Family wants teacher fired over classroom bullying

[HMSHood]

Family wants teacher fired over classroom bullying
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48843303#.UD_Yg2z0e-U

"It’s an isolated situation in an 18-year career. That’s horrific, and it deserves some pretty significant action fast. And that’s what we did,” Cuzzetto said.

Really? I think this has been going for years. It just got recorded. John Rosi is just like Joe Paterno, do nothing about anything bad. Not only that, he participates.

[SuziQ]

JP is who I thought of as well. Especially when I read the below quote. Alot of JP supporters made the same argument.

Cuzetto said the teacher displayed 'inappropriate classroom management,' but the district decided against firing the teacher because of his 'body of work' over an 18-year teaching career in the district.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2580jtNui


Newsflash, one bad can cancel out a lifetime of good. I also believe this was not an isolated incident, but merely was the only one reported. In fact, I would not be surprised to find that other incidents were reported and the school swept it under the rug.

[Snick1946]

Reading stuff like this brings back a flood of bad memories from my High School days. I was bullied constantly and on many occasions, the teachers joined in. Some of these sick educators seem to think of this as bonding with their students then when confronted defend themselves by saying it was 'only horseplay' or worse, that the bullied student brought it on themselves (which is what my parents were told by school staff).

The teacher in this sad story is apparently also a wrestling coach. Nothing against that sport, but I think there is a 'jock' mentality that seems to come into play with a lot of male teachers. My tormentors were the football players, mostly the kids from the leading families in our small town.

[SuziQ]

Snick, I am so sorry you had to live that horror.

I don't get why no one has been arrested for assault.

[LadyL]

did anyone read the letter from the teacher? in it he states that the student in question used to jump on his back etc. daily

teacher seems to view it as kids just wrestling around - I'd like to hear from other students in the class who weren't directly involved

also, the quote from the student about wanting to die - was that because he was so embarrassed that his parents took action? if not, I think it indicates a much deeper emotional problem than a reaction to one incident JMO

[HMSHood]

Originally Posted by Snick1946

Reading stuff like this brings back a flood of bad memories from my High School days. I was bullied constantly and on many occasions, the teachers joined in. Some of these sick educators seem to think of this as bonding with their students then when confronted defend themselves by saying it was 'only horseplay' or worse, that the bullied student brought it on themselves (which is what my parents were told by school staff).

The teacher in this sad story is apparently also a wrestling coach. Nothing against that sport, but I think there is a 'jock' mentality that seems to come into play with a lot of male teachers. My tormentors were the football players, mostly the kids from the leading families in our small town.

I bet that kind of mentality is how someone like Jerry Sandusky was allowed to thrive and get away with what he did.

[georgiagirl]

I just viewed the edited video and it just looks like horseplay to me... It sounds like the kid was laughing and I never heard him screaming for them to stop or like he was afraid. I remember when my daughter was in 8th grade last year one of her teachers who happened to be a very young attractive female was being chased around her classroom by one of the male students and it was on cell phone video. In this video it just seems like he needs to get control of his classroom but it appears like they are all just being kids and the kid seems to be laughing with them.... Am I missing something? I haven't seen the whole video so maybe there is something else..

I understand the suspension and def agree that bullying should not be tolerated but I guess it just doesn't look like that so why get the guy fired?

[Peppermintswirlz]

Horseplay stops when you start writing on the kid's feet and stuff a sock in his mouth.

[Lucid]

I heard a high pitched noise throughout. Sounded like possible crying to me. I doubt any of the other kids would make that sort of noise... unless they want to be picked on, too. So I assume the victim was making that sound, and it didn't sound like he was playing to me. Definitely did not sound like laughing.

I'm sure the kid enjoyed being swung and flopped around, exposed, written on, etc. with a big group watching and recording. Not. That does NOT look like horseplay to me. Not to mention the video was just a clip, maybe the parts not shown are even worse.

[Donjeta]

Caught on film by fellow students the alleged bullying by Rosi directly followed a 15-minute period where the boys fellow eighth-graders swung him from his arms and legs, wrote on his feet, stuck a traffic cone on his head, gagged him with his own sock and taunted him.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz25PUAmSe2

If it was harmless horseplay it would have been several kids doing stuff to each other imo and not a group ganging up on just one kid for 15 minutes. That is systematical and intentional imo.

[Jen38]

Here's a crazy thought: maybe the teacher should have been, I don't know, TEACHING....instead of permitting this kind of behavior in the classroom. Any kind of gang mentality on one student is bullying, period, imo. My daughter went through three years of hell in middle school, enough to send her to a therapist and thinking suicidal thoughts. And while her abuse wasn't physical, it was mental, mostly from the jocks in her class that singled her out. Adults SHOULD know better.

[SuziQ]

Originally Posted by georgiagirl

I just viewed the edited video and it just looks like horseplay to me... It sounds like the kid was laughing and I never heard him screaming for them to stop or like he was afraid. I remember when my daughter was in 8th grade last year one of her teachers who happened to be a very young attractive female was being chased around her classroom by one of the male students and it was on cell phone video. In this video it just seems like he needs to get control of his classroom but it appears like they are all just being kids and the kid seems to be laughing with them.... Am I missing something? I haven't seen the whole video so maybe there is something else..

