Teachers suspended

[keith1612]

Teacher disciplined for hoodie drag
by The Canadian Press - Story: 82364
Oct 25, 2012 / 2:01 pm

The new agency that disciplines BC teachers has issued its first rulings, which include action against one teacher who surfed porn on a school computer and another who dragged a student by a hoodie and cut off his breathing for about three seconds.

The Teacher Regulation Branch was set up by the provincial government to replace the BC College of Teachers, which was criticized as being overly influenced by the BC Teachers Federation.

In one of its first rulings, the new agency handed Dale Andre Joseph Mailhiot a two-month suspension of his teaching certificate for using his school computer to check graphic adult websites.

Lynna Darlene Schaldemose was suspended for 14 days after she dragged an 11-year-old student by his hoodie during an assembly, when the zipper jammed into the boy's throat and cut off his breathing.

Dennis Craig Smith, who was an elementary school principal, lost his teaching certificate after he admitted taking $29,000 from a principals' and vice principals' association, of which he was the treasurer.

Two other teachers were disciplined for hitting students.


so would this not sort of say the union will defend sexual acts and violence but dont touch their money?
i would think petty theft would be less than the other offenses with children involved.

[OnTheRoadAgain]

This is good news.

Teachers
Police

what's next?
who's left?

[BigBadBootyDaddy]

Love it, should happen more often

[OnTheRoadAgain]

The former should never happen.
There would be no need for the latter.

Reprimand is more likely to happen more often now with unbiased input.

[Queen K]

And thus everyone is scared of the kids/teens.

And the kids/teens are scared of? NOBODY!

[oneh2obabe]

So it's okay for a teacher to drag a student by his/her clothing and cut off their air supply?

[Smurf]

Is it okay for kids to talk back, not listen, act up just because they know they can and there is nothing can be done about it. Both are just as wrong and because of all the "you can't touch them" they are loosing more and more respect. They grow up to be adults that think they can do what they want and there should be no repercussions. They believe there should be no punishment for speeding, following too close or whatever just because they personally do not believe in the law.

Yes it is wrong to choke the child or anyone for that matter, but to an extent sends the wrong message to be able to do nothing. Hope you understand what I mean. I believe the teacher should have been punished but I'll bet the child deserved punishment to.

[OnTheRoadAgain]

And thus everyone is scared of the kids/teens.

And the kids/teens are scared of? NOBODY!

Who were you scared of when you were a teen?
Was it that fear that kept you in line?

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Is it okay for kids to talk back, not listen, act up just because they know they can and there is nothing can be done about it. Both are just as wrong and because of all the "you can't touch them" they are loosing more and more respect. They grow up to be adults that think they can do what they want and there should be no repercussions. They believe there should be no punishment for speeding, following too close or whatever just because they personally do not believe in the law.

Yes it is wrong to choke the child or anyone for that matter, but to an extent sends the wrong message to be able to do nothing. Hope you understand what I mean. I believe the teacher should have been punished but I'll bet the child deserved punishment to.

There will come a day when we understand that beating kids or punishing them with corporal punishment into submission to obey is not healthy. Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence. Oh, wait, I think that has already come to be,m at least in the public education system. No strap in the school.

So, what did they replace this corporal punishment with in schools?

I don't think respect is gained through corporal punishment; that is 'fear of retribution'.

A child never deserves punishment IMO, a child deserves the respect of the adults to teach without causing physical pain or psychological damage. That is how you gain respect and trust from a child or a teen.

[steven lloyd]

Who were you scared of when you were a teen?

Teachers, police ...

Was it that fear that kept you in line?

Yup (more or less in line)

... , a child deserves the respect of the adults to teach without causing physical pain or psychological damage. That is how you gain respect and trust from a child or a teen.

Sounds great in theory. I think corporal punishment, in appropriate measure, worked better.

[Merry]

Having worked in the school system (not as a teacher) I have seen first hand how unruly some students can be, and how many teachers feel they have no "tools" at their disposal to discipline such students with. As a result, many teachers have simply given up when it comes to trying to discipline some kids, and that has had a negative effect on the entire student body.

Many kids have difficulty learning in the noisy, unruly environments caused by a few hard to control kids, and it is those whose ability to learn is negatively affected who are the true victims in this type of situation. Yet we never hear about that type of victim, only about the ones who got upset because they felt they received inappropriate discipline at some point.

I don't know what the kid wearing the hoodie did, but I'm sure that when the teacher grabbed his hood rather than his hand or shoulder it was probably because that was the only part of him she could reach at the time (could it have been that he was deliberately trying to evade her?). How do we know he stopped breathing for 3 seconds? Did someone time it? Would that short interval of time even be noticeable? Was any real harm done? I don't know the answer to any of these questions, but I do know that as a society we're often more concerned with the perpetrator's "rights" than we are with the effect that perpetrator's behaviour was having on those around him. If this kid was exhibiting frequent "bad" behaviour that had a negative effect on the learning abilities on others in the class, what "tools" does today's teacher have at his or her disposal to deal with the situation?

