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: 02-20-2007
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 12:40pm

I agree with you......I was sent to the principal's office several times!! Gosh, to cut off someone's hair was way out of line, regardless of what that child did.


Cameras in the classroom may be a great start to at least having something documented to use later to determine guilt or innocence.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2008
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 12:48pm

Yea, cameras would be good.
BUT, I don't like this trend of all these cameras everywhere...
Where is our privacy going to end up?
Cameras around or not, she did cut the girl's hair off and that is evidence enough... I'm sure there were many witnesses too!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-20-2007
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 1:31pm

I used to think exactly like yourself concerning our lack of privacy with all the cameras everywhere......but I changed my mind the last few years with all the crime and what-not that seems to escalate by the minute in broad daylight on our public streets. I look at it this way now: Am I more likely or less likely

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2008
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 1:40pm

Yea, that's true... courts are bombarded with useless cases... I guess cameras are good in some cases!

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Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 1:41pm
Let's not forget the ever popular Simpsons, Family Guy, and many of the other "cartoons" where the children are smart-alecks and the adults are imbeciles.
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Avatar for ddnlj
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 1:50pm

Many years ago I was struck several times by a teacher. She accused me of doing something I hadn't done and when I told her I hadn't done this, she hit me, leaving bruises.


This was 1971. I was 13 and scared to death. I'd never imagined a teacher doing such a thing. I'd always been taught to respect teachers. Back then a teacher's word was law, no matter what. I was actually afraid to tell my parents for fear they'd side with the teacher.


When they saw the bruises

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2009
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 1:56pm

I agree with you, in 1978 my fifth grade teacher literally picked up(individually, of course)

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2008
In reply to: mombitsy
Wed, 12-16-2009 - 3:53pm

Wow, that is a shame. Yes, cameras might be a good idea to have in classrooms. Especially w/younger kids that can't defend themselves against crazy adults!

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