I understand the suspension and def agree that bullying should not be tolerated but I guess it just doesn't look like that so why get the guy fired?

First off the guy did not get fired and should have been, IMO. I don't know what edited video you watched, but maybe watching one that hasn't been edited might be a good place to start.

[jjenny]

Even if they were just horse playing, the way the rest of them were swinging that boy around, they could have hit his head, etc. Putting a sock into his mouth is not hygienic and could potentially lead to suffocation.
A teacher should not be encouraging that sort of behavior.

[Bree0372]

Originally Posted by LadyL

did anyone read the letter from the teacher? in it he states that the student in question used to jump on his back etc. daily

teacher seems to view it as kids just wrestling around - I'd like to hear from other students in the class who weren't directly involved

also, the quote from the student about wanting to die - was that because he was so embarrassed that his parents took action? if not, I think it indicates a much deeper emotional problem than a reaction to one incident JMO

I completely agree with you! It shows in the video the boy challenging the teach to a play fight in the end. I think it was all horse playing until the video surfaced. Now, it appears the parents are possibly after money and the boy may feel embarrassed.

I'm NOT blaming the parents for being upset, or the boy for feeling embarrassed. Suicidal? I think there's more to this story that we aren't hearing.

Firing him to me would be overkill. A suspension was the right punishment, IMHO. It will be on his record.

Boys did things similar (no socks in the mouth though) when I was in school. We were young and it was as the saying goes "boys will be boys". FWIW, I heard no screaming. Giggly girls, yes!

[Peppermintswirlz]

The fact that everyone involved ganged up on ONE KID, makes it bullying. If they took turns and did to a bunch of people, that's horseplay.

Also, once you stuff a sock in somebody's mouth, you've crossed the line from horseplay to bullying.

[JeannaT]

This looks completely like horseplay to me, with the boy engaging the teacher in physical rough housing AFTER the sock/foot writing incident. According to the teacher, this boy jumps on other kid's backs and the teacher's back, and this was just a continuation of that.

I don't see any bullying whatsoever, and I find it refreshing that the teacher allowed the kids to take a break from an otherwise very rigorous curriculum for a little levity.

I'd be curious to know, at what point, did this boy change his attitude about the incident and view it as bullying rather than rough and tumble play?

[jjenny]

If a boy jumps on teacher's or other kids back it's teacher's job to stop it.
The other kids were carrying this boy around. They could drop him or hit his head.

[JeannaT]

Originally Posted by jjenny

If a boy jumps on teacher's or other kids back it's teacher's job to stop it.
The other kids were carrying this boy around. They could drop him or hit his head.

Oh certainly, this could have accidentally turned out badly. As a mother of boys, and a cub scout leader, this looks like horseplay to me. In my experience, breaking up this kind of play ends in groans of disappointment from ALL the kids - even the one being dragged around. The fact that he's still playing after the other kids moved on to something else - and takes his teacher on in a playful tussle, I really can't see any evidence this wasn't fun for all, at the time. I wonder if later that day the video came to light, or other kids made fun of him AFTER the fact and he changed his mind about his participation.

[Peppermintswirlz]

When you threaten to sit on someone and fart, that's bullying.

When you write on their feet in magic marker, that's bullying.

When you stuff a sock in their mouth, that's bullying.

If it was limited to wrestling, that would be simple horseplay, but the added activities are bullying.

And notice, no other kid was subjected to this treatment, only the one. If a bunch of kids were all subjected to it, then it is extreme horseplay. When everyone gangs up on one person, it's bullying.

[i.b.nora]

"The same day, Miller and Antholt met with the boy’s parents. They saw the videos for the first time. The boy’s mother cried, records state.

The parents said that a few days before the incident, the boy had said he hated school and didn’t want to live.

The father said the boy was sending mixed messages. Sometimes he said the incident was all in fun. But he didn’t act that way.

The mother was mad, records state. The father said he wanted to be objective. He didn’t think Rosi was malicious – but he was obtuse, shouldn’t have fostered the behavior. The mother wanted her son’s psychologist to see the videos.

The mother said the boy had tried to talk to a counselor about past problems but it didn’t help. The kids found out, and said the boy “ratted on them,” records state.

Read more here:
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/0...#storylink=cpy

I have viewed now the edited video at the msnbc site a number of times. I have also seen a couple of other video snippets which I presume are from the other two cell phone videos. I don't see what I would call bullying at all. In my opinion, the kids were goofing around and the so-called victim was thoroughly engaged in the play.

And, having found and read the entire article from the News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), I am thoroughly convinced that there was no bullying and that the young student and his parents are the 'problem'. Of course that is not the popular thing to say but that is how I see the overall incident.

How many thirteen year olds have a personal psychologist? In this article, it says the parents said the boy expressed hating school and not wanting to live, before the incident. The kid has or had some prior behavior problems, the parents know it, the school knew it, and it is, in my opinion, unconscionable on the part of the parents to now try to blame it all on the teacher and to call for his firing. I think the school handled it appropriately.

I would not want to be a teacher for this kid at his new private school.

[Donjeta]

If the whole class and teachers included participate in victimizing someone it is no wonder at all said someone has psychological problems and needs a psychologist. This was not the first time this happened. Stuffing socks in the person's mouth is not the first step, it's just a continuation of a pattern imo.