Boy, 9, Suspended from School for Sexual Harassment After Calling Teacher 'Cute'

Originally posted by CaptChaos
The article is very vague about exactly why calling someone "cute" is sexual harassment. Obviously there is a lot more to this than they are saying. And very strange actually how there are no details. I'm never on the cops' side, but in this case I think this kid might deserve it.

Yes, there are "no details", so clearly the kid deserved it. Maybe you should rephrase, because I think you only meant to say: There is more to the story perhaps, maybe he did something else?

Regardless, sexual harassment charges? Really? 9 years old.

Originally posted by gimme_some_truth

Originally posted by tw0330
reply to post by soficrow

 

please explain how in "any context" telling a friend your teacher is "cute" warrants sexual harassment and two day suspension.

The stance the school is taking, as has been pointed out a few times now, is not that he was suspended for calling his teacher cute. He was suspended for inappropriate behavior after saying she was cute.

It's quoted at the bottom of page one of this thread.

I wonder what that behavior was? It is hard to draw a judgment on this because the real bottom-line facts are missing. Once again shoddy reporting. Why get people stirred up when they may be disgusted at what the boy did after he said his teacher was cute.

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp
reply to post by antonia

 

And it would still be inappropriate even if he didn't know what it meant.

Isnt it all about intent? If he doesnt know what he is doing then he isnt doing anything wrong.
Its like training a dog in a way, if your punishing them for something they dont understand then your just going to confuse them and anger will build up untill this kid drops out of school and doesnt have a future.

Then you tell them it is wrong but either way there has to be consequences for one's actions. At 9 I knew it was not ok to touch people on their behinds.

Originally posted by SyphonX

Originally posted by CaptChaos
The article is very vague about exactly why calling someone "cute" is sexual harassment. Obviously there is a lot more to this than they are saying. And very strange actually how there are no details. I'm never on the cops' side, but in this case I think this kid might deserve it.

Yes, there are "no details", so clearly the kid deserved it. Maybe you should rephrase, because I think you only meant to say: There is more to the story perhaps, maybe he did something else?

Regardless, sexual harassment charges? Really? 9 years old.

He wasn't charged with anything. He was punished by the school for sexual harassment. It's not an actual criminal charge.

reply to post by antonia

Then you tell them it is wrong but either way there has to be consequences for one's actions. At 9 I knew it was not ok to touch people on their behinds.

You tell them its wrong, you dont punish them.
There does not have to be consequences because where is your evidence that this actually helps in anyway? Honestly in your time teaching have you ever actually seen the methods used work, of course it might work in the short time but when kids get into high school they have been trained not to care.

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp
reply to post by antonia

 

Then you tell them it is wrong but either way there has to be consequences for one's actions. At 9 I knew it was not ok to touch people on their behinds.

You tell them its wrong, you dont punish them.
There does not have to be consequences because where is your evidence that this actually helps in anyway? Honestly in your time teaching have you ever actually seen the methods used work, of course it might work in the short time but when kids get into high school they have been trained not to care.

I don't teach, I just work in the school. Either way, you are arguing about something when there is not enough evidence to make that call. We don't know what he did.

Originally posted by antonia

Originally posted by SyphonX

Originally posted by CaptChaos
The article is very vague about exactly why calling someone "cute" is sexual harassment. Obviously there is a lot more to this than they are saying. And very strange actually how there are no details. I'm never on the cops' side, but in this case I think this kid might deserve it.

Yes, there are "no details", so clearly the kid deserved it. Maybe you should rephrase, because I think you only meant to say: There is more to the story perhaps, maybe he did something else?

Regardless, sexual harassment charges? Really? 9 years old.

He wasn't charged with anything. He was punished by the school for sexual harassment. It's not an actual criminal charge.

wow you scare me that you can actually justify this school and teacher, no matter what this kid did, he's nine, get over yourself, Man I tell ya , Home schooling is becoming more an option every day.

All I can say is "let the punishment fit the crime"

Chances are the schools policy is that "sexual harassment" warrants a min of two days suspension.

Who did he harass? seriously who?

reply to post by AuntB

I wonder what that behavior was? It is hard to draw a judgment on this because the real bottom-line facts are missing. Once again shoddy reporting. Why get people stirred up when they may be disgusted at what the boy did after he said his teacher was cute.

I am not sure, both articles are really pretty vague. The school suspended him for sexual harassment, and stated that he was suspended for inappropriate behavior after saying she was cute....

