After reading the posts on this topic and then reading the article, it is clear to me
that only one side of the story is being told, and many facts are being ignored or
changed in such a way to vilify Mrs. Coleman.
We need to be careful about always trusting what students tell their parents about
the way they are being punished. When children are angry, when they want to
misdirect parents off their own misbehavior, they exaggerate stories. I did it as a
child, and I'm sure many of you did as well. Indeed, let us not forget that the Salem
Witch Hunts were sparked by the exaggerated, trumped up accusations of children.
Once accusations are made they can then be fueled by parents who refuse to take
responsibility for the actions of their children and want to pass the blame for their
own poor parenting onto the public school system. These accusations are then
picked up by a media that exaggerates and recasts the stories to sell papers and
attract viewers. Exploitive interests groups (like these no-spank folks) steal the
stories and use them to further their own political agendas. And all this without any
research into the facts or consideration for both sides of the story.
Lets look at some of the issues raised by the other side:
On the Bathroom:
(1) The girls used mops and brushes to clean the bathroom. The story is
corroborated by the two janitors who supervised the clean-up (of course, I'll be the
first to admit that they janitors may be lying, but its best to consider both stories
before jumping to conclusions)
(2) The girls were made to clean the bathroom for clogging and overflowing the
toilets (intentionally? accidently? We don't know for sure yet)
If we take the set of facts presented by the administration and the janitors, the
consequences seem to flow naturally from the act - when you make a mess, you
need to clean-up after yourself.
Certainly, we should not disregard the children's story, but neither should we
disregard the administration's story. The posts on this message board seem to take
the children's story as the undeniable word of God, and in doing so risk demonizing
a principal that was acting reasonably and with the best interests of the school and
the moral education of the children in mind.
On "Running" up the stairs:
(1) The students did NOT run up the stairs, they WALKED. (There are unsupported
claims that they may have run up the stairs when the discipline first began, but
certainly most of the time the punishment was used, students WALKED.)
(2) 6th Graders were the only students disciplined in this way.
(3) The discipline occurred during PE time, a time when students are supposed to be
exercising. The rest of the class was exercising, they simply were allowed to do it a
way that would be considered fun.
(4) Parents were informed about the discipline.
(5) Parents were allowed to opt-out of the system.
(6) Only 4 parents choose to opt-out of the system.
Certainly the 'truth' is probably a shade of grey between these two stories.
But, do we really want to jump to the sort of conclusions as "Get Tort Attorneys" and
damage the careers and reputations of hard-working teachers and administrators
without really exploring the facts and considering both sides of the issue? Besides,
who are tort attorney's really going to help? Certainly themselves. Possibly the
pockets books of the parents. But who will they harm? The school district itself,
when the parents join them to the claim and go after their pocket-book, which is
certainly deeper than the teachers (and it will probably be the district that has to pay
because: (1) attorneys will go after the district because it has more money, and (2)
respondeat superior - especially if the board tacitly consented to the discipline).
Thus, the tort attorneys would really just be taking money from the community.
I implore you all to rise above the catch-phrases and exaggerations of the media,
parents, and students, read the article and try to make a fair assessment of the
situation. Please do not jump to the ill-considered, unreflective conclusions of "Get
Tort Attorneys" and "Fox".
On 4/03/08, Get Tort Attorneys wrote:
> I hope someone helps these kids/families. They need to
> consider getting tort attorneys involved. If they are special
> education students-- there are other federal statutes too that
> would be considered.
>
>
> On 4/03/08, Can you post the link wrote:
>> This is happening in many places. It needs to be exposed..
>> Send it to national media....
>>
>> martha@foxnews.com
>> show.livedesk@foxnews.com
>> yourcomments@foxnews.com
>>
>> They are covering a lot of education issues lately.
>>
>>
>> On 3/09/08, Fox wrote:
>>> Children are being abused in Shirley Elementary School and
>>> it is in the Arkansas Times newspaper. Kids were first
>>> forced to run stairs outside the building for nearly an
>>> hour with out their parents being notified. These kids
>>> were punished i this way for losing conduct points of 10
>>> points or more. Conduct points were for talking out of
>>> turn or chewing gum or not turning in complete work.
>> Even
>>> worse than this a young girl was made to clean the
>>> bathrooms twice a day for a few days with a tooth brush
>> and
>>> it was only found out when the child was taken to the Dr
>>> for medical treatment. The school says it didnt happen
>>> but we know it did. In the Arkansas Times the Principal
>>> and Superintendent admit to having kids clean bathrooms.
>>>
>>> Discipline is one thing and abuse is another.
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