AZ - Mesa teacher punished kindergartner by taking her top off

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TrackerSam

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A Mesa Kindergarten teacher has been booked into jail on 25 counts of indecent exposure and one count of child abuse after police said he removed a 6-year-old girl's shirt as a form of punishment.

Thomas Washburn, 54, a teacher at Adams Elementary School, was arrested Wednesday when the incident reportedly occurred.

Police said something upset Washburn, who started shouting in the classroom filled with more than two dozen youngsters.

"She told me yesterday that he was really aggressive - telling them to shut up - real aggressively," said Israel Gonzalez, whose daughter was also in Washburn's class but is not the victim in this case.

The outburst frightened the victim and she hid her face in the top of her shirt, officers said.

The victim's mother said her daughter was born prematurely and is "developmentally delayed," according to a police report.

Officers said Washburn told the girl to take her face out of the shirt and when she did not comply, he went to her and completely removed her shirt, leaving her naked from the waist up in front of her classmates for about 10 minutes.

The girl broke down crying, police said. Washburn eventually returned her clothing.

"Total humiliation," said Daniel Mercado, who has children who attend Adams Elementary. "What is she going to do now - from first grade on? What are the parents going to think of this? Not only her parents but other parents, other parents at the school like myself? I think he went too far. He went way too far."

http://www.kpho.com/story/24475228/...-from-waist-up-in-packed-classroom?hpt=ju_bn3
 
Just out of curiosity...I wonder how many Kindergarten teachers are men over 50?

Kids that young oftentimes need comforting in school. This guy has no clue. Or patience. Or feelings. Or grasp of the emotional needs of 5 and 6 year olds.

He probably gave these kids nightmares.
 
I can not even imagine! I am furious and just want to give that baby girl and her classmates hugs. Why would anyone think this is okay? I hope that teacher is punished severly. My daugher starts kindergarten in the fall and I would be beyond livid. I hope her family can get her through this so that she is not terrified of going to school. Sounds like her classmates have all had a rough time in that room to some degree.
 
oh_gal said:
Just out of curiosity...I wonder how many Kindergarten teachers are men over 50?

Kids that young oftentimes need comforting in school. This guy has no clue. Or patience. Or feelings. Or grasp of the emotional needs of 5 and 6 year olds.

He probably gave these kids nightmares.
Click to expand...

I have known several male kindergarten teachers who were wonderful. I've often thought it would be the only teaching job that my brother could handle- he just gets that age group.

I have no idea what was happening with this teacher, and if this is true, he needs to be punished. It's like he had a nervous breakdown. And in today's teaching environment, I think we're going to see a lot more teachers have nervous breakdowns unless something changes.
 
Wolfie said:
I have known several male kindergarten teachers who were wonderful. I've often thought it would be the only teaching job that my brother could handle- he just gets that age group.

I have no idea what was happening with this teacher, and if this is true, he needs to be punished. It's like he had a nervous breakdown. And in today's teaching environment, I think we're going to see a lot more teachers have nervous breakdowns unless something changes.
Click to expand...

My brother's first grade teacher was male and he was absolutely wonderful - did a fantastic job at drawing my shy brother out of his shell, as was a great male role model for a few kids in the class who really needed one. It's a shame that people question when men want to be teachers or babysitters, because there are some great men out there doing this job.
 
OMG I would be in jail because I would go into mama ninja mode.
 
AnaTeresa said:
My brother's first grade teacher was male and he was absolutely wonderful - did a fantastic job at drawing my shy brother out of his shell, as was a great male role model for a few kids in the class who really needed one. It's a shame that people question when men want to be teachers or babysitters, because there are some great men out there doing this job.
Click to expand...

My dd's school has a great 3rd grade male teacher, and a great male music teacher. They're great with the kids, and it shows.

However, some men -- and women -- specifically seek out that role because they want to be close to children, and not for good reason. But that has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with sexual deviation.
 
This is bizarre and worrisome.

What a horrible experience for that poor little girl.

I dont see pedophilia here necessarily, but I do see a desire to shame which is equally disturbing in someone working with children.
Ugh.
 
