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.”
Absolutely.
¿Tienes un hueso en particular que roer?
Para tí el sistema y el professor son los cupables y el niño es la víctima.
¿Si no quieres castigar al niño, porque no lo dices?
Look Luis, you’re the one that wants to promote a mentality.
Do you have a personal bone to pick?
To you, the system and the teacher are at fault and the kid is the victim.
You don’t want to punish the kid – why don’t you just admit it?
Yes. Jerry Gibbons of OKC back in 1965 or 66. I was about 16 or 17 at the time I knew him and he was, maybe, 23 or 24. He was falsely accused of Rape by a mentally ill baby sitter. Made the front page of the paper and all that sort of stuff. His wife divorced him costing him his family. He was fired from work. He couldn't find another job because of the accusation. He spend significant time in jail trying to get friends to post bail for him (his wife certainly wouldn't) which was probably a factor in losing his job. He couldn't get another job because he was a "rapist" and no one wanted him around. Of course, the charges were dropped and it became known that the babysitter had pulled this stunt before in another city. Didn't make much difference for Jerry though. He still had no wife, was forbidden to see even his baby under the divorce decree, had no job, couldn't find a new job since he was branded a 'rapist', and had a police record of being arrested for rape. He lost everything he had. Fortunately he was in his early twenties and could start over, but he had to leave town and go to where no one knew him to do it. I don't know how long the stigma affected him, I never saw or heard from him again after he left town.
I'm sure he was one of the people who "got what they deserved" in your opinion. And I'm sure everyone here will be familiar with this case right? See why I stick to examples that everyone is familiar with?
No wonder you;re still a cub reporter.
The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty say something to the effect, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free.'
As for me, the welcome mat is out for all who choose to come legally.
There was something very wrong with this teacher that he would end his life over something like this, but since the kid is an immigramt, you want to paint him as evil.
I don't care if you're prejudiced against immigrants, but at least be honest enough to admit to it.
Not even Mayfield's family is placing blame on the kid.
The teacher admitted to shoving this wheelchair bound kid, the kid called it a punch.
The ONLY thing the kid is guilty of is saying that he was punched instead of shoved.
He's guilty of what exactly?
The so-called teacher's action was however, irrevocable and absolute. Words *do* have meaning, you should know. "Absolute" means absolute, and not a third-grader's "Yeah and you too!" taunt, which is all you seem to have made of it.
Suicide is an absolute action. No matter how actuallized, it is no less, no more, and is un-undoable, incapable of ever being corrected or lessened.
However, all we know is what we read in the articles that were provided.
The articles headlines proclaimed the kid made a "False Accusation."
Mark Twain cautioned us to believe only about half of what we read -- maybe so.
But, if the kid truly made a false accusation he ought to be held accountable, fully in accordance with the law.
Still, I believe you're interpreting the case in a way that is comfortable to you.
For example, you challenged me when I said the kid was a chronic menace, despite the article that clearly substantiated he was.
When I cited the specific language, you ignored the matter in subsequent posts.
I agree with you, based on the articles, the Mayfield family seems more interested in pursuing the "system" than the kid. But, the "system" has deeper pockets - what's the point of going after the kid. Simple justice is not always so simple, or cheap.
And you're right, the family's alien status is really not relevant to this particular case.
However, again, based only on the headline and the articles stating the kid made a "False Accusation," deportation would be a simpler solution for "justice," whatever that is.
While the family's alien status may not be relevant to this particular case, it is relevant to me in a broader sense. I am viscerally opposed to the presence of illegal aliens in this country. I think they all should be deported, and our borders should be protected from further violations.
But, I'll grant you, we can save that for another debate.
I'll add this, I live in Virginia, irrespective of this kid's disability or alien status, I don't want a chronically disruptive child in the same classroom with my own children.
That's why my kids attend private school; primarily to enforce zero tolerance of delinquent, disruptive behavior and secondarily to assure a curriculum as free of PC garbage as possible.
Because he has an apparently well-documented history of misbehavior for the 27 months he has been in the Roanoke school system - he would not be permitted to attend my daughters' schools. And, that is as it should be.
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