CA - 14 Year Old Told To Urinate In Front Of Class

This teacher did an idiotic thing, this was very innappropriate and he should be fired...
BUT I have to say this...once again it sounds like the old race card is being played. A kid wasn't allowed to leave class to go to a restroom and they expect us to believe it's because he's black? I know this wasn't specifically said, but since the child and teachers race were both mentioned I have to think it is what is being implied here...if not then why mention their races at all?
I also have to wonder why the boy didn't just get up and go to the restroom anyway. I am sure if he tried he wouldn't have been physically restrained. I'm not blaming the kid but if I really had to go that bad I wouldn't hesitate to walk out and deal with the consequences later.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Apr27/0,4670,ClassroomUrination,00.html
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A middle school teacher instructed an eighth grader to urinate in a bottle in class instead of allowing him go to the bathroom, the boy and his mother said Friday.
Thirty-one classmates heard Michael Patterson, 14, relieve himself into an empty Gatorade bottle in a corner, they said.
"He said, 'Do what you got to do,'" the boy recalled of Tuesday's exchange. "I said, 'I've got a bottle,' and he said, 'Go in the corner.' So I just handled my business."
When he was finished, Michael said, his science teacher told him to go to the restroom to wash his hands and dispose of the bottle.
"It was really, really embarrassing," Michael said. "It's still embarrassing."
The boy's mother and the local chapter of the NAACP are demanding that the district fire the teacher at Charles M. Goethe Middle School if he does not resign. The boy is black, and Kelly Jacko, his mother, said the teacher is white.
"That man owes us an apology," said Jacko said. "I don't think he should teach. He had to know this was not appropriate behavior."
A school district spokesman said officials are interviewing the teacher and other students.
The mother disclosed the teacher's name, but district spokesman Marcus Walton would not confirm it.

Anyone else getting really concerned about the caliber of those teaching our students? What an idiot!! :loser:

Black, white, or green with pink polka dots, this was outrageous - if not unlawful - behavior on the part of this "teacher". I cannot imagine the local School Board would want to keep this person in a classroom with children!

Should the "teacher" be fired immediately? Absolutely! Should the parents sue the teacher personally? Absolutely!

AlwaysShocked said:

Black, white, or green with pink polka dots, this was outrageous - if not unlawful - behavior on the part of this "teacher". I cannot imagine the local School Board would want to keep this person in a classroom with children!

Should the "teacher" be fired immediately? Absolutely! Should the parents sue the teacher personally? Absolutely!

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Funny, this was EXACTLY WHAT I WAS GOING TO POST - pink, green, black, brown, FIRE HIS ARSE!

AlwaysShocked said:

Black, white, or green with pink polka dots, this was outrageous - if not unlawful - behavior on the part of this "teacher". I cannot imagine the local School Board would want to keep this person in a classroom with children!

Should the "teacher" be fired immediately? Absolutely! Should the parents sue the teacher personally? Absolutely!

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I totally agree. I am not sure why the NAACP is involved... perhaps the family doesn't have the means to hire an attorney and the NAACP is helping them that way. I don't think this is about race. It would be just as upsetting is the races were reversed (black teacher, whole student).

That poor kid. I am not sure I would have been able to contain my anger... I think I would have found that teacher myself and had it out.

I agree he should be fired. I can't for the life of me understand what the teacher was thinking. I know when I was in school it was frowned upon to leave class to go to the restroom. Most of the time, teachers said no, you have to wait.

But after this kid does his biz, the teacher sends him out of the classroom anyway -- to the restroom!!!

Come on. Don't you know how hard it is to deal with these 14yo punks in the classroom? They are just looking for a way out of class or to make trouble. If I thought he really needed to urinate, I would have of course, given him a hall pass.




I have told my children that if they really have to go and can't wait and the teacher says no, to quietly get up and go to the restroom. I will deal with the teacher/principal/school board or whomever has a problem with it.

This isn't about race. It is about a person who thinks they know better than anyone else and likes being in control. They should be fired immediately.

What if this happened to a 14yo girl?

I have a different take on this, so don't bash me. I definitely agree that to urinate in the classroom is totally inappropriate, but I think there's more to this story then what we're hearing. Maybe the teacher is sick and tired of this kid disrupting the class and doubted he really had to go to the bathroom but was just looking for an excuse for getting out of class. That doesn't excuse how the teacher addressed this situation, and I'm sure he'll lose his job over it. I'd like to know the history of this boy and if he tends to disrupt the class. Also, at 14, the boy didn't have to follow through and urinate in the bottle in the classroom. He could have just as easily walked out the door letting his teacher know he really had to go and he was going. I don't want to judge this boy, but 14 yr olds can be real smart mouths and love attention. No one forced this boy to go in the bottle. I honestly don't see this a case for a lawsuit. I think America is "sue" crazy!

tennessee said:

Come on. Don't you know how hard it is to deal with these 14yo punks in the classroom? They are just looking for a way out of class or to make trouble. If I thought he really needed to urinate, I would have of course, given him a hall pass.




I have told my children that if they really have to go and can't wait and the teacher says no, to quietly get up and go to the restroom. I will deal with the teacher/principal/school board or whomever has a problem with it.

This isn't about race. It is about a person who thinks they know better than anyone else and likes being in control. They should be fired immediately.

What if this happened to a 14yo girl?

