Posted on 05/25/2008 1:36:54 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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.
Lord of the Flies, with "adult" supervision.
Homeschool - believe in it.
I do not believe public school is necessary for socializing children. THIS incident is an example of why that is true.
Could the teacher had handled it differently? Perhaps, but there may have been a reason she did it the way she did? Perhaps she was trying to reach the kid, by letting his classmates speak out, and then maybe he would learn and change his behavior. Who knows?
Alex
In eighth grade, our class had a trial and actually impeached
the class vice president. One kid made up a button on a Vac-u-Form that read: “Impeach Joey” and wore it to school that day. Alas, the teacher (a nun) rescinded the impeachment.
The child has an IEP. An IEP should address behavior issues and how do deal with them. Frankly if a teacher had done this to my disabled child who is protected by her IEP I would be taking serious steps to get this teacher disaplined. Yes perhaps the child does need a more quiet place, but the parents WERE working toward getting the diagnosis needed to possibly get a different placement. This teacher has overstepped the bounds. There is a time to get kids who have violent tendencies put into other prgrams but really kindegarden is not that time. Exactly how fast do you think a diagnosis of aspergars is made? Overnight?
To let the whole class denigrate this youth with supervision from the teacher is wrong Don't you remember what it felt like to be picked on because you were different?
Nice looking kid, but is he an Iranian? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2019906/posts
I never said the teacher was right, so you are wrong for accusing me of that. Get down off your high horse!
This “teacher” needs to lose not only this job, but her teaching credentials as well. I don’t understand Autism or Asperger’s, but I’m pretty sure a group denunciation is not an effective treatment method.
If I were the kid’s parent, I’d be doing more than “considering” legal action.
You are right and rawhide is wrong. I am outraged at how this child was treated. I have one grandchild who is severely autistic and one who is possibly Asbergers. I cannot imagine either of them being treated this way.
The severely autistic child would probably not understand the punishment, and the Asbergers one would be devastated. The teacher needs to go back to school.
It's kindergarden! This is where they are supposed to develop social skills before moving on. If the teacher is not up to the task - and obviously she is not - then she needs to find another line of work.
Actually, finding another line of work should not be her choice.
Dear tickles,
What's an IEP?
Regards,
I’m interested in homeschooling. Regarding socialization, don’t homeschoolers get together so that their kids can interact?
Also, there are some classes, like taikuando, that I’m also interested in that provide opportunity for kids to get together.
What are your thoughts on this?
What is the Individualized Education Program (IEP)?
An Individualized Education Program (IEP) describes the educational program that has been designed to meet that child’s unique needs. Each child who receives special education and related services must have an IEP. Each IEP must be designed for one student and must be a truly individualized document. The IEP creates an opportunity for teachers, parents, school administrators, related services personnel, and students (when age appropriate) to work together to improve educational results for children with disabilities. The IEP is the cornerstone of a quality education for each child with a disability.
“His parents really need to find out why he is acting up the way he is.”
He is acting up the way he is because he’s likely an Asberger’s syndrome, which means he lacks the outward interests that many kids display. These children are often socially awkward and may come across as self-centered. They try to speak with others, but usually end up in long monologues about a subject that interests them. They have difficulty responding to the emotions of others and need to be coached this regard. These children will be clumsy. They will be very geared towards organization and the arrangement of objects, and will not exhibit normal social interactions.
There is very little that can be done to amend this situation outside of behavioral and speech therapy. These kids need emotional support, as well, as they are often victimized by their peers.
As for a teacher who allows her children to say hurtful things to a child as a collective effort and then allows them to vote him out of her class, she deserves to be thrown out of the school on her ear and never allowed to return. That kind of childish nonsense is unfitting of any professional, much less a teacher. Let her wait tables, where her unprofessionalism will at least be rewarded by meager tips. If a teacher wants to discipline a child, it is her job to do so individually. Opening some kind of trial by one’s peers can only be devestating emotionally.
I might not fire this woman, but I would sure put her on the shortest imaginable leash.
I should add that y post wasn’t directed as vehement disagreement with you; just another voice. I see where you’re coming from in that there are two sides to every story. Certainly this could be a case of, “Johnny, tell your friend why what he did hurt you.”
And while that may not be the perfect way to deal with things, I could see that as acceptable.
That said, if any kind of vote to expel this kid occurred, there’s simply no excuse for that in my book. It’s abominable and a disgrace to the teaching profession.
the NEA’s celebration of diversity!!!!!
