Boy sticks out Tongue, is Suspended

EL Paso Times ^ | 04.01.03

[Coleus]

Boy sticks out tongue, is suspended

David Crowder, El Paso Times

Sal Santana II, a 12-year-old Magoffin Middle School student, said he stuck his tongue out at a girl who declined his invitation to be his girlfriend. School district administrators viewed the incident as sexual harassment, suspended him for three days and are considering placing him in an alternative school.

"This is crazy," said Sal's mother, Silvia Santana. "It's a shame that a guy trying to be cute with a girl can get himself into this much trouble. I don't think he even knows what sexual harassment is."

El Paso school district spokesman Luis Villalobos said no one with the district can comment on the case, but he said the events leading to Sal's punishment were witnessed by a teacher at the Northeast El Paso middle school.

"This is a real sensitive issue, but nonetheless one that is covered in the student handbook, which we enforce," Villalobos said. "He's facing the discipline measure that's appropriate for the offense."

The school district has received four other reports of sexual harassment at the middle- and high- school levels this year, two of which were substantiated, Villalobos said.

Last year, four incidents -- two from middle schools -- were reported. Villalobos could not say what disciplinary actions the district took in any of the cases.

Silvia Santana and her husband, Salvador, have a meeting today with the district's director of student services, Gloria Boyer, who has the authority to set aside the planned disciplinary measures in Sal's case.

Salvador Santana said they will appeal to the school board if necessary and will probably sue the district regardless of what happens.

"It's got to be done because God knows how many other kids have been involved in something like this," Salvador Santana said, adding that his son has had no disciplinary problems in school this year.

He said the family received a detailed account of what allegedly occurred during a meeting last week with Magoffin Principal Rose Rios and a district representative.

"The teacher said he stuck his tongue out and moved it back and forth and waved at her like you were patting someone on the back and that that constitutes sexual harassment," Salvador Santana said. "She said the girl was upset and scared."

The district's student code of conduct states that "sexual harassment of a student by another student includes unwanted and unwelcome verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, whether by word, gesture or any other sexual conduct, including requests for sexual favors."

Sal said he doesn't remember receiving any instruction about sexual harassment in class. But Villalobos said Rios reported that there have been at least two training sessions for students this year.

Psychologist Karen Gold said it is not only important that students receive sexual harassment training in the sixth or seventh grade, but that they understand it, as well.

"There's a question mark: Was the lesson properly taught and learned?" Gold asked. "There's also a question here of the punishment fitting the crime."

She suggested that Sal should have been given an opportunity to apologize to the girl if his behavior was inappropriate.

"Not being able to make amends does not give the child the chance to learn the appropriate behavior," Gold said. "The school should be a training ground, not an arena for punishment. Teachers are there to teach, and kids are there to learn."

Sandra Lloyd, chairwoman of educational psychology at UTEP, said schools need to be sensitive to young students and careful in judging their actions.

"That's particularly true at that age when boys and girls are just beginning to get interested in each other," Lloyd said.

But, she said, "I have heard of some terrible examples of harassment at this age level, though this doesn't seem to sound like one.

"Sometimes the punishment may seem extreme, but on the other hand, if we don't have some kind of policy in place for this, then that is also a problem."

Some parents of seventh-graders at Magoffin Middle School were surprised to hear last week that a student was being disciplined for alleged sexual harassment.

"That's something new to me. I never heard of it," Eduardo Marquez said. "It's ridiculous to do that to a little boy. If he touched her or looked up her dress, that would be different."

Marquez said he knows from his son that there is a lot of pressure to have a girlfriend or boyfriend at the school.

"It's stupid," Mercedes Nolan said of Sal's punishment while waiting for her seventh-grade daughter. "But at 12, kids have no business going out on dates or anything. They should be studying."

Sexual harassment cases at high schools and middle schools in the area's three largest school districts:

El Paso: Five cases reported this year and four last year. No information was available about the disposition of the cases.

Ysleta: Information unavailable because the district has no specific category for sexual harassment complaints.

Socorro: Two students placed in alternative school this year. No cases of students suspended or sent to an alternative school last year.

David Crowder may be reached at dcrowder@elpasotimes.com

[Slyfox]

Bill Clinton stuck out his bent weiner, MORE THAN ONCE, and never did get suspended.

[Billy_bob_bob]

As long as that kid is attending public school, he is indeed caught in the clutches of the socialist state.

Somehow I'm not surprised that you don't think this is a bad thing. "Overstating things" indeed. If anything I'm understating things. I went to California public schools. Oh, the stories I could tell.

