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I'm a high school sped teacher and I'm supposed to be at school by 7:45 am. When I got in this am I found my assistant very upset b/c one kid had just racked another in the groin and it was bad...the young man was in pain for a good solid hour. I went thru all the channels and called the high school and middle school principals, the coordinator, the counselor, and the nurse. It was end-of-course testing and no one came to see about it until after lunch and then the HS principal tried to talk to the perpetrator, a young man with mental retardation, emotional disability, and oppositional defiance disorder, but the young man (16) refused to talk to him or tell him what happened. The kid is the principal's little buddy and he has made a bit of a pet out of him, and lets him come have coffee with him every morning, which is something I don't agree with but of course I keep my mouth shut. Then the principal decided that it must have been an accident b/c he figured the boys were just playing around, but those who saw it said that the perp was angry when he did it--it doesn't take much to set him off and he hauled off and kicked him.
Now, one reason I'm so upset about this is b/c a couple of months ago, another of my students who is also emotionally disabled, sent a dick pic to a girl on his school issued chromebook in January and he was arrested at school in front of other students and put in alternative school. I realize there may be other things to this story but I am outraged that the boy who bullied another boy today, to that extent, is going to get off scott free, while the other one will be in alternative school for the whole 2nd semester, when he never perpetrated violence on another.
So, I am just curious...how would your school handle a discipline issue like this one? How would it handle the dick pic situation? Given the available facts I mean? I realize there's not a dang thing I can do about this, but this is the second time since I started at this school that one kid has racked another and nothing happened. The last time it was a girl and she barely got her hand slapped and then when she falsely accused another boy of sticking his hand down her pants in music, the boy was taken to jail. How is this fair? (That girl was a psychopath btw...at least the counselor and I were pretty sure she was.)
Also, I am outraged b/c this principal plays favorites and they can do no wrong but if you're on his sh*t list you can do no right and I'm one of those...I will be leaving at the end of this school year b/c he intimated that I would not be getting my contract renewed...I knew I was on the list of those he was trying to get rid of and was trying to get another job but he beat me to it so I resigned. I know I'm a good teacher but he wants someone who's willing to coach basketball and I'm not. Sorry, guess I'm rambling now but I am soooo disgusted.
Favoritism and politics always suck in situations like this, but it doesn't surprise me at all that physical aggression in a situation as described might be downplayed, while something involving the use of school property to digitally transmit sexually explicit material, and sexual assault complaints would be cracked down on faster and harder by administration.
Like it or not, there are optics at play. What's going to go further into a nightmarish crapstorm if somebody decides to go to the press, say? "So and so was kicked in the balls by another student and nobody did anything about it," or "So and So was sent sexually explicit material on a school computer by another student and nobody did anything about it/So and so claimed to be sexually assaulted by another student in music class and nobody did anything about it?"
But, yeah, inconsistency in application of disciplinary policies is always a nasty thing, especially when it concerns students with special needs.
There are politics wherever you are, but I hope your next gig is better.
I think you have to give up the idea that there is "fairness" in the world.
Yes it can be. Everyone always tells me I have so much patience and I suspect they mean with the kids, but it's the adults who drive me insane. And yes I know the world isn't fair but I believe we should strive to make it so, at least in our schools. I"m glad I'm leaving this one.
But, yeah, inconsistency in application of disciplinary policies is always a nasty thing, especially when it concerns students with special needs.
I feel like if these had been regular ed kids the principal would've been all over it. They do their best to ignore us. Now I know why the burnout rate for sped teachers is so high.
First, the kid that sent the obscene picture is freaking lucky he isn’t headed to jail. That is NOT a small oops. That aside....
In our country a person caught with child pornography gets more jail time on average than perps who actually assault children of the same age. The difference is proof. Pictures do not require testimony of the victim, nor does victim credibility or culpability come into question in most cases. Without pictures there is a chance for deniability.
And, yeah, favoritism always comes into play if an educator forms a stronger bond with a particular child beyond the one they form with other students. That is just one of the reasons anyone working with children must be very mindful of appropriate educator/student boundaries.
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And, yeah, favoritism always comes into play if an educator forms a stronger bond with a particular child beyond the one they form with other students. That is just one of the reasons anyone working with children must be very mindful of appropriate educator/student boundaries.
Yes and I do feel this one is inappropriate. I don't mean that there is anything illegal or creepy going on, but one of the things I struggle with is admins or other adults making "pets" of our kids or singling them out for teasing, beyond what is normal adult/student interaction.
I was in charge of a teen girl once and we were coming back from lunch and a female asst principal called her over and said, "Hey K, go over there and tell Mr. M that he's hot!" I yanked her out of there pretty quick before the girl could digest what she said b/c the girl would have done it and not even known what she was saying. Not even remotely funny.
Update: our perp is back at school today with the admonishment that if he's reeeaaal good he'll get to go to the special Olympics on Friday. The kid is not even the tiniest bit sorry about what he did.
If you want to see any positive change, you might want to tell the parent of the assaulted kid to file a police report. That might achieve something, but I wouldn't hold my breath with any expectation.
Better he kicked a peer than you? I once had a 5th grader who kicked a 50 yard field goal square in my nether regions while mom watched and giggled...
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