Teacher lets Morningside students vote out classmate aged 5

[Dion]

PORT ST. LUCIE — Melissa Barton said she is considering legal action after her son's kindergarten teacher led his classmates to vote him out of class.

After each classmate was allowed to say what they didn't like about Barton's 5-year-old son, Alex, his Morningside Elementary teacher Wendy Portillo said they were going to take a vote, Barton said.

By a 14 to 2 margin, the students voted Alex — who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism — out of the class.

Melissa Barton filed a complaint with Morningside's school resource officer, who investigated the matter, Port St. Lucie Department spokeswoman Michelle Steele said. But the state attorney's office concluded the matter did not meet the criteria for emotional child abuse, so no criminal charges will be filed, Steele said.

Port St. Lucie Police no longer are investigating, but police officials are documenting the complaint, she said.

Barton said her son is in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a type of high-functioning autism. Alex began the testing process in February at the suggestion of Morningside Principal Marcia Cully.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/...t-classmate-5/

[Flaming Choy]

i guess the teacher watched "suvivor' too much. Wonder if she can/will sue.

[flames_fan13]

How can a teacher do that? She had to have known that it would create psychological problems for the kid and cause him some emotional distress. And to have a vote with five year olds that decided whether he should be kicked out was cruel and unnecessary.

If he was causing problems the shouldn't punish him this bad in front of everybody especially when she is in an authority figue. I hope they find a way to punish her in an equally psychological damaging way.

To add if the tests do say he's acting out because of his disability then she really should have been more understanding with his acting out. She should really be able to tell whether he's acting out because of a disability or acting out to act out and take the action accordingly.

[Antithesis]

That's ugly. Never in my admittedly few years of teaching have I ever even felt like humiliating a kid like that in front of my class ... unbelieveable.

[Phaneuf3]

Originally Posted by flames_fan13

She should really be able to tell whether he's acting out because of a disability or acting out to act out and take the action accordingly.

what?! no.
yes, she should be more understanding and that is a horrible way to treat a kid, yadda yadda yadda.

but how should she 'really be able to tell if he's acting out because of his disability'? according to the article, he hasn't even be diagnosed yet - presumably by a team of specialized doctors. so a team of doctors studying him haven't even conclusively decided he HAS this disability but a kindergarten teacher is supposed to diagnose it on the spot and know to exactly what extent its altering his behavior? lol. you win one internet, good sir.

if the article is accurate, the teacher and the principal who has done nothing about it are horrible people and deserve some severe punishment. just remember though: there's 3 sides to every story and this article seemed just slightly biased.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Phaneuf3

so a team of doctors studying him haven't even conclusively decided he HAS this disability but a kindergarten teacher is supposed to diagnose it on the spot and know to exactly what extent its altering his behavior? lol. you win one internet, good sir.

a) I don't think any kid should be subjected to that kind of treatment; disability or not.

b) They may not have come to a conclusion as to what the problem is, but it would be easy to say that "there's something wrong with that kid." Whatever that "something" is, I doubt public humiliation is the best thing for him.

Disability or not, the teacher was in the wrong. School should not be re-playing "Lord of the Flies"!
And correct me if I'm wrong: when teachers go to university; don't they take courses on delivering education to a population with disabilities and therefore should be educated on the various types of LEARNING disabilities?

[The Goon]

It's the kid's own fault for not playing the immunity idol.

[fatso]

In my opinion, the learning disability is a red herring.

Who cares if he has a disability or not? He is a 5 year old kid. However problematic and disruptive he may have been in the classroom, this kind of treatment should be totally off the radar. There was no other recourse for the teacher than to have the remaining 5 year olds gang up on him under the guise of some kind of democratic choice to oust him from the room? Awful...

Very sad... this will affect him very deeply.

[CaptainCrunch]

Sounds like a stupid lazy teacher that doesn't realize that her job is to teach everyone. The good students are easy to teach, the bad students or disabled students or whatever are what seperates a good teacher from a bad teacher.

To get her students to do a vote and then tell this kid what they don't like about him is an excercise in imaturity and spitfulness.

Teachers Unions or not, this teacher should have her teaching certification revoked unless she's willing to spend a year teaching special needs kids.

I've had some bad teachers in my day, but a teacher that uses her students to humiliate another student is stupid.

If I was that kids dad, that teacher would have a red impression of my hand on his or her face.

[J pold]

I have had some bad teachers in my day especially when I was a younger lad but that takes the cake

There aren’t many adults that could handle having too stand in front of their peers while they list off all the things that they don’t like about them, let alone a five year old kid

[The Ditch]

*I do not condone the teachers actions at all*

I think there might be a problem with his parents. It says he is in the process of being diagnosed with aspergers, that means to me that the doctor(s) won't diagnose him but the parents want to put a label on him. Another part claims that he hasn't been to school since, because whenever the mother drives him and his sisters to school, he complains and cries so she lets him stay home. I'm thinking that there is little to no parenting going on, who lets their child dictate what they do? This to me is a parenting problem and the kids needs some boundaries and healthy exercises to rid his energy. This wasn't the first school he was kicked out of/had problems in and he is only 5.

That being said, that teacher should be fired, there is no excuse for that kind of behaviour.

[Locke]

Oh CRAP!!! Who gave 5 year olds the vote? We're done for!!

[FanIn80]

The frightening aspect of this article isn't what the kid had to go through (although it certainly is awful to think about).

The frightening bit is that this teacher thought this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do to a child.

[Locke]

By the time hes 10 he'll have forgotten all about it, what with all the drugs they'll be giving him......

[llama64]

No teacher should ever manage their class in this fashion. As far as I'm concerned, even thinking that such an event is "ok" with a normal kid is grounds for termination. Whether or not the kid has Asperger's or not is a side issue.

From now on, the rest of the kids are going to think it's ok to vote people out of their society and into exile. Way to mess them up early... If my kid were in that class, I'd be suing the school board.

[Ford Prefect]

Brutal. It's just as appalling that the school's principal and administration backed up this sad-sack teacher.

I try to teach my kids that people in positions of authority are due a certain amount of respect by virtue of their positions alone ... i.e., teachers, bosses, police, etc. This has been a real battle with my son who feels that his respect should be earned, not demanded, which includes his teachers. This philosophy has been landing him in trouble since about grade 3. It's hard for argue this viewpoint though when there's so-called authority figures like this teacher out there. I hope one of her social peers calls her a stupid ugly cow.

[iggypop]

But I wonder how many 5 year olds she could beat up?

[Ironhorse]

As a parent with a young boy in a somewhat similar situation to Alex, this saddens me a great deal. It is not his fault that he is the way he is, and then to promote a wolf pack mentality upon the kid...

That teacher's career should be effectively done as of today. No excuses.

[Tyler]

Asperger's syndrome? HAHA

Talk about the 21st century's fall back excuse for a computer-obsessed, introverted generation.