too softly these days."
Actually, this child can easily be scarred for life: Being dragged from class to class, throughout the school, and having the chief authority figure tell every kid and every teacher that you are a thief, and you lie about it--when you know you're innocent?
Just because you believe children are treated too softly doesn't justify the public humiliation of a child. The principal should be fired. And you should rethink this.
Thanks for the how far y'all had to walk to school back in the day....and how hard yo daddy had it...
But no one gives a $hit.
Most people on this thread get it.
A couple lard-heads like yourself don't.
This innocent child was publicly humiliated and paraded around the entire school by the institution's authority figure. She wasn't "accused," as you say--she was declared a liar and a thief. No investigation, no due process, just, She's bad and we all should hate her.
Rethink. It's not a matter of opinion. You are wrong.
Remeber it's the seriousness of the charge that counts. :)
The principal seems to not have sound judgement.
"I don't have a problem with shame being used to stop bad behavior"
Mosquito: As I explained to you earlier...very slowly... there WAS NO BAD BEHAVIOR.
It is the equivalent of the police grabbing you off the street and parading you to the squad car and shouting that you're guilty of such and such serious crime...when all he should do is quietly take you into custody, presuming you are suspected of a crime.
It is interesting that the two hardheads are the two who report having gone through harshness as a kid and "found nothing wrong" with it. Sounds like some senses of justice have indeed been cheapened....
"People like her are a good argument for bringing back stocks."
"Public humiliation is a very powerful disincentive."
You may have meant "incentive"....
But at any rate: Public humiliation is exactly what she did to the 8-year-old--who was innocent!
The parents should sue the school as well as the principal. That should get them enough money to pay this little girl's college fees and then some.
Are you a psychologist? Me either. But there is no doubt that the child will remember this the rest of her life and it won't be a fond memory.
By that logic, Al Sharpton didn't slander Steven Pagones in the Tawana Brawley case; he was just going on Brawley said when he repeated it. Are you prepared to make that claim?
He should have to parade her around to all the classes, apologize to her in each and every one, calling himself a nincompoop for accusing her erroneously, particularly in such a harsh manner.
That's the only way justice can be served.
If he was in the mood? Whether or not you were guilty of something? Is this supposed to be a good thing?
Me too. I say make the principal walk around to all the classes, apologize for erroneously accusing the girl, and tell them all what a nincompoop she is. After all, we don't want to 'soft coddle' the adults either, do we?
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