Posted on 02/07/2009 8:56:33 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
BEAVER DAM (WKOW) -- Beaver Dam school officials placed a middle school teacher on administrative leave after discovering a photograph of the teacher with a gun on the teacher's Facebook page.
In the photo, teacher Betsy Ramsdale is training a rifle at the camera.
Ramsdale emailed 27 News in response to our inquiries saying she "removed the photo immediately" and that she is not "interested in any controversy." Ramsdale did not comment on her motivation for posting the photo.
Schools superintendent Donald Childs told 27 News he is unaware of any sinister intent on the teacher's part and said the use of the photo "appears to be poor judgment."
Childs said the Facebook photo was brought to the attention of school district officials by a concerned staff member at Beaver Dam Middle School.
Ramsdale's biography on the school district website states she is in her first year of teaching at the middle school. Department of Public Instruction records show Ramsdale has been licensed to teach since 1996.
Middle school parent Jennifer Buzzell said the teacher's decision to post the photograph was concerning.
"I don't think it's appropriate," Buzzell told 27 News. "I'm not sure why this would be on the computer at all."
"I don't see anything wrong with it," school parent Mark Hagstrom said. "She's on her time to do what she wants."
School parent Chad Van Loo said the photograph sends the wrong message.
"With the way things are going these days, with the kids bringing guns to school and bomb threats, (photograph) is something to be concerned about."
Ramsdale's union representation is through the Beaver Dam Education Association. Association president Janet Schumaker has yet to return a call from 27 News.
Read our Assistant News Director's Blog on this topic:
http://addins.wkowtv.com/blogs/behindthenews/
To comment and provide news tips, contact reporter Tony Galli at tgalli@wkowtv.com
Never. Never point a weapon at another person. Unless they are threatening you.
For any reason.
If that's a rifle, the recoil will break her shoulder.
Principal: Miss Ramsdale, do you have a moment?
Teacher: Yes.
Principal: Would you please remove the facebook photo of yourself pointing a gun at a camera. I know it’s your right, but we’ve been contacted by a parent who is hoplophobic.
Teacher: OK. Sorry to have caused the school any trouble.
There. Problem solved.
Photographers, are people.
That’s totally irresponsible.
It is the wrong message to send.
You could not possibly know the circumstance of that photo.
Quite trying to impress us with your righteous gun safety indignation, and get over yourself.
Good observation! (Gun vs Sleaze conditioning in schools)
1. Anyone who thinks that Facebook is exempt from the normal societal rules and BOUNDARIES that govern our real-time lives is a fool. Beware 'friending' your boss or anyone subordinate to you (ie, students, employees) or anyone who might higher you or seek to do business with you. If you are trying to establish a professional presence on the site - as many politicians do - keep the personal life off the board. Anything you say or post can or will be used to form impressions of you - just like real life. Boundaries are for everyone's good.
2. Permissions can be set on photos allowing the account holder to determine who gets to see them - specific individuals, your friend list, or the whole world. The permissions you set on candid photos of you doing whatever it is you think is fun should mirror the aforementioned boundaries.
3. The teacher demonstrated a profound lack of good judgement because of her failure to maintain boundaries between her professional and private life - the details in the photograph just underscore that fact.
4. Parents should not be shocked that their children's teachers do shocking things in their personal lives. The definition of shocking varies widely.
er, typing fail: Beware ‘friending’ ... anyone who might *hire* you
School shootings are not caused by gunsshalom b'SHEM Yah'shua HaMashiach Adonai
but by teachers and doctors who place
young people on SSRIs
It scares the hell out of me that he came so close to being POTUS.....
What about that one? It looks like Al is adjusting the sling on an unloaded weapon.
What are you trying to say?
The magazine is out. Was it really unloaded? I never stare into the barrel of a gun unless the magazine is out AND the breach is open and empty. But thats just me.
She is very irresponsible. She sets a very poor example.
Always keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot Always keep the gun unloaded until ready to useShe has never been trained.
NRA Gun Safety Rules :
Always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction
How do you know the breech isn't open and empty?
How do you know he didn't clear the weapon first?
< ok, I get it, a wise guy devoid of substance...my bad
We really should stop funds to NEA interests and ignore delusional, anti-social parents who pretend or appear to be oblivious to the difference between entertainment photos/movies and firing range discipline. We can see from their frequent pretenses of being too easily offended, that they are only community harpies bent on dishonestly and illegitimately having others fired from their jobs.
How do you know the picture that started this thread isn’t a toy, or non firing replica?
You obviously fail to see the humor in what you wrote.
Is it the photographs themselves that are empowering or what they depict?
Re-read what you wrote. You said the photographs themselves are empowering and I found it humorous.
You fail to acknowledge the imagery being presented in Volk's photographs vs. what is depicted in the teacher's photo.
At whom is the girl in the photograph aiming? Obviously a perp who is off camera. And, why didn't the cameraman have the model aim directly at the camera? Because that makes us, the viewer, the perp.
When a Hollywood director wants us to see someone else getting shot, they show the actor aiming off camera, such as the Dirty Harry photo. When the director wants to put us, the viewer, into the place of the person being shot, they have the actor aim directly at the camera.
When the folks at the teacher's school saw the photograph of her taking aim at the viewer, they were reminded of the photo of the VT shooter and what he did after taking a similar photo. That's why they were alarmed.
So, are we merely talking about an image or what the image depicts?
What would happen to you if you pointed a toy gun or non-firing replica at a cop?
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