Sheesh!

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-04-2009
Sheesh!
18
Mon, 12-14-2009 - 6:53pm

I understand that teachers are under stress...but this teacher just went overboard:


http://www.wisn.com/news/21944773/detail.html
Teacher Cuts Off Girl's Braid In Front Of Class
Police Issue Teacher $175 Ticket For Disorderly Conduct

December 11, 2009


MILWAUKEE -- A Milwaukee teacher is charged with disorderly conduct after punishing a first-grader by cutting her hair.



Lamya Cammon is angry, confused, and scared by the incident last week in which the apparently frustrated teacher cut one of her braids off after she wouldn't stop playing with them in class.



Cammon, 7, sports a few dozen braids, but one is conspicuously absent.



"She told me to stop playing with it. Then cut it off and sent me back to my desk," Cammon said.



Cammon's a first-grader at Congress Elementary and said her teacher used a pair of classroom scissors to cut off one of the braids after she absent-mindedly kept playing with them.



"Tell me how you play with your hair. Show me what that means," 12 News reporter Nick Bohr said to Cammon.



"I wasn't playing with it that loud," Cammon said.



She said the teacher called her to the front of the room and cut it in front of the whole class.



"What did you do?" Bohr asked.



"I went to my desk and cried. And they was laughing," Cammon said. "She threw it away, and she said, 'Now what you gonna go home and say to your momma? ' And I said, 'That you cut off my hair,'" Cammon said.



Cammon's mother is furious. She went to the school and confronted the teacher.



"I said, 'Well, you know, you cut a lot of her hair off.' And she was like, 'Well, I do apologize.' She said, 'But I was frustrated,'" Cammon's mother, Helen Cunningham, said.



The Milwaukee Public Schools District said it is going through the disciplinary process with the teacher, who remains in class, although Cammon has been moved to a different classroom by the principal.



"The main thing is, from the heart of the principal, and me speaking for the district, we're very sorry that this happened," MPS spokeswoman Roseann St. Aubin said.



Cammon's mother said she appreciates the apology but said the district should seriously question whether the teacher should keep her job.



"Why would we want someone like that teaching our kids? We trust our kids once they go to school to be safe," Cunningham said.



Milwaukee police investigated the case and referred it to the district attorney for possible physical or mental abuse of a child charges.



When the district attorney's office decided not to file criminal charges, police this week issued the teacher a $175 ticket for disorderly conduct.



The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association can't talk about the incident, but said stress is not unusual.



“As budget constraints get tighter every year, the stress level and frustrations do increase,” said the MTEA’s Sid Hatch.



12 News called the teacher Friday night and went to her home for comment, but someone came to the door and said she did not want to talk. >>>>

 



Opal

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-30-2007
In reply to: mombitsy
Mon, 12-14-2009 - 7:16pm

: | Yikes! That teacher was so wrong.

I'm sure happy I never had her as a teacher. I can remember my Mom yelling at me to quit playing with my hair. I still do it. Especially when I'm stressed.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Mon, 12-14-2009 - 7:50pm

I am a STRONG advocate for cameras in EVERY classroom. I am fairly certain that the little girl's account of what happened isn't exactly how it happened. I do not agree with the teacher cutting off the braid of the child but we would need to know the exact circumstances that drove the teacher to do such a drastic thing.

To have one child continually disrupt the classroom of 25 or so children is extremely frustrating and it is very difficult to get all the children back at attention. Teachers are very limited in what type of disciple they can do anymore. You can't even sent the child out of the class. Now....25 children suffer because of 1 unruly disrespectful brat who cannot be controlled and won't listen to the teacher.

First graders today are extremely unruly and disrespectful today. I know this because I sub in the first grade all the time and have done so for years. These children have absolutely ZERO respect for authority. They don't listen to teachers, assistant principals or principals. They talk when they please, get out of their seat when they please, and feel they can blurt out and disrupt the class whenever they please.

Parents are quick to blame the teachers because their "little Johnny" would never ever behave badly. Oh yeah? Most parents would probably be shocked at how their children behave in the classroom. When I was a first grader, if the teacher even said my NAME I was mortified. I hoped I would NEVER, EVER have to have the Principal speak to me. Today....these kids don't give a darn. They couldn't care less.

I say, cameras in every classroom to protect the teachers AND the students. The buses have them...why can't the classrooms? Cameras don't lie. Sometimes, children and teachers do.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Tue, 12-15-2009 - 6:04am

I highly doubt the situation should have been handled by cutting the little girl's hair.


I have personally dealt with many teachers who should not be anywhere near a classroom; some just don't have the skills to instruct.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Tue, 12-15-2009 - 7:42am

((I highly doubt the situation should have been handled by cutting the little girl's hair.
I have personally dealt with many teachers who should not be anywhere near a classroom; some just don't have the skills to instruct. A career as a teacher is not for everyone.))

I totally agree. The teacher was wrong and I don't agree with what she did, however, I can see how a situation of extreme frustration might have driven her to do something so drastic.

But, I also know that a teacher is not just a teacher anymore. They are parents, social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, etc. They must tolerate unruly undisciplined children who continue to disrupt the entire class over and over again, day in and day out with little or no support from parents and administrators.

In European countries, this is not tolerated. Nor is it tolerated in private schools. Unruly children are kicked out of a classroom or disciplined severely. They are not allowed to disrupt the rest of the class who is behaving and trying to learn.

In America, we sacrifice the entire class of good well-behaved children for the one ill-behaved child.
We have it backwards.

Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: mombitsy
Tue, 12-15-2009 - 8:06am

I've been an advocate of cameras in the classroom for years.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Tue, 12-15-2009 - 8:30am
ITA!!
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-23-2008
In reply to: mombitsy
Tue, 12-15-2009 - 6:34pm

I, too, say there should be cameras in the classroom.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 9:42am

((A lot of children have no respect for authority.))

I blame a lot of this on television. Especially Disney. Virtually ALL their children's shows depict any real authority figure (teacher, Principal, parent, etc) as a bumbling buffoon. They also show that only the children have a clue of what is going on and the children have to "help" the authority figure with their problems.

iCarly, Zach and Cody, The Fairly Odd Parents, etc. They are all the same. They teach children to disrespect authority.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 11:30am

I think issues with both teachers and students could be better handled if situations were recorded and could be verified and discussed once everyone could see exactly what took place.


ITA.


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2008
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 11:49am

What ever happened to teachers just sending kids to the principle's office?
I can't see how a little girl playing with her hair, can get on anybody's nerves. This teacher should take a chill pill or not teach at all!

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