Dan Bucatinsky: More Than I Can Chew
Teens' treat lands teachers in hospital, kids in jail
Filed under: Teens, In The News, Playground Bureau
It seemed like a nice gesture: three seniors at Cobble Hill school in Brooklyn baked a cake and brought it in to share with their teachers. Unfortunately, the cake was laced with laxatives and two teachers wound up in the hospital; now the three students are in police custody, facing charges of assault.
The 17-year-old students have also been suspended from school and banned from their graduation ceremony. One is a straight-A cheerleader, and none are the kind of kids that are usually tagged as troublemakers.
"I was very close to these students and I'm very sad," said one victim, a school social worker who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's very hard when you give so much of your heart and soul to your kids and someone hurts you like that."
Teacher Danilo Dungca said that he took one bite of the cake and immediately knew something was wrong. "It tasted like someone sprayed hairspray in my mouth. I spit it out," he said. "That's when my lips and my tongue went numb." Dungca went directly to the emergency room. Another teacher, Tom Mancuso, wound up in the ER later that same day, complaining of breathing problems that doctors told him were consistent with insecticide poisoning. Three other staff members reported feeling ill after eating the cake.
What is most disturbing about this story is the reaction of students at the high school. "Nobody's died from a laxative," said one student who is a friend of one of the pranksters. "He thought it was funny. I thought it was funny, too."
The 17-year-old students have also been suspended from school and banned from their graduation ceremony. One is a straight-A cheerleader, and none are the kind of kids that are usually tagged as troublemakers.
"I was very close to these students and I'm very sad," said one victim, a school social worker who spoke on condition of anonymity. "It's very hard when you give so much of your heart and soul to your kids and someone hurts you like that."
Teacher Danilo Dungca said that he took one bite of the cake and immediately knew something was wrong. "It tasted like someone sprayed hairspray in my mouth. I spit it out," he said. "That's when my lips and my tongue went numb." Dungca went directly to the emergency room. Another teacher, Tom Mancuso, wound up in the ER later that same day, complaining of breathing problems that doctors told him were consistent with insecticide poisoning. Three other staff members reported feeling ill after eating the cake.
What is most disturbing about this story is the reaction of students at the high school. "Nobody's died from a laxative," said one student who is a friend of one of the pranksters. "He thought it was funny. I thought it was funny, too."
Your<span>Voice</span>
Ask Us Anything About Parenting
Recently Asked
- How many consumable plants are there? How many consumable animals? HOW MANY DIFFERENT LANGUAGE'S PER PLANT & ANIMAL
- Paternity D.N.A. admissibility
- My son and me had the puberty and masturbate talk and some of the question he ask was ?can you show me how to masturbate?? and ?he ask me to tall him ...
TheTalkies:RelatedVideos
-
How to Deal with Having a Crush on Your Teacher
This instructional video is a extremely helpful time-saver that will enable you to get good at dating for teens, school life for kids. Watch our instructional video on How To Deal With Having A Crush On Your Teacher from one of Videojug's experts.
-
How an Investigator Became a Math Teacher
In Chapter 6 of 9, educator Diana Wilmot shares why she left her job as a New York City Civilian Complaint Board confidential investigator to teach math at a Brooklyn charter school. As an investigator, Wilmot saw consistent police misconduct filing themes, namely early teen African American boys filing complaints after late night police encounters in parks. Wilmot chooses teaching as means to give city children a reason to stay in school and get excited about education.
-
School District Revokes LGBT Policy In Light of Suicides
The Respectful Learning Environment policy dictated that teachers should maintain a neutral stance when dealing with homosexuality.
-
Ohio Teacher Convicted in Student Sex Case
A high school teacher was convicted Thursday of having sex with five students, some of them football players, after an Ohio judge rejected an insanity defense that argued the teens took advantage of her. (Oct. 27)
SitesWeLove
- Site Map
- |
- Staff
- |
- Terms of Service
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Trademarks
- |
- Advertise With Us
- |
- About Our Ads
- |
- AOL Downloads
- |
- Contact Us
- |
© Copyright 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Aol Family
ReaderComments (Page 5 of 21)
6-19-2008 @ 3:41PM
Williams said...I don't know........hmmmm, let's see - lets feed you some laxative-laced cake and see how you take it. Where do you people come from? Obviously from homes where discipline, consideration for others and resposibility where not a concern.
6-19-2008 @ 3:51PM
gracie72941 said...Not when someone's life is at stake.
6-20-2008 @ 10:41PM
Vof said...I say to who ever thinks its a joke, perhaps the teachers should play that kind of 'joke' on you or your children, and then lets see what you have to say
6-20-2008 @ 5:23AM
hendricksreh said...It is not a joke, these teachers were harmed. I think the students involved in this "joke" should have to pay the hospital bills incured because of thier actions. People need to learn to be responsible for their actions and going to jail and having to face prosecution for assult is a start in these kids learning.
