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School Principal Accused of Locking Students in Cages
Filed under: In The News
Most parents would agree that our schools need to step up the discipline, particularly when it comes to kids and fisticuffs. But there's a point where discipline goes too far: A Texas high school was accused of locking kids in steel utility cages to battle out disputes with their fists and without head protection. According to The Dallas Morning News, the staff at South Oak Cliff High School in Dallas was under a 2008 investigation by the school district's Office of Professional Responsibility because school officials "knew of the practice, allowed it to go on for a time, and failed to report it."
The cage fights reportedly occurred in the boys' locker room between 2003 and 2005, and it's unclear exactly how many fights took place.
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In one case, a school hall monitor tried to fight a student in the cage, but then-principal Donald Moten broke up the fight. However, in a separate incident, Moten reportedly told staff to put two teens (who were already fighting with each other) in the cage to "let'em duke it out." Moten denies the charges.
"I don't even know what you're talking about," says Moten. "That's barbaric. You can't do that at a high school. You can't do that anywhere."
But one middle school counselor has a different take on the incident: "It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," says Frank Hammond. "They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security."According to "The Dallas Morning News", charges were never brought against Moten, despite investigators' saying the staff's conduct, "may constitute a criminal violation."
What's going on in our schools? Shocking as this case is, it isn't the first time abuse in classrooms has occurred. In Florida, a kindergarten teacher asked the class to vote on whether an autistic 5 year-old boy should be allowed to stay in class. According to reports, the teacher (who was conducting a lesson on vote-taking and tallying) made the boy stand in front of the room while his classmates told him what they didn't like about him. He was voted out by a 14 to 12 margin and made to stay in the nurse's office until his mother picked him up.
And in another incident, an Indiana teacher was suspended after she was caught berating a 5-year-old on tape in front of his class. The teacher was heard calling the boy "pathetic," and stating "You've been ignorant, selfish, self-absorbed, the whole thing. I'm done..."
Part of the problem is that many school districts have the privilege of deciding appropriate disciplinary techniques and there is no concrete definition of what's considered acceptable. Could this be happening in your child's school?
| Yes - kids should be treated with respect. | |
|---|---|
| Yes, but the school decides what that limit is. | |
| No - school officials do what they have to do. |
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-23-2009 @ 10:20PM
hall monitor said...This has got to be the most outrageous story to ever rock the education world. It is hard to believe this was actually happening under the supervision of "responsible adults." Crazy!
Hall Monitor
http://detentionslip.org
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5-12-2010 @ 5:45PM
Jim said...Kids these days are rude, crude, and disrespectful. I hear kids mouthing off to their parents all the time. Ask my kids what would happen to them if they acted up, especially in front of other people. When I was in high school if we were caught fighting we were thrown in the shower room in the gym lockers to settle it. That way the blood could be washed up easily.
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