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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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 Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 9:22 pm Post subject: Don't Raise Your Kids in Florida |
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Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate, 5
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PORT ST. LUCIE � Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.
After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.
By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex � who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism � out of the class.
Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said.
Port St. Lucie Police no longer are investigating, but police officials are documenting the complaint, she said.
Steele said the teacher confirmed the incident took place.
Portillo could not be reached for comment Friday.
Steele said the boy had been sent to the principal's office because of disciplinary issues. When he returned, Portillo made him go to the front of the room as a form of punishment, she said.
Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully.
Children diagnosed with Asperger's often exhibit social isolation and eccentric behavior..
Alex has had disciplinary issues because of his disability, Barton said. After the family moved into the area and Alex and his sibling arrived at the school in January, Alex spent much of the time in the principal's office, she said.
He also had problems at his last school, but he did not have issues during his two years of preschool, Barton said.
School and district officials have met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan to address his difficulties, she said. Portillo attended these meetings, Barton said.
Barton said after the vote, Portillo asked Alex how he felt.
"He said, 'I feel sad,' " Barton said.
Alex left the classroom and spent the rest of the day in the nurse's office, she said.
Barton said when she came to pick up her son at the school Wednesday, he was leaving the nurse's office.
"He was shaken up," she said.
Barton said the nurse told her to talk with Portillo, who told her what happened.
Alex hasn't been back to school since then, and Barton said he won't be returning. He starts screaming when she brings him with her to drop off his sibling at school.
Thursday night, his mother heard him saying "I'm not special" over and over.
Barton said Alex is reliving the incident.
The other students said he was "disgusting" and "annoying," Barton said.
"He was incredibly upset," Barton said. "The only friend he has ever made in his life was forced to do this."
St. Lucie School's spokeswoman Janice Karst said the district is investigating the incident, but could not make any further comment.
Vern Melvin, Department of Children and Families circuit administrator, confirmed the agency is investigating an allegation of abuse at Morningside but said he could not elaborate.
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 9:29 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd be pissed off if I were his mother. While I sympathise with the teacher having to deal with little terrors like him, a young child has to be dealt with carefully. That kind of thing could do any kid a lot of damage. |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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I've worked with kids and adults with Asperger's Syndrome, and terror isn't really the right word. It's more like the person chooses to be ostracized, seemingly. I don't have a lot of experience observing group dynamics with kids, but from the little I do it seems to be an exaggerated example of what I've seen from adults. Not trying to fit in or join the group, even if it is due to an inability to do so, is seen as being standoffish, and just widens the gap between group and 'other.' As an 'other', by choice to an extent, I hate to hear about any of my 'people' getting screwed.
The craziest thing is that a teacher did this. Is there no appropriate training for teacher's of little kids? After working for years in social work I completely understand the stress of having one member of the group constantly complicate things for everyone else, but to single the kid out and not just for ridicule but to show the child that they are not accepted by their peers, and the authority figure for the group at large endorses this...
Wow.
If that's not emotional abuse I don't know what is. |
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happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:08 am Post subject: |
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| If the teacher was aware of the disability then it's hard to imagine why she would do this. The fact that she did tells me she more than likely didn't know about it and this was an exercise to demonstrate the repercussions of being anti-social. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:35 am Post subject: |
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| happeningthang wrote: |
| If the teacher was aware of the disability then it's hard to imagine why she would do this. The fact that she did tells me she more than likely didn't know about it and this was an exercise to demonstrate the repercussions of being anti-social. |
Yes, I also got the impression she didn't realise he had a disability. But even so, I think it was a foolish exercise, even if the kid were 'normal.' |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:48 am Post subject: |
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School and district officials have met with Barton and her son to create an individual education plan to address his difficulties, she said. Portillo attended these meetings, Barton said.
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No, the teacher knew about the kid's problem. She'd been at meetings/planning sessions where it was the topic. She can't plead ignorance of the boy's condition.
She can plead ignorance of common humanity. Clearly the kid is a handful, but humiliating a 5 year old by voting him off the island is not the solution. |
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pharflung
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 2:29 am Post subject: |
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Are you out of your mind, Czarjorge?
From the action of one teacher involving one student you write:
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| Don't Raise Your Kids in Florida |
That's a worse over-generalization than anything I have every encountered by Koreans about native speaker teachers, or native speaker teachers about Koreans.
Have you ever lived in Florida, ever even been to Florida?
Do you always go around making blanket judgments about 14 million people based on the actions of ONE person, as reported by one reporter?
Well, I have lived in Florida, including in Port St. Lucie.
And I was a reporter there for several years, and elsewhere in Florida.
And I covered the school district in St. Lucie County for a year, which includes Port St. Lucie.
And I have been to the school in the story, though I do not know any of the staff mentioned.
