Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Survivor: The Kindergarten Edition

I am appalled by this story: a boy in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's was voted out of his kindergarten class by 14 of his 16 fellow students, after his teacher put him in front of the class and asked each child individually whether the boy should stay or go.

Here's a video report of this story, where you can see the boy and his mom. After watching this video, I have so many thoughts:

1) What kind of teacher humiliates a small child like this? She must be mentally ill.
2) Why would this child's mother humiliate him further by discussing this traumatic event on national television with him present the entire time?
3) What has the teacher taught her students about dealing with people with disabilities? Vote 'em out!
4) Is this an example of how mainstreaming a child with special needs can sometimes disrupt the classroom and therefore the learning experience of the other students, resulting in resentful children and an exhausted teacher?
5) I wish I could congratulate the parents of the two kids who voted no on raising such kind-hearted children.
6) How thankful am I that I can homeschool my disabled son so that he cannot be humiliated like this? Incredibly thankful.

8 comments:

Marbel said...

It is such a sad story. Imagine that being played out in classrooms across the country. Any kid, disliked for any reason, voted out. I wonder why the teacher is not being fired, or at least disciplined for this.

Why oh why do people keep their children in this environment? I wonder how parents of the kids who voted him out feel about it? I hope they are disgusted too.

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is awful! When my son was diagnosed with ADHD, we were told that his chance of suffering from depression was so much higher as a result. After seeing stories like this, it is no wonder why! I, too, praise God that I can homeschool!! :)

Anonymous said...

That is why we home school.

Brumbemom said...

Hey Barb,
That is such an unbelievable story. I think the saddest thing is that non of the people invlolved in it think they did anything wrong. What kind of world do we live in?!?

Middle-Aged Moi said...

That is disgusting. I can't believe it's true. You're right...she's mental. That's just....man! I have no words.

Kristi Holl said...

How can our country have gone to the point where we tolerate a teacher like this one--and yet someone else gets fired for having a manger scene on her front lawn? There should be such an outrage about this!

Barbara Frank said...

Marbel, I think (hope) that some of the kids were just giving into teacher pressure and didn't really want to kick him out. Hopefully.

Pam, you understand what I mean. When your child already has extra challenges, the last thing he needs is this kind of abuse.

Barbaralee, Amen!

Brumbemom, it's a sinful world, isn't it? This won't happen in the next world :)

Janet, it's unreal.

Kristi, since I posted this, I've seen a lot of outrage about it in the blogosphere, thank goodness.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by!

Renae said...

I echo your second question. I express my horror about this incident on another blog, but I had not seen this video. Why would that mother relive all of that with her little boy in her lap? Maybe she thought it would help him to see that others were upset by his treatment. I don't know, but I do hope this mother gets support and encouragement.

Peace to you,
Renae
Life Nurturing Education