I’m with Atreyu - explain to your son that the teacher is wrong, but it’s a sad fact of life we sometimes have to live with morons in positions of authority. A sad life-lesson.
…cuz them schools have lots of discretionary moola just waiting to be handed out, right? :rolleyes:
Which programs do you support cutting to pay for these reparations?
**
I vote for “yell”. But not at her. Go to the principal. Explain your extreme displeasure with this situation. Explain how you’re prepared to go to the press (“Little boy with learning disability punished for having an imagination!”) if necessary. Can you imagine how much fun a right leaning magazine like “American Spectator” or “National Review” would have with this story?
Most teachers are good, decent, hard working people. Then there’s the edumonkeys who are only there because of tenure. And it’s incumbent on parents to make them understand that they’re the employees, not co-parents. Their job is to teach your kids within the framework of your values. Not to impose their own idiot psychosis on the children.
**
Reward him. Take him out for ice cream. Buy him a toy. Give him extra hugs. I’m serious. Encourage this behavior. He was using his imagination! It’s important (IMO) that he learn that people in authority like the edumonkey can f*ck up too and that sometimes you have to do what they say even when they’re completely wrong.
Fenris
What sort of idiot actually uses phrases like “a strict verbal exchange”? What the hell is that? It sounds like a description of a tennis match.
The moment I read that phrase I knew Czarcasm was about to tell a tale of the most astounding bozosity, because anyone who uses glib little buzzphrases like “a strict verbal exchange” is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Choosing laborious, unnecessary synonyms for perfectly good phrases like “you should give your kid a good talking to” is the sign of a weak-minded and self-important fool.
Orwell was so right.
Same kind of BS happened to my son some years ago.
Apparently even pretending to have a weapon of any sort is an Evil Thought and must be eradicated.
They sent him home for the day, and he was supposed to serve two days of in-school suspension. I had a word or two - perhaps more - with the ones responsible, and resolved the situation.
Sometimes it makes you despair. Don’t these people know what children are like?
Regards,
Shodan
My GOD, am I glad I haven’t been in school over the past five years. It’s fucking rediculous how god damned thick headed the public has started to become. Just out of curiosity, how do school rules like this get started, because I can’t imagine more than say, two parents in an entire school who wouldn’t be outraged by their child being sent home/punished/suspended for pretending to have a laser gun. Shit, what do they expect kids to talk about at school? Math? And I’m really curious as to what they do in art class.
“Jimmy was sent home for making a clay sculpture of a dinosaur. We’re really concerned that this sort of thing presents a potentially violent image to the other children and makes for a dangerous atmosphere. We highly suggest you talk to your child about the dangers of dinosaurs and express why they’re dangerous and not acceptable for school.”
Fucking shit! I tell you what, if these sort of restrictions were in place when I was growing up, I never would have made it past pre-school! (my friend Zack and I used to play V off of our favorite show. And who knows how many times we played G.I. Joes out in the sandbox. Mother fuckers, am I glad I’m not a kid anymore).
In the November 2002 Playboy issue…yes i DO read the articles, it was talking about several such insane issues…in Gwinnet County Georgia, officials suspended a 13 yr old for pretending her grape juice was wine. In Oldsmar Florida an 11 yr old was led away in handcuffs for drawing a picture of weapons.In Centennial Colorado, a principal punished 7 4th graders for pointing thier fingers at each other during a game of army and aliens. Quote from the principal"No tolerance means more than just a warning,because that would mean tolerance" My personal favorite is the SECOND GRADER in East Sables River that got sent home for the day for pointing a BREADED CHICKEN FINGER and saying bang. Same thing happened to another eight year old in Arkansas and got suspened for 3 DAYS. This is just complete insanity and is the ultimate in PC gone overboard!! What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Czar
Your son is fortunate in one respect. He has you for a father.
I work with kids with Asperger’s Syndrome (and other forms of high functioning autism, and low functioning autism…)
Would you like me to rip this bitch a new one? She deserves it. Oy.
E.
Bingo, Fenris! Well said. Czar stress to your son that this teacher is most likely of the second variety… Some teachers get so set in their ways that they can’t see another possibility. Too much power, too little brain. Fortunately, there are few teachers like this.
I disagree with this, only a little. It is important for your son to learn that people in authority can screw up too, but in obvious cases of injustice like this, it’s entirely appropriate (in my view) to go over the idiot’s head and talk to the principal. Let him/her know what the situation is and get the punishment revoked, have the principal talk to your son and let him know he did nothing wrong. If you can’t get a response there, take it to the administration or the school board. Principals hate hearing complaints from those levels. Taking it to the press is also a good idea, but only as a last resort. Your son might not appreciate the added attention.
