Vermont;Principal will keep job after showing of Dateline NBC "To Catch a Predator"

Principal will keep job after predator video flap

There is a disclaimer said at the begining and during this show that states "viewer discretion is advised."

This may not have anything to do with the actual video or the principal, but it's not up to school guidance counselors to decided if parents should tell their children never to talk to strangers or not. It sounds like she disagreed with telling children this.

Hi Txsvicki,

The principal's son is the one who showed the video in the school. Apparently she knew that her son was showing the video in the 5th grade class.



PS. Thank-you txsvicki for the post.

Respectfully,
dark_shadows

Actually, I'm surprised at these parents... I mean, the principal had the best of intentions. Maybe she should have sent home a letter of intent and permission slips with the class before showing the clip, but I really see nothing wrong with 5th graders seeing Dateline's series and this was only a 15 minute clip. Dateline URGED parents to watch with their kids...

One parent says:
<snip> "That video was so deplorable," added Jill Burkett, mother of a fifth-grade boy. "My son was defiled, I have been defiled and the community has been defiled."

Oh, come on! They didn't show body parts, they bleeped out the worst of words... if kids go on-line they need to know these things and protect themselves!

I worry about a parent who makes the above statement.

MagicRose99 said:

Actually, I'm surprised at these parents... I mean, the principal had the best of intentions. Maybe she should have sent home a letter of intent and permission slips with the class before showing the clip, but I really see nothing wrong with 5th graders seeing Dateline's series and this was only a 15 minute clip. Dateline URGED parents to watch with their kids...

One parent says:
<snip> "That video was so deplorable," added Jill Burkett, mother of a fifth-grade boy. "My son was defiled, I have been defiled and the community has been defiled."

Oh, come on! They didn't show body parts, they bleeped out the worst of words... if kids go on-line they need to know these things and protect themselves!

I worry about a parent who makes the above statement.

Click to expand...

Wow....if she felt that way over a video then I pray her son never falls victim to some pervert.

MagicRose, I do too.

MagicRose99 said:

Actually, I'm surprised at these parents... I mean, the principal had the best of intentions. Maybe she should have sent home a letter of intent and permission slips with the class before showing the clip, but I really see nothing wrong with 5th graders seeing Dateline's series and this was only a 15 minute clip. Dateline URGED parents to watch with their kids...

One parent says:
<snip> "That video was so deplorable," added Jill Burkett, mother of a fifth-grade boy. "My son was defiled, I have been defiled and the community has been defiled."

Oh, come on! They didn't show body parts, they bleeped out the worst of words... if kids go on-line they need to know these things and protect themselves!

I worry about a parent who makes the above statement.

Click to expand...

That parent used the word "defiled" so many times that I just had to look it up to be sure what it meant.

WordNet - Cite This Source
defiled
adjective1. morally blemished; stained or impure 2. having the purity corrupted; made unclean; "the defiled Temple"


WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University

Uh, I think she is going a little overboard. She would probably be the first in line screaming to the top of her lungs that nothing had been done if one of the students had been approached by a pervert. It is a no win situation with some people.:boohoo:

As a parent of two small girls (ages 9 and 7) I can't imagine other parents being upset over something like this, unless they were upset at the language or something. IMO it's never to early to start talking to your kids about predators. I started early with my own two...I remember when my oldest was four I asked her "what would you do if a stranger came up and asked you to help him find his little puppy that he lost?" She said she would go with him and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Since then I have preached and questioned them on different scenarios.
I was unfortunate enough to be a one-time victim of a predator. Kids need to know that it's not just strangers who are predators. It can be family members, someone in church, etc..

Did anyone watch the Dateline segment? I'd be interested in what all was said.

Maybe the parent was so upset because now the child is asking questions that she doesn't want or know how to answer. There are parents out there that don't want to have to deal with the hard stuff. Others are just misguided and think they can keep their children protected and sheltered.

