So what's up with the mob mentality, people? Did you all forget that here in America we are innocent until proven guilty? Are you certain that every article you see in the media is actual, carved-in-stone fact? And speaking of stones, are we all really prepared to throw them?
I've been on the road a lot in the last two weeks, but when I got home there were three email messages waiting for me, each demanding that I sign a petition to remove an elementary school teacher from her job. The message explained that the teacher had made a student stand in front of the class while his classmates told him what they didn't like about his behavior. He had just returned from being disciplined in the principal's office. The petition also reported that the student "was in the process of being diagnosed with autism."
So here is the problem: this petition does not explain any of the events leading up to this one. Nor do any news articles I could discover. So we have only one side of the story, and it's a sensational one.
Before you get all excited, I agree that the story told in the petition is a horrible one. But that's all I know for sure.
The student "was in the process of being diagnosed". WTF does that mean? Were his parents concerned about his behavior and thinking of taking him to a doctor? Was he undergoing tests to determine if he has a disorder? Had the doctors already decided that he was autistic, but holding off on an official diagnosis until they caught up on paperwork?
It makes me wonder if Wendy Portillo knew anything about Alex and his pending diagnosis. Were the school and the teacher aware that Alex was in the process of being diagnosed? Did anyone discuss - with the teacher - how to handle his behavior?
Did this teacher have any special ed training? Was this a special ed classroom? Or was Alex in a regular classroom, where his behavior was beyond disruptive and making it impossible for the other students to learn?
Excuse me if this sounds politically incorrect, because I am really not being insensitive. I believe that we need to understand autism and provide an education for everyone. I also believe that "everyone" includes students who do not suffer from behavioral disorders, but who DO suffer when their educations are disrupted by other students in the classroom. Regardless of what disorder might be behind disruptive behavior, other students are often placed at a disadvantage when a teacher has to devote more of his/her energy to managing behavior problems than to teaching.
I'm not defending Ms. Portillo. What has been reported seems pretty inexcusable. All I am suggesting is that before lining up to destroy someone's life, we should all be very certain that we have sufficient evidence to wield the death blow.
Wouldn't you want to have your side of the story heard?
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2 comments:
Hey RQ, I guess my take on this is regardless of whether or not he's being diagnosed with Autism, you don't do that to a child. If the child is unruly you send him to the principal's office, you call his mother but you don't put a kid up in front of his classmates to be ridiculed, shunned and humiliated. This woman not only asked the classmates to each tell the boy what they didn't like about him, but she had them vote on whether or not he should be booted out of the class.
The teacher already admitted she did it.
The question is WTF was she thinking?
That's the side of the story I'd like to hear but of course we've heard nothing.
IMO and of course I have no background in child psychology but having been a child once and humiliated and shamed by a teacher I feel like I have experience in this area :)
What she did was wrong. I don't even care about her explanation. She admitted it happened, I don't to hear "oh I was having a bad day" because frankly, when you're having a bad day you tell the kids to shut up, you don't single one kid out for humiliation.
As I said, I'm not defending what she did. All I am saying is that we have a tendency to react without having all the facts.
I've worked with public school teacher for the past 8 years, and helped my own kid survive the school system. Maybe I am a bit more sympathetic to what teachers & students are dealing with in their classrooms.
Accountability should include more than just the teacher. I'd still like answers to my questions, but the media doesn't seem interested in that.
Frankly, I haven't seen enough information to decide that she was wrong. (From a behavior modification standpoint, hearing what others think is a viable strategy. Probably not appropriate at this age level, but again, all I have is the media spin to go on.)
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