Rant
Teacher Orders Students to Hit Bully to Teach Him a Twisted Lesson
I think we can all agree that bullying in schools is problematic, and that attempts to combat it should be applauded. Well, most attempts anyway. Two Texas teachers recently offered a pretty good example of anti-bullying efforts gone bad ... really bad.
When a 6-year-old was demonstrating some bully behaviors, his exasperated kindergarten teacher wasn't sure what to do. So she sought advice from a fellow teacher. The recommendation: Bully the bully.
So that's just what the teacher did.
According to the Associated Press, in order to show little Aiden Neely why "bullying is bad," the teacher at Salinas Elementary in suburban San Antonio lined up her class of kindergartners then told them to "Hit him!" and "Hit him harder!" And they did -- even those who didn't want to, because they said they feared getting in trouble.
It's such a disturbing scene to even imagine, and to think that two teachers not only sat back and watched it happen, but orchestrated it. Both for Aiden and the entire class, the experience had to be horrific. Even more outrageous is that while the incident happened in May, the boy's mother only found out about it recently.
Not surprisingly, she is outraged that this was allowed to happen. Amy Neely, his mother, told KENS-TV, "Twenty-four of those kids hit him and he said that most of them hit him twice."
Fortunately, the school district has acted, and both teachers were placed on administrative leave. The teacher who orchestrated the hitting reportedly lost her job, while the fate of the younger teacher who sought her advice is yet undetermined. I can't imagine ever allowing either of them to teach children again.
Prosecutors are reviewing the case to determine if there should be formal charges against them as well, and I hope there are. These teachers should have known better, plain and simple. They misused their power, taught students a twisted lesson, and shouldn't be allowed to get away with it or trusted with the care of children again.
Can you imagine teachers doing something so outrageous? Do you think they should be charged criminally?
Image via Eddie S/Flickr
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kaerae
the4mutts
I feel bad for every one of those kids. How confusing, humiliating, degrading and sad for all of them
Lord K
Rebecca fultz
zandhmom2
Both of those teachers need to be fired and brought up on criminal charges. You can say what you want about kids these days and how bad they are but seriously, the teachers are getting just as bad. It makes me sick when I read story of all the teachers who are having sex with students or who themselves are bullying students. I think most teachers are good people but some of them know that with the unions backing them, they can get away with almost anything. And really, if a teacher who has been educated in all aspect of the education system doesn't know how to stop a 6 year old from being a bully in her classroom, then she doesn't deserve to be there teaching. I believe she had many other options then having her 24 students hit on this child. Shame on her.
corrinacs
Wow, I feel terrible for that kid, the other children and the teacher.
She sought advice from another teacher and this what she was told? She obviously cared about her students and were at her wits end with the issue. She wanted to help.
The children too, they are now associating to treat voilence with more violence. THat can't fly over well at all!
And even the bully. This will probably make him worse actually!
This is a sutation gone totally wrong. I think there needs to be some teacher training about how to deal with bullying. Mainly how do we prevent it.
LizB86
The teachers were totally in the wrong here. However, so was a group that gets mentioned way less than teachers in school disciplinary matters: the administration. It's a big problem now that school administrators don't back up teachers that try to discipline kids in their classrooms. Instead, weak-kneed principals and vice-principals cave in to every complaint from overbearing parents that their little preciouses could not possibly have done anything wrong. What then is a teacher to do? Why didn't the administration crack down on this kid for bullying? They are the ones with the power to suspend and expel, but are they using it effectively these days? Not from what I've seen.
Lord K
Essentially, thanks to today's climate, there is really nothing a school can do to stop bullying, so long as most parents insist "that her son is not a problem child", and refuse to even attempt minor discipline to their child. What's she gonna think next, if her son, emboldened by the support, decides to rape a girl? Or murders someone later on, and he has to go to prison?
PonyChaser
Teachers were wrong, plain and simple, and deserve whatever punishment is given them.
However. We live now in a society that thinks that violence is "abnormal". That any kind of tussling between children is automatically "bullying" and MUST be stopped, counseled, talked to death.
The truth of the matter is that kids are like puppies. They NEED to have that rough playtime. They need to be able to whack at each other to see where they stand with another kid. If Johnny is constantly allowed to hit Billy, and Katie, and Jimmy, because all of their parents step in immediately with "no, we don't hit", then Johnny is going to learn that he is King of Kid Mountain, and that nobody is going to fight back. But if he goes up to little Mikey and hits him, and little Mikey belts him right back, chances are, both are going to be fine (because they can't do much damage at that age), they're both going to know what the other is capable of, and they're likely going to end up friends. Or they're not, and that should be ok, too.
We're too busy wanting every child to have this idyllic life, to be bestest friends with every kid in his/her classroom. To NEVER experience any kind of strife or difficulty. And when conflicts DO happen, we don't allow them to figure out how to fix them on their own. THAT's why we have such a problem with bullies. Because we let them happen.
CPN322
This was obviously not the right way to handle this situation, but what I want to know is why weren't the teachers taught how to deal with bullies?? Why did they even think this was right?? I actually don't know what they should have done, just that this wasn't the right choice. When I was younger, if I saw kids being bullied(which thankfully wasn't often, went to school with a lot of great, intelligent kids) I'd give the bullys back exactly what they were dishing out. I used my words though. I hope that this shows that school district that they need someone who does know how to handle bullies to come in and teach the teachers.