"Rawhide" is right. The kid MAY have autism. Even if he does does that give him the right to ruin the class?
You will find on these autism threads that a kid with autism should be allowed to disrupt the world and we should just keep our mouths shut about it.
How horrible for this poor kid. I think this teacher watched one too many episodes of Survivor.
“Even if he does does that give him the right to ruin the class?”
Didn’t say it did. But is that any excuse to allow a bunch of 5-year olds to vote against one of their peers?
Let me ask you what such a vote could accomplish. Could it actually expel him from the class? No. Could it be brought up as credible evidence in a board meeting? No.
Could it devestate the emotional well-being of a child?
Absolutely.
No child left behind, ya' know! It goes along with the new Mandatory Psychological testing programs...
Don't ya' just luv Amerika?
Exactly...I can’t imagine what this teacher thought she would accomplish by singling out this kid and ridiculing him in front of his class. In many ways, five year olds are still babies. He shouldn’t be allowed to disrupt the class, but there were many other ways this could have been handled. The teacher is an idiot.
My eye! Maybe he'll learn to stop being a jerk. Why are we so afraid to teach children a lesson in humility?
“Perhaps,”
This loone was using a frigen TV survivor show tactics to teach....she needs to be fired!
btt
He is five years old. The only lesson this kid learned was that he was singled out for ridicule. Good grief...how cold hearted can one be?
My kid was bullied for no reason - in a parochial school, no less! We enrolled him in a martial arts school to learn Kung Fu and it has helped tremendously. He is now 16, has an adult’s green belt, and is an assistant instructor working towards that ultimate achievement, the black belt.
Socialization: when I first started home schooling, I heard it a lot - about how he wouldn’t be properly socialized. Well, that’s bull! Why should he be socialized with children who use drugs and have emotional problems, when he or she can develope a closer, respectful relationship with his parents and siblings through home schooling?
We went on plenty of field trips to all sorts of places. He enjoyed it all and has become a well balanced person who gets along well with most people he meets, including adults.
He has been going to the Kung Fu Academy four times a week. Part of the course is dedicated to teaching the kids good character traits as well as staying away from drugs. I highly recommend schools associated with the martial arts.
I agree with you about martial arts. I think the personal traits learned extend to other areas of life.
For good reason.
Amazing. Focusing on one child and forgetting the other 14. How do you know what problems he's caused them?
This is what is destroying the U.S. The idea that one person's needs will be put above the other fourteen.
What about the rest of the children. Where is their IEP? Is their ideal 'least restrictive' environment in a class disturbed by a child with autism? Why are we handicapping a class full of children to benefit one?
We are only hearing one side of this. This teacher was found to not have done anything terribly wrong, so I think there is another side. Maybe no discipline at home, and the kid can not handle it when it is necessary.
I understand the argument that one child should not be allowed to hold back the achievements of others. But I do not believe that is the issue here.
There are diagnosis and procedures that need to be applied then followed. This is the educational equivalent of “The Rule of Law”. Much like evidence must be gathered and a trial held in a legal case.
This teacher has done a scaled down version of Rev. Al getting a bunch of like minded animals to burn down a store and kill someone.
Without “The Rule of Law” democracy is nothing but demagoguery, anarchy, and mob rule.
This teacher was a bully. There was absolutely no point to this exercise besides trying to look popular to her other students and belittling a possibly mentally disabled child that may not be responsible for his behavior.
‘nough said.
This is what is destroying the U.S. The idea that one person's needs will be put above the other fourteen.
Wow....how do you make the conclusion that singling out a five year old for ridicule is what is destroying the US. I am not suggesting that this kid is some angel. He may have caused problems in class. If that is the case, this teacher should have gotten the principle involved and together with his parents, come up with the appropriate discipline. Her method of punishment may end up damaging the child emotionally. And what message did it send to the other kids? Perhaps, if the whole class doesn't like me, I will get voted out too. Better to be a sheep...
Of course, this would NEVER be taught in a government indoctrination center.
Mark
Very well said and worth repeating.
This incident shows how difficult it is to fairly handle children with disruption-causing disorders.
The teacher obviously wanted to get her students back in order, and Alex wouldn’t/couldn’t let that happen. He was obviously in the wrong classroom.
The vote was a complete act of cruelty and, I think, revenge from a teacher who had had it and just didn’t want any more to do with Alex.