White Rain said:

As a parent of two small girls (ages 9 and 7) I can't imagine other parents being upset over something like this, unless they were upset at the language or something. IMO it's never to early to start talking to your kids about predators. I started early with my own two...I remember when my oldest was four I asked her "what would you do if a stranger came up and asked you to help him find his little puppy that he lost?" She said she would go with him and I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Since then I have preached and questioned them on different scenarios.
I was unfortunate enough to be a one-time victim of a predator. Kids need to know that it's not just strangers who are predators. It can be family members, someone in church, etc..

Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY!!!! I'm sorry that this woman was upset, but its evident that she's not talking to her kids about this. If no one does, they may find out the hard way that the world is a dangerous place for kids these days. If kids don't know how they're targeted, how do they protect themselves?

I haven't watched the clip this teacher showed but I've seen several of these episodes. Kudos to them for doing this. They actually caught several of these pervs in an OC neighborhood close to where I live.

Ok, so perhaps the teacher should have sent home permission slips to show the film like they do for 'sex education' classes, giving the parent the option of letting their child see the film. But I don't believe this teacher did anything 'really' wrong and only had the child's best interests at heart.

After raising six kids, I've learned many things the 'hard way,' on some privileges I allowed that turned into the WRONG thing. This show made it CLEAR the danger of allowing your child to have a computer of their own in their room and what can happen. These parents that are raising such a fuss should be THANKFUL their child learned, what could be, a life-saving lesson.

My parents told us about not talking to strangers etc and I taught my kids that. Of course in my day, it was the candy offer thing. Heck, I already had at least four kids before I'd ever heard of the 'help me find my pet' trick. I was shocked and thought, 'wow! I never thought of that one.'

So why are these parents upset someone is teaching their child another way to keep safe and showing them there's pervs and danger that lurk everywhere, even in their very own home?

A child is never too young to learn everyone is not their friend and fifth grade is definitely not too young to watch these episodes (especially when there's an adult present to answer questions).

It would seem fifth grade is an 'ideal' age for a pedophile, think of the two young boys recently recovered. They were both of that age or size at the time of their abduction. These young boys were not lured in by computer talk, but the intended victims on some of these episodes had pretended to be that age and the pervs came in droves.

JMHO
fran

I watch this show alot, but the most sickening one to me was where a man was coming to have sex with a 13 year old BOY and he also brought his 5 year old son with him! That just floored me and made me realize there is no limit to what these sick people can do.

And the more children are made aware that these sickos exist is in their best interest. Any parent that doesn't want to deal with subjects like this do NOT deserve to be parents, IMO.

I assume that because Dateline has a disclaimer about the show, the parents should have been notified that the video would be shown. That way they could have signed or declined permission forms for their children to watch this in class.


Respectfully,
dark_shadows

I would much rather that the school teach kids about dangers of strangers and possible lures to get to them, but would much rather be reminded that a good video is coming up and have the opportunity to view and tape the segment to watch with the kids myself. That way, any thing that is too graphic could be edited and then the video could be discussed with the kids. As far as I know, the schools in my area have never taught about these type dangers, and I sent them a note once reminding of how many sexual perverts are on the SO list for my neighborhood and that is why the kids are never to be just turned loose and allowed to walk home in case I am ever late due to an emergency situation.

Being as this is in Vermont, my brain interpreted this thread title as "the principal was in the dateline video and was allowed to keep their job even after the show aired". :doh:

Whew, I'm kind of relieved that's not the case here.

My son is in 5th grade and I think I would like to see the episode before he did, just to make sure I could explain things to him, or answer his questions my way, not the school's way.

Taximom said:

Being as this is in Vermont, my brain interpreted this thread title as "the principal was in the dateline video and was allowed to keep their job even after the show aired". :doh:

Whew, I'm kind of relieved that's not the case here.

My son is in 5th grade and I think I would like to see the episode before he did, just to make sure I could explain things to him, or answer his questions my way, not the school's way.

Click to expand...

Hi Taximom,


Well one here did that was a principal and even faked his own death. Yeah things happen in this odd state.......you had to of heard about that one. He abused kids in several other states besides Vermont.


Respectfully,
dark_shadows

When you read the page, you can go to the bottom of the page and click on all of the links connected to the story. You would not believe that this man was a principal, was in the Big Brother Program, ect!


Here is the link;


links