6-19-2008 @ 3:04PM
mja said...The nerve of those kids, giving that cake to those teachers, I hope the teachers all see lawyers, and everyone of those kids families lose there homes then ask those kids if they still think its funny, what is this world coming to, most teachers are under paid and do that job because they want to make a difference, try and help the teens to grow up and be decent human beings, and then something like this happens, this is so disturbing.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:03PM
Mindy said...these kids are pathetic. so what if one in a straight-A student and a cheerleader? apparently they never learned compassion, gratitude and basic human decency. this kind of prank is never funny - i'm sure most of the students at this school view the perpetrators as bullies.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:22PM
braven2u said...So DICK.....when someone commits an assault on your person you would condone that??
Teachers are just THAT...TEACHERS....NOT babysitters!!!! And if a STUDENT is to trust a teacher-- a teacher is supposed to be able to trust a STUDENT....
A harmless prank doesn't send people to the ER!!!!!!!!
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:05PM
Rob said...Hey Ann,
Maybe the students and the public at large would have more respect for teachers if they knew how to spell. It's "imbecile", imbecile. You might even get a raise. Incidentally, my daughter is a high school history teacher.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 5:56PM
Ann said...Rob your daughter is probablya little preppy Miss Molly wanna be isn't she???? Is daddy sticking up for her. Has she ever had a desk thrown at her or a parent try to choke her????When she has, then we'll have a conversation!!! You are evidently an egotistical shmo living in la-la land!!!!
6-19-2008 @ 4:01PM
Jeremy said...Everyone that has commented about "Kids these days" or something close to that - is ignorant or refuses to know the truth. Kids in high schools have always pulled dumb pranks, and believe it or not, on the teachers as well. It has always happened and always will. That is what teens do in their free time, smoke pot and think of dumb things to do. But assult for something like this, is insane. Punishments are too extreme for this kind of thing anymore. 10-20 years ago, this kind of story would not have even hit the news. But everyones vaginas get hurt over a simple comment anymore. Grow the hell up and mind your own damn buisness people. You are the ones ruining this world, not the dumb kids.
Reply
6-22-2008 @ 3:28AM
I Pity The Fool said...What kind of punishment would you suggest. A simple beating? To inflict injury is ASSAULT, prank or not. They are old enough to know better, and yet they haven't learned. Three people conspired together, had plenty of time to think, chose to follow through, and got busted. Punishable by law. Go ahead and buck society.Your choice and your consequence. Unless you have sleezy connections to get you out of trouble, that's the way it is. Pay the PIper.
6-19-2008 @ 3:16PM
Coleen1027 said...Okay, first, people CAN die from laxiatives. If a person has say ulcerative colitis, they may in fact die from laxatives. Second, while a laxative may not make your tongue and lips go numb, something much more toxic WILL!!! The doctors think it was insecticides! The kids are only admitting to laxatives. Regardless of what was used, these adolescents on the verge of adulthood poisoned other human beings!!!! POISONED!!! Poisoning doesn't have to mean a deadly substance. For instance food poisoning is not deadly, but is still poisoning.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:19PM
Pamela said...There are people that are allergic to ingrediants in laxatives. For this person to say no one ever died from taking one and thought it was funny. I for one would be rofl if this teen ended up in jail for murder because one of the so called pranks actually did kill someone. What is the matter with teens today do they not care who they hurt unless it happens to be them. Hope the judge throws the book at them.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:18PM
Richard said...I'm waiting for their parents to defend them. Expect to hear words like "honor student", "never been in trouble before", this is the teachers fault", "the school is responsible".
They should all be expelled.
A. Bernell - it's not the ACLU, it's the parents.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:15PM
DEB said...Tampering with someone's health is not a prank! This is a dangerous stunt that these kids are being punished for - a rightfully so! Filling a school corridor with styrofoam "peanuts" is a prank, so is hiding the principal's desk. Perhaps we need to teach our kids the difference between a prank and an attack on a person.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:15PM
Vickie said...LOL. I have heard people saying the was going to do it but they never went throw with it. Well until now. Bravo. Nobody's died from a laxative.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:18PM
K. Mullins said...Teachers really do like kids--it sounds crazy and almost impossible, but it is true! When things like this happen, teachers become demoralized. There is very little appreciation coming our educators' way, and while it is not necessary to be appreciated to do a good job, being unappreciated by mean-spirited pranks hurts everyone--students, parents and teachers. The kids aren't bad--their behavior was--what matters now is what they and their classmates learn from the repercussions, which is why punishment is necessary; one rarely learns from a mistake that goes unnoticed.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:18PM
Mad Dog said...I guess it hasn't occured to anyone that the teachers may already have medical problems. High blood pressure, previous heart attacks, etc. Laxatives as we all know through the digestive system in high gear. I was in the Navy for 20 years and there were pranks in the galley concerning food I would not care to think about. The young recruits would have to be watched very carefully to not introduce foreign substances that could be fatal or infectious. I suspect that most of these kids will not rule the world. At best they'll just live in it.
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 4:00PM
AuntBuzzed said...Christy Moss.....how about 37 yrs in an inner city school. Wimp !!
Reply
6-19-2008 @ 3:19PM
rodeoruss said...ain't life just the shits.
Reply