SapphireSteel said:
This is bizarre and worrisome.

What a horrible experience for that poor little girl.

I dont see pedophilia here necessarily, but I do see a desire to shame which is equally disturbing in someone working with children.
Ugh.
Click to expand...

ITA with you. Has shaming always been used as a "tool" with kids in the classroom?
 
SapphireSteel said:
I dont see pedophilia here necessarily, but I do see a desire to shame which is equally disturbing in someone working with children.
Ugh.
Click to expand...

Yes, I see nothing sexual about this. I do see it as either a desire to shame- OR somebody who had so much of a mental break that they saw the removal of a shirt as a way to force the child to not hide, and had no recognition that to most in our society being naked is shameful.
 
oh_gal said:
Just out of curiosity...I wonder how many Kindergarten teachers are men over 50?

Kids that young oftentimes need comforting in school. This guy has no clue. Or patience. Or feelings. Or grasp of the emotional needs of 5 and 6 year olds.

He probably gave these kids nightmares.
Click to expand...

Of course I don't know this guy but it does seems just a bit creepy to me too. On the other hand I'm kinda gnarly and little kids love me. But this was just soooo wrong.
 
southerncat said:
I can not even imagine! I am furious and just want to give that baby girl and her classmates hugs. Why would anyone think this is okay? I hope that teacher is punished severly. My daugher starts kindergarten in the fall and I would be beyond livid. I hope her family can get her through this so that she is not terrified of going to school. Sounds like her classmates have all had a rough time in that room to some degree.
Click to expand...

The really sad part is that she'll remember this for the rest of her life.
 
Wolfie said:
Yes, I see nothing sexual about this. I do see it as either a desire to shame- OR somebody who had so much of a mental break that they saw the removal of a shirt as a way to force the child to not hide, and had no recognition that to most in our society being naked is shameful.
Click to expand...

It's that latter, imo, most definitely. I told you not to hide your face. Oh, you're still hiding your face -- NOW where you gonna hide? Nothing sexual, just extreme [insert whatever emotion].

jmo
 
A profile of Washburn on the school's website quotes Washburn saying, in part:

"Having been certified for foster care and licensed for adoption, I am looking forward to becoming a single father for the first time and am waiting the placement of children in my home. In the meantime, I have enjoyed the opportunity of taking care of several children on a respite basis."
Click to expand...

http://www.kpho.com/story/24475228/...-from-waist-up-in-packed-classroom?hpt=ju_bn3

This guy is a BULLY with a capital B.

He has NO BUSINESS being a teacher.

He SHOULD NOT be a foster parent.

He SHOULD NOT be an adoptive parent.
 
SapphireSteel said:
This is bizarre and worrisome.

What a horrible experience for that poor little girl.

I dont see pedophilia here necessarily, but I do see a desire to shame which is equally disturbing in someone working with children.
Ugh.
Click to expand...

I don't see anything sexual in his motivation, either.
 
TrackerSam said:
The really sad part is that she'll remember this for the rest of her life.
Click to expand...

Yes she will and it could scar her forever. I had a teacher in 2nd grade who for some reason did not like me..im not sure why..i wasnt disruptive as i was very shy and quiet. On one instance i dropped my plastic crayon case during class and reached with my foot to slide it to me. It made a loud screech. She grabbed me and the crayon case and took me out in the hall and told me to sit there and play with it out there. The classrooms had glass floor to ceiling windows so two classrooms had view of me.

I also remember that i would come home with bruises on my arms where she grabbed me and i wanted to quit school...in 2nd grade. Yep..she could remember this forever.
 
Oh my gosh, this hits close to home. I did a lot of education classes and an internship at this school while getting my education degree. This teacher was not there when I was, 10 years ago, but yikes.

This school is absolutely the school where the kids need extra love. The neighborhood can be rough.
 
I personally have never known a male kindergarten teacher, but our school district has lots of male 5th grade teachers and they're fabulous.

I just don't think it's really within the skill set/brain make-up of most men to be able to deal with kindergartners day in and day out. The necessary flexibility that requires is usually found more in women than men.
 
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