Questioning teachers

Avatar for toryanna
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Questioning teachers
6
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 2:05am

Friday Victor came home and told me the most disturbing thing. He said that his substitute for class this week told his class "If you guys don't behave, I'm going to bring my tazer to school on Monday."

Now, I told Vic that he might have been joking and to not worry about it unless he saw it. We worked out a plan that if he sees this substitute with a tazer, he's to say he needs to go potty, and go find a trusted adult.

My problem is that that statement just doesn't set right with me. I know our kids don't quite always understand what is being said, but is it just me, or is the word tazer NEVER acceptable in a classroom setting? I am torn between calling the principal and mentioning it to him and actually going up there and talking with this male substitute teacher and confront him directly THEN talk to principal.

Any ideas on how to handle this situation?

Alexis

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-28-2006
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 2:14am

hmmmm substitutes stink if they don't understand your child can't stand sarcasm, or joking.... The rest of the class could of understood, but not your child. I also have another son who we think has Tourettes so I understand about substitues who don't have a clue...

My kids would have taken that litterly too, and would of freaked out.

I'm kinda new to this all, is there anything that can be told to the substitute about children in the mainstream with ASD/Tourettes??? Someone should have a policy about this. I'm guessing nothings in place here, so what should we do?

We can't just go to school everytime there's a substitute, because half the time we dont' even know until the end of the day when our kids come home.

Very frustraiting....

Lainie

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2003
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 9:13am

You know, I think that's incredibly inappropriate...ASD children or not! In our district, just the threat of a weapon will get you suspended- and they don't care if you're joking. People have died from being hit with a tazer improperly.

I'd probably speak the substitute and to the principal. If they two of them are buddies, then chances are the principal wouldn't even mention it to the substitute. (Trust me, it happens all the time.) In our district, for all of its problems, if a sub pulled something like that, they'd never be called to sub again.

Just my 2 cents...but I certainly wouldn't ignore it.

Amy

Meez 3D avatar avatars games

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 11:24am

If you have a good principal, I would go straight to them.

Weapons are completely innappropriate and most schools have zero tolerance for such things. Substitutes do not need a full credential often and as such this person likely does not know this and was being stupid but you can't let it slide. The principal needs to know.

If the principal isn't good or you don't trust them then go further up the ladder.

Renee

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-21-2006
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 12:58pm

Geez... what an idiot.

I think my first action would be to consult a few parents from my son's class. Ask if their kids mentioned it, if not, would they ask their kids if anything "out the ordinary" was said at school, since not all kids will feel threatened at the mention of a tazer and wouldn't mention it when they came home from school... they may not even know what it is! Then, if it was mentioned, i would let them know that I would be speaking with the principal and the school psychologist (or social worker), so that they can talk with each other about the gravity of saying such a stupid comment.

Lastly after meeting with the principal, I'd do a pop in visit with the sub to see what kind of "feeling" I get from him, and if I sensed he was inappropriate, I'd let him know about the phrase, that I'd just been to the principal, and then use lots are large words that he can't understand. Of course, I'm a witch, so I'd probably throw in something about how threatening students is inappropriate, and would he like me to bring my 6 foot 4, 250 pound husband down to talk with him in addition>>> I don't have one, but as my skinny 5 foot 10 boyfriend says to me all the time, if they only knew that he was the nice one, they'd start and end with him. Life's not good for people when they step to me~
LOL.

I would follow up no matter what!
GL
Nicole

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-13-2006
Mon, 03-26-2007 - 2:32pm

I'm guessing the guy just didn't think before opening his mouth.


I had a university history professor who had no tolerance for any talking at all, unless you had an intelligent, well-phrased, thoughtful question.

Avatar for toryanna
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 03-27-2007 - 2:03am

60 days and we are completely done with this school. Thank god. Okay I call the school this morning and they tell me that both the principal and the vice principal are out for the day. I said "Well, I need an administrator of some sort to call me by 9am" so whomever is in charge of the administration needs needs to call me. One hour later, the substitute teacher calls me and said "Oh, I heard that Victor thought I would bring a tazer to school this morning?" OMG, I cannot believe that this school is that irresponsible. No wonder kids don't tell when they see someone with a weapon. When they do, the first thing the school does is admit who it was who told on them? I told the secretary that it needed to be an adminstrator and that I needed Victor left completely out of this because he's not worried about it, it bothers me.

Well, after this, I came home and called the school board representative. I was irate. Of course they tell me they will look into these accusations and get back with me, but who knows if they truly will.

On the plus side, the sub was extremely apologenic. He said that he thought Vic had ADHD not AS and could understand that they weren't talking about that particular class but an incident where a teacher brought one in a different school. He spent about 30 min asking me questions about AS and learning how to handle Victor in class so things worked better, and then asked the guidance councilor to search his belongings to include the desk, be in the room while a male janitor patted him down, and search his car just so they followed proceedure. I was extremely pleased that he went this far, and the guidance councilor even went so far as to call me and let me know he did not have a taser on him anywhere. So now I have written the teacher a note apologizing for the trouble I caused but a threat like that was serious enough for me to take that far. I'm glad he understood and even went so far as to learn more about AS and how to help the kids. He also said he was going to go Google Asperger's Syndrone and Autism to see what he can find to help him.

If only there were more teachers like him. He realized he made a mistake and did everything to rectify it. That's all we can ask. As for the school, well that's another story altogether.

Alexis