Parents: Teacher forced son to lick drawing off desk

[The Straight Story]

Updated: Tuesday, May 7 2013, 07:19 AM EDT

TROY -- The parents of a Troy 5th grader were shocked when their son told them his teacher told him to lick his desk clean after he was caught drawing on it in February. Since then his parents said they’ve attempted to go through proper channels within the district to get the teacher reprimanded, but were unsuccessful.

“I said ‘we can end all this by her going in front of the class with my son and apologizing for her actions’ he (the principal) says’ that would be a directive. I cannot give a directive and it wouldn't be sincere’ and I said ‘is that all you're going to do?’ and he said ‘well basically we’ve handled it, it's confidential’. Point blank,” said George Spencer, the boy’s father.

....

The district issued the following statement Monday afternoon:

"When a complaint from a parent is received the matter is investigated," said interim Superintendent Brian Howard in a statement. "Once the facts are known, appropriate steps are taken. If the facts show a complaint is unfounded the parent is informed. If the facts show a complaint is accurate or partially accurate, corrective measures are taken and the parent is informed. Information regarding a specific student, staff member or parent is confidential and cannot be shared. There are times when a parent may not want to accept the facts. There are times when a parent may not agree that the steps taken are appropriate. The District is bound by laws and regulations. There is no need for additional information when an issue has been addressed fairly and responsibly based on the facts. The District cannot and will not engage in spreading rumors and gossip." - Dr. Brian Howard, Interim Superintendent of Schools

http://www.cbs6albany.com/news/features/top-story/stories/parents-teacher-forced-son-lick-drawing-off-desk-8091.shtml

[immoderate]

1. The story just says she told him to lick it off...

What kind of force was applied? Did he lick it? Clean? If he did, the teacher would be fired, and you can disregard this.

Sounds (to me) like the teacher reprimanded the kid stupidly, and now they're deflecting the issue from his defacing school property. The district is caught in the middle.

--imm

[dballance]

2. So you're okay with a teacher having a student lick their desk as punishment?

The "force" that was applied was the authority of a teacher over a student. It may not have been physical but it was force nonetheless. Having the kid lick the desk was over the top. Being disciplined is demeaning enough in and of itself. Being made to lick the desk crosses the line.

The student should certainly have been made to clean the drawing off the desk. There are cleaners and rags for that. Having him do that in front of the other students would have sufficient. Having him lick his desk is just exerting some sort of sadistic power over him by the teacher.

We're way beyond defacing school property here and that's not at all the issue that's presented in the article or the OP. I don't see anywhere in the article the parents claiming their son was innocent and didn't draw on his desk and that he should not have been disciplined at all.

The district is not caught in the middle. They have a teacher who used punishment that was over the top and inappropriate. They should discipline the teacher. If the teacher had slapped the kid and the district got involved I doubt you'd think the district was "caught in the middle" when the parents went to the superintendent.

[duffyduff]

4. You have no facts to back it up. We just have a parent's claim.

I take almost all of these with a huge grain of salt.

They are looking to cash in.

[dballance]

5. I have no facts? YOU have NO facts they're trying to "cash in," hypocrite.

The superintendent didn't deny that the incident took place in his statement. He only said that complaints are investigated. The principal stepped in and spoke to the students. Do you think that would been done if nothing had happened?

You say I have no facts and then you go on to assert the parents are looking to cash in based on NO FACTS, just your opinion. Then you make your post about "I don't believe a word of it. They are hunting for an unscrupulous lawyer so they can cash in on an insurance claim." Well aren't you just the biggest hypocrite. You have NO facts they are trying to cash in but you're more than happy to assign the parents nefarious motives without any facts to back that up.


And for anyone who thinks they should alert on this post because I called another member a hypocrite, it's not name-calling when it's true.

[proud2BlibKansan]

15. +1

[immoderate]

6. The article doesn't say he licked it off.

It just says she told him to do it. That's over the line, IMO, but doesn't necessarily warrant termination. It would depend on that and other info in the teacher's record.

If she somehow actually made him do it, that's a different story. But it doesn't sound like she did.

--imm

[dballance]

8. Try Re-Reading the Title "Parents: Teacher forced son to lick drawing off desk"

Sound like they're making the accusation that he was forced to lick the desk.

[immoderate]

9. In news, the people who write headlines don't know the story.

If it's not in the body of the story, you can usually assume it didn't happen.

--imm

[dballance]

11. "If it's not in the body of the story, you can usually assume it didn't happen."

So then I can also assume it did happen and the wording got changed by an editor just as easily.

[immoderate]

12. Why don't you do just that?

--imm

[dballance]

14. What's Amazing to Me is the Assumption the Victim Is Lying/Parents Lying.

This whole idea that this is a conspiracy to extract money from the school system and that the victim is lying is no different than the attitude of so many people in Stuebenville, OH where the young girl was raped. Replace the football team members with the teacher and raped girl with the student and you have the same power dynamics at play.

Now, it could turn out that everyone who believes it is a scam for money is completely correct. I'm sure the authorities are pursuing that angle. Based on what's in the article there is nothing to lead to that conclusion yet. What a horribly cynical society we live in when every person who claims to have been abused or treated unfairly is automatically assumed to be a scammer just because there have been cases of that in the past.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. It happens a lot.

That's why the claim is being made.

I could write a book full of stories about things kids told their parents that were completely false. Just last week at my school a 1st grader fell on the playground, went to the nurse, and returned to class. She was fine. Next morning, several parents called the school concerned about the 1st grader who had broken her leg at recess.

So yes there's a reason we teachers usually doubt these stories especially if we are hearing only the parent's or student's version.

[The Straight Story]

13. From another source:

According to the parents, their son — who they admitted has been suspended at the school before, but has also skipped a grade — was drawing on his desk when his teacher asked if he would lick the desk to clean up his pencil marks. After doing so, the teacher then asked him to get paper towels to wipe off the area. This happened on Feb. 8 and the parents were informed a few days later when they heard their son “nonchalantly” telling his 6-year-old sister about what happened, his mom said.

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2013/05/05/news/doc5186f9e5546da621100993.txt

[immoderate]

18. That's better, but still somewhat ambiguous.

I still think there could be better information. It says the teacher "asked," which is the antecedent for "after doing so."

--imm

[duffyduff]

3. I don't believe a word of it. They are hunting for an unscrupulous lawyer

so they can cash in on an insurance claim.

And if they sue, the school district insurance company will pay out, like they always do.

It's a win-win for the parents and the lawyers, a lose-lose for taxpayers.

[HappyMe]

10. Agreed.

[FarCenter]

7. Kids lie, teachers lie -- this is why video cameras are needed in the classroom.

[loli phabay]

17. pretty much true in a way, there are liars in every group. I wonder what the reaction here would be

If was a cop who was accused of telling the kid to lick clean something he drew on, I am pretty sure it would be different.