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Well they surely couldn't use a bottle........

kahskye said:

I have a different take on this, so don't bash me. I definitely agree that to urinate in the classroom is totally inappropriate, but I think there's more to this story then what we're hearing. Maybe the teacher is sick and tired of this kid disrupting the class and doubted he really had to go to the bathroom but was just looking for an excuse for getting out of class. That doesn't excuse how the teacher addressed this situation, and I'm sure he'll lose his job over it. I'd like to know the history of this boy and if he tends to disrupt the class. Also, at 14, the boy didn't have to follow through and urinate in the bottle in the classroom. He could have just as easily walked out the door letting his teacher know he really had to go and he was going. I don't want to judge this boy, but 14 yr olds can be real smart mouths and love attention. No one forced this boy to go in the bottle. I honestly don't see this a case for a lawsuit. I think America is "sue" crazy!

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Ya do have a point - two sides to every story!

What's ironic is... I went to this middle school... the neighborhood has degraded in years and I think the teachers aren't that motivated or caring as they should be... in any neighborhood!

They really need to have teachers pass a psychological test before being allowed in a classroom. Weed out the control freaks and others with issues detrimental to the children. A diploma isn't a guarantee of that.

This infuriates me!

kahskye said:

I have a different take on this, so don't bash me. I definitely agree that to urinate in the classroom is totally inappropriate, but I think there's more to this story then what we're hearing. Maybe the teacher is sick and tired of this kid disrupting the class and doubted he really had to go to the bathroom but was just looking for an excuse for getting out of class. That doesn't excuse how the teacher addressed this situation, and I'm sure he'll lose his job over it. I'd like to know the history of this boy and if he tends to disrupt the class. Also, at 14, the boy didn't have to follow through and urinate in the bottle in the classroom. He could have just as easily walked out the door letting his teacher know he really had to go and he was going. I don't want to judge this boy, but 14 yr olds can be real smart mouths and love attention. No one forced this boy to go in the bottle. I honestly don't see this a case for a lawsuit. I think America is "sue" crazy!

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I'm certainly not going to bash you, but I think the teacher should be fired anyway.......you don't let a kid urinate in a classroom, period. You ask them to hold it, you send the child to the restroom, and if you can't send the child to the restroom, you contact the front office for instructions, but you do NOT let a kid, even a disruptive kid, urinate in a classroom.

One of my very good friends is a teacher of first graders here in Louisiana. She was told that they were not allowed to leave the classroom during the high stakes testing that the fourth graders were going through......she had thirsty kids, kids that needed #1 and kids that needed #2 during that testing time.....thirsty kids are easy, because my friend brought little juice boxes to class, but the others weren't so easy. She snuck one kid out and down the hall and was caught and threatened by the principal. Another child ended up messing his pants and a couple wet themselves. All of this to say: I wonder if the teacher had been forbidden to allow students to leave the room for a reason like this?

My neices and nephews would have just left. If you have to go. GO!

kgeaux said:

I'm certainly not going to bash you, but I think the teacher should be fired anyway.......you don't let a kid urinate in a classroom, period. You ask them to hold it, you send the child to the restroom, and if you can't send the child to the restroom, you contact the front office for instructions, but you do NOT let a kid, even a disruptive kid, urinate in a classroom.

One of my very good friends is a teacher of first graders here in Louisiana. She was told that they were not allowed to leave the classroom during the high stakes testing that the fourth graders were going through......she had thirsty kids, kids that needed #1 and kids that needed #2 during that testing time.....thirsty kids are easy, because my friend brought little juice boxes to class, but the others weren't so easy. She snuck one kid out and down the hall and was caught and threatened by the principal. Another child ended up messing his pants and a couple wet themselves. All of this to say: I wonder if the teacher had been forbidden to allow students to leave the room for a reason like this?

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Thanks for not bashing me. I do agree the teacher messed up big time and probably lost his teaching position. I guess in my mind, I don't think he thought the 14 yr old would actually follow through with it, and once he did, it obviously couldn't be stopped. Letting him THEN go to the bathroom after to clean up shows that he could have let him go earlier. The more I think about this, you are right, the teacher could have called the office for an escort or he could have had another student escort him to the bathroom if he doubted the student's honesty.

As far as your friend, I think that's totally absurd to refrain small children from using the bathroom facilities. I know teachers need to keep a somewhat routine, but children are not dogs, and can't be crated until they have to relieve themselves.

I am not 100% sure this is a so-called race-related incident, but again, I wonder if it WASN'T why would there be any need to announce that the student was black, and the teacher was white?
I read MANY stories like this (and other horrors) EVERY SINGLE DAY where race ISN'T mentioned.
I am not trying to start another race topic, like the Imus and White Privelge one, but I do feel that the race card is being played (unfairly) here.

White Rain said:

I am not 100% sure this is a so-called race-related incident, but again, I wonder if it WASN'T why would there be any need to announce that the student was black, and the teacher was white?
I read MANY stories like this (and other horrors) EVERY SINGLE DAY where race ISN'T mentioned.
I am not trying to start another race topic, like the Imus and White Privelge one, but I do feel that the race card is being played (unfairly) here.

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I would have to say they've probably stated the race because the school is about 75-80% black. And the media loves to stir up trouble...

I think the teacher saying "doing what you got to do" meant go to the rest room if you have to. The kid took this another way and the teacher's mistake was in not sending him out of the classroom at that time.

I don't think it's a race issue, I think it's an issue of poor teaching skills. This can't be the 1st time this teacher has exhibited bad judgment.

"Another child ended up messing his pants and a couple wet themselves"

What in God's name has our education system come to when this type of thing is allowed to happen?

This would be psychologically and potentially physically damaging to any child, including a first grader! No child wants to wet or soil themselves - especially in front of their peers. If I were the parent and my child came home wet or messed because they were not allowed to use the restroom - and I don't care WHAT kind of a test was in progress - I would be a wild woman! In your face to the teacher, the principal, the school board and anyone else who would listen!

I am really glad this story has received publicity. I hope it receives more publicity. And we all need to be questioning our children and grandchildren about exactly what is going on during their school day.