Teacher Gets Jail Time After Instructing Students to Hit the Class ‘Bully’

vrijdag 23 augustus 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Nicole Fabian-Weber 16 hours ago

Cynthia Ambrose was an elementary school teacher from San Antonio, Texas. Why was she a teacher and not one anymore? Because Ambrose encouraged her students to line up and hit Aiden Neely, a 6-year-old who was "showing signs of being a bully," as hard as they could so he could see "what it feels like to be a bully." And, being children, they obliged. The assault on Neely stopped after the seventh kid hit him so hard in the back of the head that he began to cry. Yes, this was under the supervision of a teacher.

After being fired from her job, Ambrose was convicted of the misdemeanor charge "official oppression" by a jury, and now she's been sentenced to 30 days in jail. Just or totally out of line?

I'd say this, coupled with the fact that Ambrose will never work as a teacher again, is an appropriate punishment. To think of what all of those children must have felt like that day -- scared, humiliated, confused -- while under the supervision of Ambrose, a teacher, is nauseating. Bullying is obviously a real problem, and it needs to be dealt with, but how Ambrose went about the situation was wrong, and she deserves to be punished for that.

Hopefully, during the 30 days this woman is in prison, she'll sit and really think about what she did. Aiden Neely should have had repercussions if he were being a bully, but not like that. If anyone should know that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," it's a teacher.

Do you think this is an appropriate punishment for Cynthia Ambrose?

Image via Tim (Timothy) Pearce/Flickr

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Student’s Epic Speech to Freshmen Gets Us Excited About the New School Year (VIDEO)

donderdag 22 augustus 2013

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by Adriana Velez 1 hour ago

How excited are most teens about starting their freshman year at college? I said: HOW EXCITED ARE MOST TEENS ABOUT THEIR FRESHMAN YEAR??? I think most of them are totes stoked over their newfound freedom and independence. Maybe the most outgoing teens are giddy over their impending social adventures. But excited about, you know, the learning and stuff? I don't know. Too bad every incoming freshman doesn't get to hear a speech like the epic speech this Georgia Tech engineering sophomore Nicholas Selby gave entering freshmen this year. Cue 2001: A Space Odyssey theme song.

Yes, Selby did that. He played the theme song to 2001 through his speech. But more importantly, he got a crowd of freshmen hyped up about doing the impossible. Sure, these kids are all geniuses at Georgia Tech, a well-funded university with high expectations for its students. And this is a self-selected group of ... well ... nerds. I say that with a great deal of affection. (And yeah, that's some wan-looking clapping from the audience, but I think they're more into it than they look.) Here's the climax of Selby's speech.

Our mission as students is not to follow in the footsteps of the astronauts, Nobel Prize laureates or the presidents that graduated before us but to exceed their footsteps, crush the shoulders of the giants upon whom we stand! If you want to change the world, you're at Georgia Tech, you can do that! If you want to build the 'Iron Man' suit, you're at Georgia Tech, you can do that! If you want to play theme music during your convocation speech like a badass, we're at Georgia Tech, we can do that! I am doing that!

Don't you wish every freshman got a speech like this one? Maybe they're not all at the kind of school where you can build an Iron Man suit. And they're definitely not all going into engineering. (If you want to be the best accounts payable specialist in Oklahoma City, you're at Oklahoma City Community College, you can do that! Woooh.) But I can relate a little to Selby's speech -- because I was a nerd, too. (Still am.) And I remember that tingle of excitement at the beginning of the school year. I was about to broaden my horizons. I was about to push my brain harder than it had been pushed ever before.

For that matter, wouldn't it be amazing if we could start the school year for kids of all ages with this kind of pep talk? It's not going to sound as convincing from a kid's parents, obviously. But maybe I'll make my son watch this video, at least. YOU COULD GROW UP TO BE A VIDEO GAME DESIGNER, YEAHHH! STUDY HARD IN MATH CLASS, SON.

Do you wish someone could give your kids a speech like this every school year?

Image via Andy Blanton/YouTube

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.  

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Students Forced to Pee in Trash Can During School Lockdown Should Stop Whining About It

woensdag 21 augustus 2013

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by Kiri Blakeley 4 hours ago

So let's just pretend that your kid could be in danger. Serious danger. Like your kid is in school and gunshots are heard. The school goes into lockdown. And then, your kid has to pee. Badly. The kid asks to be escorted to the bathroom but the answer is "no," because, well, there could be people who want to shoot you. Ya know, that kind of thing. So the teacher makes your kid go to the bathroom in the trash can.

Do you a) thank the teacher for having such a dangerous job, which I'm sure the teacher never imagined in a million years would be a dangerous job when he or she signed up for it; b) explain to your child that during emergencies, sometimes you have to make adjustments -- even embarrassing ones; c) demand an investigation and have your child talk to the media about this supposedly horrifically embarrassing incident. I think we all know which option one parent chose.

It all started when several people reported hearing what sounded like gunshots from a wooded area near a school in St. Cloud, Florida. Like all schools are trained to do these days (what does that say about this country?!), the school went into voluntary lockdown mode, even though police were called and couldn't find the source of the gunshots.

So far, so smart, right?

Until two students, one whose diabetes makes her have to urinate more frequently, had to pee. The teacher, not wanting to send them out into the hallway where, you know, God knows what could be lurking, had the girls pee in a trash can behind his desk.

"It was very embarrassing," said the 13-year-old "victim."

Embarrassing? Sure. Was she alive to tell the tale? Yes. Was anyone grateful about that? No.

Then instead of, say, forgetting about the peeing incident, an investigation was launched and two dozen students were required to write down their eyewitness accounts of said peeing incident. Yes, kids who probably would have gotten over the horrible trauma of listening to their classmates whizz in a can instead had to relive (relieve? har!) the trauma all over again.

And then the teacher actually had to DEFEND his choice, telling the principal in an email:

I felt that the best solution for keeping her safe and also preventing her from being embarrassed was for her to go (to the bathroom) behind my desk. My primary concern was keeping the kids healthy and out of the halls during the lockdown while preserving them from the embarrassment of wetting themselves. I would want the same done for my future children.

You would think if peeing in a bucket were such a problem, perhaps there would have been a protocol to follow for these teachers who are being put in these situations. They signed up to teach, not to hide kids from crazed madmen with guns. Unfortunately, this is now part of the curriculum. But not only did the school not have any policy for what to do in these cases, it actually contacted child services to ask about reporting the teacher for child abuse!

The teacher has been fired -- though supposedly (cough, cough) not for this incident.

We live in times when kids can actually get blown away at school. Sandy Hook taught us that. Isn't their safety more important than a little embarrassment?!

Do you think the teacher made the wrong decision?

Image via kalleboo/Flickr

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