Posted on 02/15/2004 6:46:32 AM PST by Non-Sequitur
ROANOKE, Va. — The two-lane bridge that Ron Mayfield Jr. came to the morning of his death stands almost 200 feet above the waters where his father took him fishing as a boy.
Years later, he spent hours there with his own son, casting for catfish and perch.
He made two final calls on his cell phone that morning, gasping out a farewell to his wife and dialing 911 without saying a word. Then he lay the phone beside the road and straddled the knee-high metal bridge railing.
At an hour when the school day was just getting started six miles away at Woodrow Wilson Middle School, Mayfield leaned sideways and let go, falling into the river.
The note he left tucked in the Bible, on the front seat of the car he left properly parked in the rest area by the bridge, began this way: “I am so sorry for what I have done, but there is no way I could carry on, absolutely no way.”
The apology was for taking his own life. He had no need to apologize for what drove him to his death, because Mayfield knew it was untrue.
A student at Woodrow Wilson told authorities that he had been assaulted by Mayfield, 55, who taught English to non-native speakers. Mayfield denied it, but his word, his reputation and his spotless record weren't enough. He had been suspended, and police were called in to investigate.
What Mayfield didn't know as he mounted the bridge that morning was that police had cleared him of wrongdoing.
No national statistics are kept on the number of false accusations that students make against teachers, but experts have said the evolving culture of the classroom has caused the number of reports of abusive teachers to increase in the last 15 years. A study in Great Britain found that 1,782 allegations of abuse by teachers resulted in 96 prosecutions.
“There is a culture now where students know how to get rid of a teacher, they know how to get a teacher removed from a classroom,” said Greg Lawler, general counsel for the Colorado Education Association.
Lawler said the change occurred after states began requiring schools to report alleged abuses by teachers because “stuff was being swept under the rug.”
When he took the education association job 17 years ago, Lawler said, he spent 30 percent of his time defending teachers accused of criminal acts. Accusations have increased so dramatically that he and another lawyer now work full time defending teachers, he said.
Mayfield's friends and family said they are struggling to understand how a man who never had as much as a traffic ticket and no history of depression or mental illness could be driven to such despair.
“So many of us are at a loss to comprehend what level of loneliness and isolation he was feeling to drive him to such a tragic end,” said Anita Price, president of the Roanoke Education Association. “It is hard to just even begin to fathom how someone could feel so totally alone and isolated.”
The flow of the waters where Mayfield fished as a boy and a man is controlled by a dam. The waters were slowed the morning after his death, lowering the river level to aid in the search for his body. A National Park Service ranger found it about 11 a.m., caught on rocks normally beneath the water.
At his funeral, a student gave the family a letter. It said: “He taught us how to be courteous and polite like he was. I would never forget what he taught us. Thanks for being a great teacher, Mr. Mayfield.”
Why do you suppose the press doesn't report that side of the story ??
Couldn't have anything to do with their liberal bias could it ??
So, your message to immigrants is become a citizen so that you can do harm to others with impunity?
By the way, the problem here is your perception. You see the word "immigrant" in print, and your brain immediately attaches the prefix "illegal" to it.
The kid is an immigrant, the word itself denotes legality.
You have bought so deeply into the left's "illegal immigrant" phrase, that you've come to believe that there can be such a thing as an "illegal immigrant".
There isn't, anyone who is not here legally is an illegal alien, not an immigrant.
How can you conclude from this statement they are either legal or illegal immigrants ??
BTW, the OFFICIAL language of India is English - why do you suppose they can't speak English ??
Because that "side" exists in your mind exclusively.
But, if the only recourse we have available in this instance is deportation, then let's go for it.
You think the kid ought to go scott free for making a false accusation, irrespective whether the man leapt off a bridge or not.
Just what do you think represents "justice" for a very serious false accusation ??
Well, due to the absolute lack of an "illegal Indian Immigrant" problem in the US for one.
It seems that the vast majority of unfounded assumptions thus far have been by you.
Whatever it's written into law.
Nothing more, nothing less.
Can an immigrant not be categorized as either legal, or illegal ??
You have heard the term ILLEGAL immigrant haven't you ??
Merely using the word immigrant -- does not connote legal status !!
And besides, even if he is here as a legal, resident alien, or some H1B status visa - I'd say these are grounds to revoke that satus.
Why do you want to protect this little demon that was a noted troublemaker ??
I don't require conscious thought when writing properly, I wouldn't think English teachers would either.
But, if you go on to my further posts you will see my corrections.
That's because you have bought into the idea that there can be such a thing as an "illegal" immigrant.
There are immigrants, and illegal aliens.
That's it.
I'm sure that you would say that there were grounds to remove that status if they jaywalked, ran a stop sign, butted in line at the supermarket, or showed up late for work.
The point is that what YOU say matter little, what matters is what the LAW says.
The newspaper may have also used the term "immigrant" if they did not know what the family's legal status was. Although if they are from India, the chances are pretty good that they are here legally.
What basis would there be for sending the family back home? You can't revoke someone's visa because they have a teenager who lies.
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