“I’m NOT special. I’m NOT special.” I have tears running down my cheeks as I think about the despair that young boy was feeling. Five years old.
Teacher watched too many reruns of “Survivor”.
Did you go to public school? Because your comprehension is lacking.
Notice the second sentence; "The idea that one person's needs will be put above the other fourteen."
The destruction of the U.S. had nothing to do with the ridicule part. It had to do with the "The idea that one person's needs will be put above the other fourteen" part.
Why and how does one child's need become the standard while the other fourteen's needs are ignored? Simple. Because, even though the nanny state is decried on this forum, when it comes to autism, the nanny state is revered and even demanded.
"The state shall provide my autistic child everything he needs even to the detriment of everyone else in the class" is the underlying theme.
And, in the meantime, Alex (who has not yet been officially diagnosed autistic) gets to run the classroom.
“Perhaps, but there may have been a reason she did it the way she did?”
Perhaps that teacher is incapable of exercising adult judgment and should not be in charge of a classroom of kids. She took a stupid idea from reality TV and applied it to a classroom of kids, holding a child with problems up for ridicule.
This entire thing is not an easy situation, but this teacher is not part of the solution.
Or this vote was a wake up call for a disruptive student that may have autism or may not have autism.
A jury of his peers told him they weren’t going to put up with his disruptive behavior. I’m sorry his feeling are hurt by the truth of his actions, but the teacher only confirmed what her class was thinking.
The real message here is that if you don’t like Lil Alex the police will investigate why you do not and arrest your teacher so that the kid you don’t like will feel good about himself.
When I was was the kindergarten pest I got spanked.
“My eye! Maybe he’ll learn to stop being a jerk. Why are we so afraid to teach children a lesson in humility?”
And maybe you need a lesson in humanity, or perhaps just in medical conditions. The kid most likely has a mental syndrome he’s going to have live with the rest of his life.
It’s about as funny as you yelling at the paraplegic about how he’s slowing down traffic with his wheelchair in the hallway. Or the Muslim jackoff trying to get a seeing eye dog and his owner thrown out of school because he doesn’t like it. All 3 that I mentioned are suffering neurological deficiencies.
Why doesn’t wheelchair kid act more humble? And seeing eye dog man, why doesn’t he just take his mut and stay out of the public’s sight, lest he should offend anyone. In fact, why don’t we line him up in front of all the Somalis in Minnesota schools and let people tell him how much they hate him and his dog.
I’m being very mean-spirited right now, but I’ve actually dealt with Asberger’s kids as patients. Have you? Have you spent more than 5 minutes with one? They can’t help it. It’s something they’re born with and will die with—something they can make minimal progress with through behavioral therapy over time but will struggle with for a lifetime. The parents are trying to get him into a special needs class, which is where he belongs. It’s not like they let this lag on for years. This is the kid’s first year in school, afterall.
I’m all for discipline in schools. Ruling with a hard hand. Spanking. All that. But you can’t do that to a kid with Asberger’s. It will ultimately only be counterproductive.
And I don’t care who you are: it’s not the place of the students to kick a child out of class. That duty and that decision belongs solely to the teacher and the administrators, especially when we’re talking about 5-year olds.
I’m curious to know what would have been the correct way for this teacher to re-establish Law & Order in her classroom of five year olds, disrupted by young Alex?
She’s not allowed to spank him.
She’s not allowed to get the Principal to give him the cane.
She’s not allowed to single him out for special treatment.
She’s not allowed to use harsh language.
She’s not allowed to make him stand in a corner.
And she has 14 other energetic 5-year olds to contain: a challenge at the best of times, even if none of them are autistic or have Aspergers Syndrome. Or hyperactivity. Or dietary allergies. Or... or... or...
That’s quite alot to expect. She’s a kindy teacher, not a babysitter and not a surrogate parent or a miracle worker or a horse whisperer.
Her chosen method of a vote wasn’t right, obviously. But what would have been the correct thing to do?
It is false that all children can be treated the same in the same learning environments. Some kids cannot and should not be integrated into the main educational pool. And it is foolish to make them try to fit in because they cannot.
The Parents are clearly at fault for putting Alex in this position, and for putting this teacher in this position. And the school was clearly at fault for allowing this situation to develop.
Children are savages and need to be trained to behave. You don't let them vote on who stays in the classroom. The kindergarten teacher must watch too much “Survivor.”
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