Some Maine Teachers Traumatizing Students of Deployed Soldiers

WABI- TV Bangor Maine | February 21, 2003 | 6 PM News

[bogeybob]

WABI TV reported Friday that the Maine National Guard Family Assistance Center has received about 30 complaints from children of deployed soldiers concerning Principals, Teachers and Guidance Counselors reportedly demeaning the role of their deployed parent. Some children involved are 7 to 9 years of age.

Here is a letter written to a friend of mine from the Maine Army National Guard:

"Thank you for your interest on this most troubling matter. Our Family Assistance Centers have reported cases from Aroostook County to Southern Maine. We are reluctant to give out specific schools and the individuals involved in the interest of giving the education community a chance to address the problem itself. Also, parents wanted the opportunity to pursue the issue through their local school boards first.

In all, we have over thirty complaints that name schools and individual principals, teachers and guidance counselors. If one considers that these complaints come from just the parents who attended our briefings and only from children who told their parents, we are concerned that the problem may be more widespread than we know.

We are recording the complaints, and I will personally visit these educators to express our concern as a professional organization and ask for their cooperation.

Ultimately, our main concern and first responsibility is the safety of our children during these uncertain times. Maine has a core of dedicated and professional educators, but we will challenge any individual who places our children at risk due to their own political ideologies."

[thegreatbeast]

Let's wait to hear the facts. This is a lynching offense in my book so we have to be sure.

[rocky88]

I just pasted this story to an email and sent it to everyone I know who has children in the public school system. What an absolute outrage.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Have you seen this thread yet?!

[GUIDO]

I know, I have a friend that does it in New Mexico because the school systems sucks there, she homeschools 4 children all different ages also. I commend her for it. She has to be there because that is where her husbands job sends them. But it isn't that easy for everyone to drop everything and do, not to mention the fact that unfortunately I myself could never homeschool because I don't have the patience or organizational skills. My point is that it isn't for everyone, just like public school isn't for everyone, and private school isn't either. Every child is different. You see something wrong my first reaction is to try and get it fixed, so that no one else is hurt. And yes I do pride myself and so do my children, and my childrens schools want parents there and there is nothing wrong with that.

[MigrantOkie]

"Why cant you call a marine sir?"

Because an ENLISTED marine will kick your @ss ;-)

[MigrantOkie]

I'm starting to think a French style revolution wouldn't be a bad thing.

[aruanan]

"Thank you for your interest on this most troubling matter. Our Family Assistance Centers have reported cases from Aroostook County to Southern Maine. We are reluctant to give out specific schools and the individuals involved in the interest of giving the education community a chance to address the problem itself. Also, parents wanted the opportunity to pursue the issue through their local school boards first.

In all, we have over thirty complaints that name schools and individual principals, teachers and guidance counselors. If one considers that these complaints come from just the parents who attended our briefings and only from children who told their parents, we are concerned that the problem may be more widespread than we know.

We are recording the complaints, and I will personally visit these educators to express our concern as a professional organization and ask for their cooperation.

Ultimately, our main concern and first responsibility is the safety of our children during these uncertain times. Maine has a core of dedicated and professional educators, but we will challenge any individual who places our children at risk due to their own political ideologies."

At first glance I thought this was from the school system because of the way it was written.

interest on
Should be interest "in", "regarding" or "concerning".

to give out
Should be "to name". I didn't think that anyone could give out schools and individuals, though he could give out the names of the schools and the people involved.

to address the problem itself.
Faddish jargon that means little, if anything. Within the "education community" the term means barely more than to talk about something, usually at a workshop for continuing education credits held during an in-service day at a local resort. Given the level of writing, "itself" could be referring either to "the problem" or to "the education community", itself a faddish, overused construct: the education community, the religious community, the broadcasting community, the gay community, the female sex workers of Bangalore community.

the opportunity
Deadwood. Did they merely want the opportunity to pursue or did they want to pursue "the issue"? And "pursue the issue through their local school board" as they could "pursue a rat through their local sewers"?

In all,
Unless the introductory phrase is five words or longer or contains a verb, it is not separated from the rest of the sentence by a comma. The phrase isn't need.

teachers and guidance
There should be a comma separating each item in a list, including the penultimate and ultimate items. The "and" doesn't take the place of the comma.

If one considers that these complaints...
The highlighted is deadwood. "If these complaints" is simpler and more direct.

than we know.
Duh! This is deadwood.

We are recording these complaints....
In these days of audio recording, "recording" refers primarily to this activity rather than to compiling evidence about a series of events. "Making or compiling a record of these complaints" is better and sounds more ominous, considering the matter at hand.

and ask for
Lack of parallelism. "to express and to ask" is the basic construction.

