No Child Left Unscarred
Date: February 20th, 2009
Category: School Violence
The Cho Factor, Part XXXIII
By Robert Ringer
I recently received this disturbing e-mail from a reader:
My 16-year-old son hung himself 90 days ago because the school principal threatened him for violating a rule he didn’t break, said that “the cops are getting involved,” that “this is gonna be big,” etc. – a lot of threats.
I had to pick him up and take him home, then had to go back to work. My son hung himself four hours later, before I came home. I cut him down and started CPR before help arrived.
Now, the school says they have no records of that day and won’t produce them. Tox screening showed no use of drugs or alcohol, yet the school has led people to believe the incident was drug related.
My lawyer doubts we can do anything. What should I do? My son and I were best friends, and he even mentioned that in the note he left. Please offer me some advice on how to deal with this. – S.B.
S.B., your story not only saddened me, it brought back old memories and made me see red. I am all too familiar with this kind of terror being wreaked upon students by teachers and principals. While I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of the facts in your case, based on my own experience, I would be inclined to believe your son’s side of the story without even having known him.
While pundits and politicians continue to brainwash the public with blather about how heroic “our” teachers are, I stand firm with John Stossel on the subject: Both teachers’ unions and public schools should be abolished. They are the biggest terrorist threat in America, because they harm children every single day.
While there are certainly teachers who are both well-educated and well-meaning -and who make a sincere effort to help, rather than hurt, children – they are most decidedly in the minority.
Over the years, I’ve received many e-mails from teachers and ex-teachers who have a genuine loathing for the National Education Association (NEA) – which is, in reality, nothing more than a professional lobbying organization for teachers who ruin the lives of millions of children. Their motto should be “No Child Left Unscarred.”
As to principals, I have clearly expressed my views on their ilk in previous articles, particularly in my article “The School Principle/Principal Problem (The Cho Factor, Part XV). As I said in that article, I had many meetings with principals over the years with regard to bullying and other outrageous behavior by teachers, and, without exception, they tenaciously defended the teachers in question.
In a perfect world, every school board would make it clear to the principal that he works for, and is answerable to, the parents of his students. In other words, the principal would understand that he is not there to defend the teachers. But with the professional vote-buyers who are now at the controls in Washington, bad teachers, bad principals, and bad schools are certain to remain untouchable for a long time to come.
S.B.’s story resonated strongly with me because of a similar incident that occurred when my son was in middle school. He has a particular kind of “learning issue” that made him vulnerable to both student and teacher bullies. (This is a sensitive subject, so I want to guard my words carefully. You’ll have to do some reading between the lines.)
My son had the “misfortune” of being the kind of kid who was, and still is, exceptionally kind and nice to everyone, very well mannered, and always anxious to please. His gullibility and naiveté, along with being one of the smallest kids in his class, made him a delectable target for bullies – of both the student and teacher varieties.
There were a number of eminently bad kids who teased and bullied my son day in and day out. And why not? They never got punished for it! If there are no consequences to a bully’s actions, the message is clear: “The victim is fair game.”
On this particular day, two of the punks who constantly gave my son grief, knowing how much pride he took in his basketball skills, started taunting him about how they could beat him in basketball. As usual, they wouldn’t let up, and, as usual, he took the bait and exchanged words with them. It’s not easy to teach a twelve-year-old to ignore obnoxious kids who are trying to provoke you.
At one point in the back-and-forth gibberish, my son pointed to his shoes and said, “I’ll bring my nines to school tomorrow, and we’ll see how good you are.” (Note: He wore size 9 basketball shoes.) What happened from that point on was like something out of an NEA training film, the kind of thing that has resulted in many students ending up like S.B.’s son … and has brought out the worst in disturbed young people like Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho.
February 20th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
My heart breaks for your loss and everyone’s outrage should be palpable at the loss of such a young life, barely formed. That the schools would reflexively deny any culpability, stinks to high heaven.
We are not supposed to home school because that doesn’t provide “socialization”. What a load of B.S. These so-called “leaders” need to be led to prison to see how well they take to being tortured on a daily basis.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
It was so sad to read what happened to S.B.’s son. Having taught for 30 years (between 1950 and 1980, when California was on top in education), I still follow with interest everything that’s happening in the public schools. The following remarks you made in your commentary got me to thinking:
“But with the professional vote-buyers who are now at the controls in Washington, bad teachers, bad principals, and bad schools are certain to remain untouchable for a long time to come.”
You went on to mention the unions and how they have hurt education. I couldn’t agree more! In addition, somewhere in your site you asked for suggestions for future columns. What about commenting on the TRAINING given to prospective teachers in the universities, as well as the qualifications of those designated to approve future teachers? I really believe that the real root of the problem lies in this latter situation.
February 20th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Thank you for getting back to Cho!
February 20th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
This case makes a terrific case for home schooling. At least the parents can control who is there, and get control of bullying.
I agree that teachers are as much at fault as anyone else. What incentive do they have to control the bullies? None that I know of, and lots of incentive to NOT control them.
February 20th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
This is so sad re SB’s son. I can relate so much, and especially perhaps to Robert’s son’s experience, having been rather naive and gullible myself as a kid. My school was a private one in Atlanta, and might as well have been run by trained terrorists. I could go on ad infinitum. Doubt the phenomenon will subside soon in today’s society.
February 21st, 2009 at 11:53 am
I have worked in an inner city high school for 31 years. I have seen students carried out on stretchers , young girls raped and beaten, one teacher knifed to death. It is like an urban war zone.
Believe me blaming the teachers and principles is like blaming the victim. No one wins or loses in inner-city public schools, everyone just tries to survive.
February 21st, 2009 at 4:20 pm
There have always been bullies and teasing. I went through similar things when I was a kid. However, I think these experiences toughen you up for the real world, where no one is going to hold your hand.
I think part of the problem here is that the schools teach that “everyone is special” and that everyone deserves “respect”. When their experiences contadict these ideas, a lot of people become unglued, but, that’s life. Get over it and grow up.
By the way, the “Misanthropic Bitch” wrote two good essays about this that can be found on the wayback machine: “Sergeant Pepper’s Loner Band” and “Don’t Hurt Me”. They are the best essays I have found on this subject.
February 23rd, 2009 at 3:48 pm
I agree that under the immediate pressure of dealing with a confrontation with the local gastapo, the best choice is to walk away. But I also believe that we must not let these idiots continue to receive our confirmation that they are doing the right thing by our LACK of action. Yes, it takes time and usually money to fight these bastards. But when our foundational institutions (schools, government, police) have stopped serving the purposes for which they were created, and now thrive unchallenged under their own mis-directed authority, their actions must be dragged into the light of logic and common sense. I know how wasteful such a fight can seem. I live in what I consider to be an extremely corrupt (as in selective enforcement, discrimination, favored treatment) part of the state of Arizona, and after having my fill of lawsuits, lawyer scum and lying public officials, I have found the most effective weapon against those who use their elected and appointed authority to commit everything from fraud to outright thievery is to bring as much media attention to the situation/individual as possible. If more of these “untouchable” servants of the public are put on the defensive for their questionable actions, it might also put them on notice – making them realize they can expect more of the same if they continue to abuse the privileges of their authority. If you disagree, think about the alternative of simply doing nothing – the problem repeats, grows larger in scale, and eventually changes the policy, the laws and our lives – for the worse.