And I can tell you that when I was there St. Lucie County had some of the best, most caring, most dedicated teachers and administrators I have ever encountered as a reporter, and had one of the best school systems I have ever seen. It is used as a model for school districts around the country because of the way they implemented the Controlled Choice system.
I wouldn't hesitate to send my children to public school in St. Lucie County, if I had any. The Indian River County schools are even better.
But in any school district, even on Long Island's Gold Coast, where I grew up, you may have a bad apple. There are not enough good teachers in the United States, and when a district gets a bad one, they often cannot just fire them without cause.
I saw some boneheaded moves by teachers in St. Lucie County. I reported on them. Disciplinary action was taken. What more do you want, Czarjorge?
And guess what?
That's what is happening in the case you cite:
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St. Lucie teacher reassigned after student 'voted out' of class
Photos
By Colleen Wixon (Contact)
Originally published 10:12 a.m.
PORT ST. LUCIE � Morningside Elementary kindergarten teacher Wendy Portillo has been reassigned until further action may be determined, according to St. Lucie County School District spokeswoman Janice Karst. |
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/27/st-lucie-teacher-reassigned-after-student-voted-ou/
As anyone teaching in Korea for any length of time surely knows, we all have bad days when we would like to take stronger measures against the unruly kids. And given our perspective, I would think we would be a bit more understanding when we read these sorts of stories about teachers who go overboard. How about the kids behaving, and the parents teaching them some manners??? But this was a kindergartner, of course.
I shudder to think what rash judgments someone reading your post might make on all the more than 10,000 native speakers teaching in Korea if they used your same rule of thumb.
Perhaps one day someone will judge YOU as you have judged this teacher. |
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crusher_of_heads
Joined: 23 Feb 2007
Location: kimbop and kimchi for kimberly!!!!
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| Pharflung, boo hoo hoo. |
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bacasper
Joined: 26 Mar 2007
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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Pharflung, your loyalty to Florida is admirable, but I stand by the headline. However, never forget that Florida is America's wang, and like all wangs causes all kinds of problems for the wang bearer.
Also, part of the fun of posting on Dave's is rewriting the story's headline into a humorous new incarnation. You take this way to serious. I've proposed eating babies on this board as well, do you really think I'm feasting on baby back ribs right now?
happeningthang said:
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| If the teacher was aware of the disability then it's hard to imagine why she would do this. The fact that she did tells me she more than likely didn't know about it and this was an exercise to demonstrate the repercussions of being anti-social. |
As Ya-ta pointed out, she did know of his 'limitation.' Regardless of that, how would debasing this child accomplish her goal of increasing, or forcing, him to socialize?
The reality is, she was casting him out of the group. She had no intention of bettering his socialization. If she did the last thing she would do is put him in the position of being further ostracized. She furthered his isolation by pointing out to him, and all the other children, that he was not a member of the group. Not only does this scar the child, but it warps the kids who took part as they now think this behavior is acceptable.
Ya-ta might be right that the teacher was 'voting him off the island.' Life imitates art imitates life. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 1:13 pm Post subject: |
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pharflung,
Having read most of the novels of Carl Hiaason, I have to concur with Czarjorge. Florida would be a lousy place to bring up kids. |
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Cornfed
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Czarjorge wrote: |
| I've worked with kids and adults with Asperger's Syndrome, and terror isn't really the right word. It's more like the person chooses to be ostracized, seemingly. |
The deal with Asperger's Syndrome or ADHD or functional autism or whatever you call it seems to be that humanity can be divided into two kinds of people. The majority are stupid, mindless zombies whom I suspect have no souls and are just meat-puppets wired to some evil collective consciousness in server-dumb terminal fashion. Then there are a minority authentic human beings. These people necessarily make up all of the great artists, engineers, software writers etc. as only they have their creative human faculties intact. Typically these people get along fine with each other provided their experiences haven't damaged them too badly. They are likely to have difficulty mixing with the lumpen masses though due to their non-participation in the inane structured conversations and synchronized body movements that the masses are addicted to.
How the worthless majority deals with the worthwhile minority depends on the kind of society they are living in. If societies on the up and up such as the West in the nineteenth century they were referred to as "visionaries" and revered. In societies at their peak such as the West in the 60s and 70s they were referred to as "gifted" and treated largely positively. In societies circling the drain such as the West of today they are diagnosed with various disorders and suffer all manner of horrific abuse.
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| The craziest thing is that a teacher did this. Is there no appropriate training for teacher's of little kids? |
As a Western women the "teacher" was most likely trained from birth to do precisely what she did - perpetrate acts of sadistic cruelty on those unwilling or unable to defend themselves. The moral of the story is not so much not to raise your kids in Florida as to not let them be raised by Western regimes or Western women. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 7:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Did anyone understand cornfed's post? |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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| I thought he said "I am a wanker." |
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jkelly80
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Location: you boys like mexico?
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| Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:12 am Post subject: |
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| He's some kind of misogynistic Nietzche fan. Also, Florida sucks. |
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