Should the teacher have been arrested for this?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Poll question: Should the teacher have been arrested for this?

http://www.ktla.com/landing_mostinteresting/?Teacher-Makes-Student-Eat-Lunch-Out-of-G=1&blockID=242765&feedID=1080

Teacher Makes Student Eat Lunch Out of Garbage

March 18, 2009

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A kindergarten teacher in Connecticut has been arrested for allegedly forcing a 5-year-old boy to eat food the child had thrown in a garbage can.

Sixty-seven-year-old Anne O'Donnell, a teacher at Park City Magnet School in Bridgeport, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of risk of injury to a minor.

School officials say the charge stems from an incident last week when the boy apparently tossed out his lunch of chicken nuggets and a banana from the school cafeteria.

The teacher is accused of retrieving the items from the garbage can and forcing the boy to eat them in front of her.

[FLAprogressive]

1. Child endangerment.

[atreides1]

2. Question for those voting No

What should have been done?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

I don't think anybody's saying he shouldn't be charged with a crime.

But I think people are saying some recourse other then an arrest could have been used.

Me- I could go either way.

I'll give the cops the benefit of the doubt.

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. Employee discipline?

[Motown_Johnny]

3. Yes, way over the line. next time send home a note to the parents

[LostinVA]

4. Retirement yes, arrested no

[YOY]

5. She was trying to show him not to be wasteful...but not very intelligently.

Don't think it warrants termination.

[zipplewrath]

6. Not enough info

Was this some boxed lunch that was retrieved? What was in the can? Was the banana peeled?

It was dumb, I'm just not sure it rises to the level of criminal.

[ColbertWatcher]

7. I agree with this. n/t

[Donnachaidh]

8. she should not only be arrested, she should be bitchslapped as well

I don't care HOW old she is.

SHE didn't pack the lunch - SHE is NOT the child's mother. SHE stepped over the line, and should lose her job, her benefits, and told she can spend the rest of her life eating out of garbage cans.

If I was this kid's mother, I'd have a lawyer on her ass in a hot second. She obviously should NOT be teaching.

[Lyric]

10. Hell yes she should be fired. Garbage receptacles carry huge numbers of bacteria.

She sacrificed a lesson in hygiene (vitally necessary for life and health) for a lesson in "wastefulness?" If nothing else, she's too fucking stupid to be a teacher--and if that had been MY kid, I'd have her ass hauled into court in a nanosecond.

On edit: Sorry, I read the OP originally as "Should she be fired." I'm not opposed to her being arrested, though. That kind of shit is dangerous, plain and simple.

[lolly]

11. Other ways she could have handled this

I'll have to say, I threw away lots of food in elementary school. My mother insisted I buy the school lunches, and I hated pretty much everything. Had nothing but milk every day for lunch, threw out the rest.

If she's concerned about wastefulness, she could present a lesson on it in class. Plenty of stories, conceptual exercises.

She might also have written a note to the parents.

This was just really, really stupid, and I'm guessing it's not an isolated incident. If someone were to look into this, they would probably find a pattern of humiliating and degrading kids and idiosyncratic ideas of what deserves such punishment.

She should definitely be let go.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. If he doesn't want to eat she should let him go hungry

If he is hungry all afternoon I'm willing to bet he will eat his lunch tomorrow.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Yup. Kids won't starve themselves. Tried and true method of dealing with picky eaters.

[BlooInBloo]

13. hahaha! It's funny watching those who say "no"....

Wonder how many of them are defend-teachers-no-matter-WHAT-they-do types?

:rofl:

[willing dwarf]

15. I think she should have a psych eval

Sounds like she's gotten carried away with her own power. Nursery and kindergarten teachers can get that way.

[Edweird]

16. Arrested. Fired. Sued.

I don't hit women, but I'd damn sure sic the attack dog lawyers on her.

[mudesi]

17. Fired? Maybe. Arrested? What Crime Did She Commit? (nm)

[proud2BlibKansan]

20. From the article:

"risk of injury to a minor"

[ccharles000]

18. yes

[Horse with no Name]

19. Yeah.

And that fucker should never be allowed around kids again.
If a parent did that--CPS would be on them like stink on shit.

[TexasObserver]

21. Fired, Yes. Arrested? No.

[Paladin]

22. Arrested Or Not, She Should Never Enter A School Class Again.

I personally think an arrest was warranted. And I don't need any additional information to see this incident for what it was: a mindless, violent, potentially dangerous assault on a child......

[noamnety]

23. simple test:

If my boss forced me to eat food out of his garbage can, I would view it as assault.