I'm not condoning how the teacher reacted to the situation, but I do think that suspending an otherwise "good" teacher for grabbing a kids' hoodie, when no real harm was done, is just as much of a disciplinary overeaction as was what the teacher did to the student. Maybe a word of advice from the Principal as to the inappropriatness of what she did would have been sufficient. And as for the kid, if he or she was hard to control prior to this incident, you can bet your bottom dollar he or she is IMPOSSIBLE to control now. Kids learn fast when the adults who are looking after them feel powerless to do anything about bad behaviour.

[FreeRights]

Is it okay for kids to talk back, not listen, act up just because they know they can and there is nothing can be done about it. Both are just as wrong and because of all the "you can't touch them" they are loosing more and more respect. They grow up to be adults that think they can do what they want and there should be no repercussions. They believe there should be no punishment for speeding, following too close or whatever just because they personally do not believe in the law.

Yes it is wrong to choke the child or anyone for that matter, but to an extent sends the wrong message to be able to do nothing. Hope you understand what I mean. I believe the teacher should have been punished but I'll bet the child deserved punishment to.

Thank you advising us that you support beating children.

[Merry]

A child never deserves punishment IMO, a child deserves the respect of the adults to teach without causing physical pain or psychological damage. That is how you gain respect and trust from a child or a teen.

Have you seen the inside of some of our schools lately? The behaviour of some of those kids is downright scary, and definitely NOT conducive to learning. Why should kids who are genuinely interested in learning have their ability to do so thwarted by the badly behaved few? What do you propose teachers and schools should be allowed to do about such behaviour?

Obviously no-one wants to see kids disciplined in a way that causes physical pain or psychological damage, and everyone should always be treated with respect. But to say that a child never deserves punishment is being a tad unrealistic IMO.

How do you propose the teacher handle it when a teenage boy who is a foot taller than her, and very well built physically, tries to use body language to intimidate said teacher by standing so close he infringes on her personal space? (I've personally seen that tactic). Or what about the kid who tells the teacher to "f**k off" when asked to please sit down and be quiet? Or how about the one who simply will not do as asked, and tells the teacher to his/her face that "there's nothing you can do to make me". And the list of such bad behaviour goes on. Are you seriously suggesting that kids that behave in this way should never be punished?

Respect is a two way street, and children must be taught to always treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. Ideally this process should start at their mother's knee, and then be reinforced throughout the school years. But as we do not live in an "ideal" world far too many kids are entering the school system demanding respect from their elders while providing none in return. And society needs to find a way to reverse that trend. Simply focusing on the teachers' behaviour while ignoring the behaviour of the students is not a solution.

[keith1612]

A child never deserves punishment IMO, a child deserves the respect of the adults to teach without causing physical pain or psychological damage. That is how you gain respect and trust from a child or a teen.

Have you seen the inside of some of our schools lately? The behaviour of some of those kids is downright scary, and definitely NOT conducive to learning. Why should kids who are genuinely interested in learning have their ability to do so thwarted by the badly behaved few? What do you propose teachers and schools should be allowed to do about such behaviour?

Obviously no-one wants to see kids disciplined in a way that causes physical pain or psychological damage, and everyone should always be treated with respect. But to say that a child never deserves punishment is being a tad unrealistic IMO.

How do you propose the teacher handle it when a teenage boy who is a foot taller than her, and very well built physically, tries to use body language to intimidate said teacher by standing so close he infringes on her personal space? (I've personally seen that tactic). Or what about the kid who tells the teacher to "f**k off" when asked to please sit down and be quiet? Or how about the one who simply will not do as asked, and tells the teacher to his/her face that "there's nothing you can do to make me". And the list of such bad behaviour goes on. Are you seriously suggesting that kids that behave in this way should never be punished?

Respect is a two way street, and children must be taught to always treat others the way they themselves would like to be treated. Ideally this process should start at their mother's knee, and then be reinforced throughout the school years. But as we do not live in an "ideal" world far too many kids are entering the school system demanding respect from their elders while providing none in return. And society needs to find a way to reverse that trend. Simply focusing on the teachers' behaviour while ignoring the behaviour of the students is not a solution.

so you are saying teachers are justified in using force on children?
strange concept considering the first thing a teacher does is call 911 if they hear a parent tries to keep a child in line.
there is no excuse ever for a teacher to lay a hand on a child unless its truly for their safety or another childs (breaking up a fight).
making excuses for teachers assaulting children and watching porn in class etc is not the way to fix it.
they should have been fired on the spot with just cause meaning no severance pay or chance of teaching again.
its really a shame the union is so damn strong they can do anything more or less.
if they have a problem child they cant deal with expel him and see how the parents deal with it then.
choking a child is a criminal act and the police also should have charged the teacher.

[5VP]

Thank God for an economic reality that requires both parents to work more and harder than ever away from having to deal with the problems of having to raise disciplined, respectful children.

Thank God for the good sense of the BC Liberals Party to disrespectfully deride, derail, denigrate, diminish and downgrade the tools for teachers who spend more time with these kids than the parents do.

Thank God for this story; cuz now I know how hoodies can be used as a garrotte next time I see some poor, innocent punk *bleep* bullying another kid or helpless person or involved in a *bleep* etc...

Damn teachers; who do they think they are expecting kids to be polite and respectful so that they can actually show up at school to learn something and contribute usefully to society with more than just high scores on the latest video game?