Posted on 05/20/2002 4:12:42 PM PDT by NewHampshireDuo
NASHUA – Every day when Timothy LeBrun gets off the school bus, he hugs the woman who watches the students from the front seat.
With the help of his mother, Tracy Caron, the 8-year-old makes his way down the stairs of the bus for special-needs students and then past the flower beds in front of his Abbott Street house – the lights on the heels of his sneakers blinking the whole way.
He almost always wears his “SpongeBob SquarePants” hat, and if he’s lucky he gets to wear his blue “SpongeBob” shirt, with the words “Whatever Dude” on it.
When he reaches the porch, he gives his mother a hug and a kiss, and also has one for his great-aunt, Lucinda Spence. He gets excited, and they have to remind him to keep his glasses on.
Timothy has cerebral palsy and epilepsy. He has been in and out of the hospital his whole life. He likes to hug everybody.
That’s why Caron and Spence were taken aback when they received a letter Thursday from the Nashua School District’s transportation director, Brian Fowler, informing them Timothy had been given a warning for an “inappropriate display of affection” on the bus.
When the official-looking letter arrived in the mail, with the name of Superintendent Joseph Giuliano on top, it was the first time either Caron or Spence had heard about a problem with Timothy giving anyone a hug.
“Students must demonstrate responsible behavior on our buses and bus drivers must insist on proper behavior to ensure the safety of all students,” said the letter, which was signed by Fowler. “Misconduct, carelessness or thoughtlessness on the part of any student can create a safety hazard for all students on a school bus.”
When Caron and Spence read the letter, they grew angry. What Timothy had done hardly seemed worth all the hubbub, they said.
“It’s not like he swore at anybody. It’s not like he was being bad,” Spence said. “In essence, it’s calling this behavior naughty.”
Not to mention the letter just seemed too official, too formal, they said. What happened to a phone call? What happened to people talking to other people?, they wanted to know.
“They could have handled this without such a fuss,” Spence said. “It’s overkill. I think someone should have given us a call.”
Fowler, who could only comment generally on bus procedures and not specifically about the 8-year-old’s case, said a warning letter is the equivalent of a phone call. It’s not meant to threaten parents or scare children, he said.
“As I explain to every parent, it’s a mechanism to inform,” he said. “It’s more of an informational tool.” In fact, he has been sending more of the letters to parents this year so they know if there’s a problem. In past years, parents have criticized the district for not sending warnings home, Fowler said.
But for Spence and Caron, it seemed like the school district was more caught up in following the letter of its policies than considering the people and offenses involved, which in this case was a hug-happy 8-year-old
.
“I don’t think it’s fair the way the system is treating the family as if a crime is being committed,” Spence said. “Those are sent for bad behavior, and in this case, the bad behavior is showing affection.”
When Caron called Fowler for an explanation, she said he told her the person who complained was the monitor on Timothy’s bus. Caron only knows the monitor by her first name.
“They’re real friendly with me when I get him on and off the bus,” Caron said of the bus driver and monitor. “I don’t see why they couldn’t have said something to me instead of going to their boss.”
Fowler explained he now sends a warning home to a parent every time a bus driver writes up a student for inappropriate behavior.
There’s no disciplinary ladder that follows a warning, Fowler said. The specific action taken usually depends on the age of the student and the seriousness of the offense, he said.
Most warnings he sends home are not specific, citing inappropriate behavior or improper language. Students can get warnings for moving around the bus while it’s in motion or screaming on the bus, as well as more serious offenses like shoving or teasing.
But the district’s list of 24 minor and serious offenses that students can commit on a bus does not include an inappropriate display of affection. Because of that, Fowler sends home few warnings for such an offense.
He said an inappropriate display of affection occurs when the affection is unwanted by the recipient. That general rule applies from first-graders to 12th-graders, he said.
Both Spence and Caron said it’s OK if someone doesn’t want to be hugged by Timothy. They respect that, which is why they’re going to talk to Timothy about giving people hugs.
Caron said she’ll casually tell Timothy not to give the lady on the bus a hug, so it doesn’t become too big a deal for him. He’ll probably forget, so she’ll remind him several times, including when he gets on the bus every morning to go to Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, where he is in the second grade.
“I don’t think there’s a problem with (hugging), but if they do, I’ll address it with him,” Caron said. “He hugs everybody.”
From my standpoint, the schools were doomed a long time ago.
The purpose of public schools is no longer to educatate a Free people, but to enslave them.
Friends of mine adopted young Russian orphans who had been deprived of human touching and affection until adopted at age 6. The human brain does not develop without the bonding that youngsters receive through the usual hugs and affection, or so say the professionals. These two youngsters are now in a special facility because they are uncontrollable.
This is a sad and sickening story. Let's hope the publicity causes the school to reconsider.
I'm guessing that the "monitor" is a fat and ugly woman who never smiles, and whose sole purpose in life is to ruin other people's lives. In other words, a typical communist control-freak.
Those people are cowards. Totally worthless cowards. To loosely quote Ayn Rand, the communist PC regime may appear to be a vicious bear when viewed from afar, but upon further inspection, the "bear" is nothing more than millions of cockroaches crawling all over each other looking for crumbs. (Rand was talking about Soviet Russia, but the analogy is close enough)
Ugly, disgusting cockroaches. And like cockroaches, they scatter when the light of Truth is shined upon them.
How much longer are Free Americans going to tremble whenever these worthless cockroaches speak? How much longer are we going to continue to elect spineless politicians who spend 90% of their day trying to figure out how not to "offend" the parasites? We are Free men and women, not slaves, and it's high time we started acting like it.
In the short term (until things get "hot") that means mocking the tyrants wannabees, laughing at them, and ignoring their illegitimate edicts. Any good American not only has the Right to do this, but also the Duty.
The truth is, good and bad behavior cannot simply be differentiated by a finite series of rules. It takes more than a check list of do's and don'ts. But it is the easy way. And it is the proper course if you desire a land of spiritually devoid automatons.
I am afraid that this nation's future citizens will need an ample helping of fortitude and this young boys compassion if we have to face the darkness we see forming before us.
Just in case yall's subconscious isn't as efficient at filling in voids as mine is.
Zero tolerance and zero thought in action.
Hugs are better than drugs, Fowler. The Safety uber Alles mindset marches on.
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