Make it clear, also, that your goal is not to get the teacher busted, but to have your son better-supported in his education. Mind you, I think the teacher in question should be taken down a few notches for this, and they likely will be. But if you make it clear that this is not your goal, you’re more likely to get positive results.
The real goal of this being, of course, to show your son that when an injustice is committed against him or someone he cares about, there are ways to fight it. You don’t always have to do what they say when they’re obviously in the wrong.
Finally, I agree with Libertarian. Your son is lucky to have you there for him.
Well, your son may have a bright future ahead of him–when filming The Phantom Menace, Ewan MacGregor made lightsaber “whoosh” noises during his fight scenes. They had to be edited out…
Whatta buncha maroons. Our son went through half a dozen schools before we found one that knew how to treat kids like, you know, kids…
Don’t let them get away with this. Don’t let them punish your kid.
Get 1950s on them.
I second Monty’s rebuke of Eidolon909’s suggestion to move elsewhere.
My grandson is autistic and the city where his father and mother live in is very small and as such has little in the way of programs to deal with children who have these and other problems. Result, they have one program, one school, one class which deals with all of it. His biggest problem is his inability to express himself, though he does relate to certain people. He is a very mild child and not at all violent, yet he’s put in a class with seriously ill children, some of whom are biters and one who has MS. He gets along fine with the child who has MS and they even play games together, but some of the other kids and pretty violent: as in biting and throwing chairs around the room. :rolleyes:
So, Eidolon909 they can’t really pick up and move to where funds are available to deal with only autistic kids. It’s sometimes an impossibility.
A-fuckin’-men. I’m (substitute) teaching now and it’s ridiculous how many different drills we have to go through now. In addition to the classic fire and tornado drills, we now have lockdown drills, insert name of threat drills, bad hair day drills, rabid monkey with a camcorder loose in the halls drills, stew for lunch drills et cetera et cetera et cetera. Big huge feckin’ signs are now posted in every classrooms announcing that bomb threats are illegal and will be fined. One class of kids told me that every year around exams someone calls in a bomb threat. Heck, when I did my student teaching (at an inner-city rich kids school) (that’s a combination you don’t wanna mix) we had a bomb threat, a knife fight, and pepper spray in the halls. That zero-tolerance sure is working, ain’t it? [Sarcastic Smiley]
Back to the OP, sounds like your son’s teacher came down with a bad case of bureacratese. “Upper level social skills”? "Strict verbal exchange? Someone needs to get out in the real world where people talk right more. And how the spackle can she not know about Aspergers Syndrome? I (a high school teacher) was required to take a Special Ed class and a Child Psych class which were devoted to the various and sundry handicaps that we might encounter. We discussed Aspergers for a whole day! Now, granted, these were NC requirements, but I can’t imagine a teacher in this Day’N’Age not having to go through a class like that before even thinking about getting a degree.
I agree with the people who said take this to the principal. Take it to the superintendent too. They should not be jerking you and your kid around like they are. Bitch out the whole school board if you have to, but your kid needs stability in his education. Best of luck to you.
They don’t want to pay, they should have seen the signs of violence coming, and usually it’s pretty obvious.
Although to answer your question, sports programs is what I’d give the funding cut. Take the jocks’ pride and ego away and pay the reparations. Kill two birds with one stone.
When I worked at a grade school a few years back, I had the (stupid and pointless) duty of telling kids that they couldn’t pretend to shoot each other. How are we supposed to play Star Wars if we can’t shoot lasers? they would cry.
But we certainly never suspended them or punished them. Holy cow, what a stupid thing to do.
Czar
Are you and your son okay? Let us know how things turn out.
Hell, czar - at least my kid beat an asshole up to get suspended!
Hey! Careful where you point that totem pole. It might be loaded!
Allow me to jump on the bandwagon and state the obvious. Your kid is lucky in his choice of parents. Also fortunate is that your positive influence will far outweigh anything - good or bad - he will get from the school system.
As you well know, you have to pick your battles. Let us know if this is gonna be one, and if we can be of any help.
I am bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in anticipation of you kicking some well-deserving educational ass, Czarcasm. Keep us informed!
Wow. I don’t have anything useful to contribute, but I want to let you know my heart goes out to you and your kid. Makes me wanna holler, throw up both my hands.
Don’t let the stupid bitch get away with it. Like Fenris said: Principal first, then the press. Obviously the teacher is not at all worth “having a strict verbal exchange” with; save your time there.
What a fucking joke. An outrage.