Ultimately, our main concern and first responsibility
If he's using "ultimately" to emphasize his organization's most important point, it sounds funny to say that its ultimate responsibility is its first responsibility. Even if he's using it to introduce his last paragraph, it still sounds funny juxtaposed to "first". And how can the first responsibility also not be the main concern? This is simply redundant. The less descriptive "main concern" should go.

but we will challenge...
This sentence is poorly constructed because he's making the more important part of the sentence subordinate to the less important part. It should read, "Although Maine has a core of dedicated and professional educators, we will challenge anyone who puts our children at risk..."

any individual
As opposed to anything that is not an individual? It should be "anyone" or "anybody." Who else but an individual human being is capable of acting in the way he's describing?

who places our children at risk
...who puts our children at risk....

any individual who places our children at risk due to their own political ideologies
Hmmm, tragic. Imagine, persecuting children because of the children's own ideologies; and political ones, at that, as though there were any other kind. Oh the pathetic lengths to which bureaucrats, even those working at the Maine Army National Guard Family Assistance Centers, will go to avoid using the singular masculine pronoun! If the writer wants to avoid using a sexist pronoun, there are better ways than assigning a plural pronoun to a singular subject.

Here's how this should have been written:

"Thank you for your interest regarding this problem. Our Family Assistance Centers have reported similar cases from Aroostook County to Southern Maine. For now we are not naming the specific schools and the people involved in order to give them a chance to resolve the problem. Parents also wanted to present the matter before their local school boards first.

We have over thirty complaints naming schools and individual principals, teachers, and guidance counselors. If these complaints come from just the parents who attended our briefings and only from children who told their parents, then we are concerned that the problem may be more widespread.

We are compiling a record of the complaints. As a representative of our Family Assistance Centers, I will visit these educators to express our concerns and to ask for their cooperation.

Our first responsibility is the safety of our children. Although Maine has a core of dedicated and professional educators, we will challenge anyone who puts our children at risk by demeaning their parents' roles in the Maine Army National Guard.

[Quix]

TARRING AND FEATHERING

AND DRAWING AND QUARTERING BETWEEN THE IMPOSSIBLE EXTREMES OF THEIR IDIOTIC IDEOLOGIES.

How dispicable.

[Quix]

Exactly.

All tutored well in how to goose step and fawn over--eventually worship the coming world ruler.

[Quix]

Amen. I think he'd love to sink his teet into that.

[Quix]

When there's no lower place to sink to,

they go out and create a yet lower cesspool.

Then they compete for who will be the lowest slug sh*t in the new lowest . . .

sigh.

[RightOnline]

No, you said it was the "easy" way out. I took umbrage with that statement. I submit it is you who are taking the easy way out. You know how many times I hear "Oh gee golly.........I'm just FAR too disorganized and impatient to do that!"

What that really means is "I don't wanna screw with it. It's far easier to ship my kids to a public school and show up occasionally, convincing myself and others that I'm so incredibly involved in my kids' education."

Spare me.

We could afford to send our kids to expensive private schools, yet we don't. Wonder why that is..............

[Quix]

Sounds like the liberals have declared war on everything American..

INDEED THEY HAVE--without the balls to own up to it.

[Quix]

One of the big problems is

such a small percentage of parents are behaving like good parents

and teachers HAVE TO CONTEND with the results of bad/absent parenting. What can they do. Many do the best they can to try and make up the deficits.

But love and respect would be fitting to extend to the students. Brainwashing is far from called for.

[MississippiMan]

I'm right with you on all your sick-and-tired issues, my friend.

MM

[CedarDave]

I didn't get a chance to ping the admin moderator, but obviously someone did, because the thread got put at the top of "Breaking News". BTW, to ping the admin moderator, click "post reply", put his name in the "To" box and write him a note. If it's really, really urgent, hit the "report abuse" button and he/she will get it immediately.

[Quix]

Of course there is.

The globalists have been intent for at least 50 years on creating a world gov.

They have known that the youth are a huge key to their success. They are ruthless and determined.

[Quix]

Right, they'd throw parties and write plays extolling the glories of 'alternative' lifestyles.

God help save us from ourselves.

[Squantos]

Just watched the downloadable news (Watch TV-5 in left sidebar) on the WABI web site. This is real, real sad that a teacher, polidiot, presstitute would conduct or allow such an attack a child of a deployed member of the armed services in such a manner. Time for some freepin ! Major Freepin........contact your local American Legion and VFW and spread the news .

WABI Tv Channel 5, (207) 947-8321, 35 Hildreth St, Bangor, ME 04401

http://www.wabi.tv/news_home.asp

Stay Safe !

[Quix]

Teachers are usually toooooo exhausted to dance anywhere with anyone for any reason to any music unless it's a slow shuffle to bed.