[Coleus]

Bill Clinton stuck out his bent weiner, MORE THAN ONCE, and never did get suspended.>>

If it's any consolation, he did get Impeached. Too bad the Senate couldn't follow through.

[ZULU]

I don't know if it would be the same, but it SHOULD be.

[Darksheare]

Well, we know what the witnessing teacher had on their mind.
As for kids, sticking one's tongue out at someone is par for the course.

This is SO stupid...

[Darksheare]

Here in my area of New York, women at one and the same time both seem to WANT to be harrassed and HATE it at the same time.
(Some of them twitter like birds when some 'burly' type makes a disgusting comment at them. Seems suspiciously like they enjoy being thought of as an object. They'll also make some disgusting comments back, or have a "one night stand." and then say, "you shouldn't think I'm a cheap tramp for giving it out that easy!". But ask them on a date or say that they look especially gorgeous today, and you're slapped with a lawsuit. And NEVER, EVER make the mistake of holding a door open for them.. that is Verboten for men to do these days. I guess I'm too far archaic in my thinking to 'get it'.)
I've said elsewhere, and been flamed for saying, that the feminist movement has done more to turn women into objects, and hurt women more than any man has done.
It went from being 'equal' to being 'payback'.

[Fester Chugabrew]

"It appears there was a perverted connotation involved here."

I agree. The kid probably stuck his tongue out the same way I would be inclined to stick mine out at Laurie Dhue.

[Coleus]

I don't know. The zero tolerance people are hysterical. This Case I know is true.

Group sues on behalf of child in Paper-Gun Incident, More Zero Tolerance Hysteria

[Coleus]

I remember a case a few yrs. ago in SC where a 7-yr.-old boy gave a peck on the cheek to a girl and he was suspended for a week for sexual harassment.

[Coleus]

http://www.rutherford.org/resources/litigation_report.asp#zero

[ladylib]

If you have normal, healthy, bratty kids, public school is not the place for them to be today.

There are too many stupid people in authority who have too much power to destroy your kid's life. Being sent to a thug school is not little thing. Hopefully, this woman will withdraw her son from the public school if she has an inkling that the powers-that-be are going to send him to an "altnernative" school.

She should tell them to kiss her @SS and kiss away the state aid that her son's presence in that school would garner.

[CarmelValleyite]

I agree with you, certainly not with Eggman. To threaten a 12 year old kid with suspension for several days as well as possible transfer to another school -- all for sticking out his tongue, whether it was "appropriate" behavior or not -- is nothing short of idiotic.

Kids did a LOT worse to each other in my day and nothing whatsoever happened, and nothing NEEDED to happen. Everyone is such a whining crybaby these days -- years ago you just sucked it up and dealt with whatever came your way.

It was called GROWING UP!

[cricket]

"There's a question mark: Was the lesson properly taught and learned?" Gold asked. "There's also a question here of the punishment fitting the crime."

. . .the lesson is PC; the language belies the truth of totalitarian inclinations. . .

[CarmelValleyite]

I went to California schools, too -- back in the fifties and sixties. We were a pretty well-behaved bunch, but we had our moments.

Frankly, this tongue incident wouldn't have caused much of a stir at any public school I attended. The kid might've been told to knock it off, but the absolute WORST scenario would've been that he might've been sent to the Boys' VP's office for an hour.

This entire episode in El Paso was overblown, from what I've read of it.

[CarmelValleyite]

Forgive me, Illbay, but how many 12 year old boys do you know who are NOT "disgusting" much of the time?????????

[Illbay]

D*mn few, I admit.

But there are degrees, I think you'll agree.

[CarmelValleyite]

Here in Los Angeles, nearly ALL of my co-workers' middle-school age boys (in public schools) have been in trouble lately and given suspensions, transfers, ad nauseum.

One boy dared to toss a handful of dirt into the air, another touched a girl on her rear in the hallway between classes, and the third boy also touched some girl (inappropriately, in the eyes of the principal). Now, there is nothing whatsoever WRONG with the usual normal behavior of any of these boys; but once in awhile they just mess up and act like .....12 year old boys!

[ATCNavyRetiree]

I guess the kid had a really l-o-n-g tongue! LOL!!

[Illbay]

My only caveat is that none of us was there, and don't know the context. The schools will not reveal all the details because they are prohibitted from doing so.

As easy as it is to jump to the conclusion that "bad stuff" was going on here, there may be more to the story.

[Eaker]

Making a public example of a trivial offense is a very effective intimidation tool.

Maybe they should have shoved him into a shredder. That would teach those kids to be good little commies!!!

For Pete's sake..........he stuck his tongue out. I bet these dykes don't have a problem with this behavior at their favorite lez bar.