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Caught on tape: Teacher behaving badly
Categories: Newborns, Preschoolers, Education
If you work in education, then you know this is the time of year that educators start planning for the following school year. It may seem early, but March is prime time for preschool and kindergarten round up. After weeks of angst (on my part), I think we've finally made a decision about where to send our older daughter to school this fall. Without a crystal ball, it was a hard decision to make. Where would she thrive? Make friends? Get the best education? Be happy and secure? I'm confident we've chosen the best placement, but boy, it wasn't easy. Sending my kids out into the world is hard for me, as I'm sure it is for many of you. That's why it gave me shivers to hear this audio of a preschool teacher berating her students. The thought of one of my children sitting in that classroom literally made my heart ache, and I say "Bravo!" to the little girl's parents for realizing that their child was in trouble and having the guts to do something about it.
What do you think?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amanda 3-01-2008 @ 10:46AM
man, after listening to that I think I would have had to meet up with her in a dark alley! that makes me sick to my stomach!
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ame s 3-01-2008 @ 11:55AM
I heard the tape earlier this week and it was disturbing to know those words were directed at such small children.
Before my first husband died, I worked for a year or so for our church's Parents Day Out Program twice a week. It takes a special person to do this work well. I was not that person, lol. I found myself coming home after my patience had been worn thin by other people's children to more easily loose patience and be snappish at my own children. It was in my family's best interest for me to resign.
I understand keeping a job for the money, but not at the expense of the feelings and self-esteem of small children. Calling them stupid even once is unforgivable and should be grounds for immediate dismissal. If a three year old is called stupid often enough they WILL believe they are.
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SKL 3-03-2008 @ 3:07AM
As a college student, I had a volunteer post in the elementary school library in my town. I was helping some second-graders find books, and one slower reader was taking longer than the others because he wasn't finding material he could really handle in the "second grade" section. I offered to help him - he wanted an easy reader about spiders - and I was looking one up when the teacher came in to find out why he was lagging behind the rest of the class. I swear I jumped several inches when she literally screamed at the child for "fooling around." I myself was intimidated as I humbly explained what we were up to, and she hollered some more: "I TOLD you not to look for books in that section, you aren't a good enough reader . . . ." Later I mentioned this to a friend of mine who taught at the same school. Her comment was that the teacher was going through a difficult divorce.
Well . . . I don't think it's up to young children to have to deal with the fallout of the teacher's family problems or whatever. Even if that woman was the best teacher most of the time, that doesn't mean she has a license to harm children the rest of the time. There should be a policy in place for teachers to seek a time-out or whatever when things get really rough. If I have PMS at work, chances are I can take it out on someone - an understanding friend, tolerant boss, whoever - and even if I unload on the wrong person, they can understand it was my problem, not theirs. Not so for those who spend their whole day with tender-hearted young kids. What kind of escape valve does an elementary school teacher have when things get really crazy?
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