Fact is, he got suspended for inappropriate behavior after saying she was cute. Not for saying she was cute. The fact that they took the sexual harassment route, makes me think that maybe the inappropriate behavior was him touching or trying to touch her... Something like that, but that is just speculation.

You are right, very shoddy reporting, looking to sensationalize and play off of the recent similar stories in which kids get in trouble for stupid things ( The kid burping in gym being arrested, for example).

Originally posted by hapablab


wow you scare me that you can actually justify this school and teacher, no matter what this kid did, he's nine, get over yourself, Man I tell ya , Home schooling is becoming more an option every day.

Then please do home school. Lord knows we don't need more kids whose parents let them do anything they want because hey, they are 9.

OMG what can this kid actually do to constitute the punishment he's getting, first of all, unless he physically assaulted this person/kid/teacher in a sexual manner, HES FRIGGIN 9!!!, if anything maybe have the school counselor give him a talking to with the parents, this is going waaaay to far, this bullsh*t treatment in today schools, my stomach turns at these rules and regulations, they are taking away Christmas, kids from other religions are getting days off now when the other kids still have to go, the kids in my children's school are being pulled out for hours a day to be taught in their own language when they can speak english just fine, this is sickening.

Originally posted by antonia

Originally posted by hapablab


wow you scare me that you can actually justify this school and teacher, no matter what this kid did, he's nine, get over yourself, Man I tell ya , Home schooling is becoming more an option every day.

Then please do home school. Lord knows we don't need more kids whose parents let them do anything they want because hey, they are 9.

wow I feel bad for that kid in your avatar

Originally posted by hapablab

Originally posted by antonia

Originally posted by hapablab


wow you scare me that you can actually justify this school and teacher, no matter what this kid did, he's nine, get over yourself, Man I tell ya , Home schooling is becoming more an option every day.

Then please do home school. Lord knows we don't need more kids whose parents let them do anything they want because hey, they are 9.

wow I feel bad for that kid in your avatar

Agreed
People need to realise when they are taught something wether it be in school or at uni training to be a teacher that it is not always right. I will let her prove me wrong by actually showing how our school system is in any way effective.
Its a joke and its driven by a majority of women who many use their position to power trip over a bunch of kids.
Its sick.

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp
reply to post by antonia

 

That's what the kid said, another article I read stated there was an inappropriate action after the statement. It's the kid's word against the Teacher's and Kid's do lie you know. I work in a middle school, trust me these kids aren't innocent.

What are you talking about not innocent? He is 9 years old!
I dont care if he slapped her on the ass he wouldnt know what any of it means, if a teacher cant deal with a little kid having a crush then she shouldnt be teaching full stop.
The school system is messed up and has proven not to be effective.

Yes, I Agree that the school system is messed up, not only do I agree that the school system is messed up, I also agree that the current system is in its general form messed up.

You have to see this case from both sides. This kid, what you consider to be "totally innocent" ONLY HAVE TO MADE ONE LIE TO GET THE TEACHER ARRESTED", and this can happen in the form of a retaliation. For example, the teacher gives a 9 year old student an "F" grade, rightfully because the student was too lazy to do his work/homework, etc or because the student decided to play "minie minie miny moe....." on the scantron on his city wide test, then, out of anger the student decides to tell his mother that the teacher touched him or her in an improper way and wanted to have sex with him/her, then or course the mother is going to naturally believe the student, the mother calls the police, its the student's word over the teacher and next thing you know, with no evidence what so ever except for the studen't statement, the teacher is in jail for 10 years and then force to register on the national sex offender's registry.

I wonder, how many, not only teachers, but people in general are in jail today, while being 100% innocent, over a lie of this type?

So, dont bring up this crap that this kid is innocent, he is not. With today's mass media and multi media establishment, no 9 year old kid can no longer be innocent, with exposure to networks like MTV, BET, etc and exposure to the hip-hop/rap culture where the knowledge of filthy sex/violence/the "ghetto life" is promoted, yup no kids today, in the cities, can be innocent any more.

This also remind me of the legal imbalance between males and females. For example, two adults, a male and a female decide to have consensual sex, only to later the female accuse the male of raping her and the male goes to jail with no evidence of anything except the female's word. Even though the female is an adult why do the legal system assume she is innocent? Because she is a female?? Females do lie too. That's why I say the system is broken in general, there is a huge imbalance, every civil complain MUST be acted upon with the necessity of concrete evidence.

So, back on topic, when you are a teacher, and you realize that you are working on territory where your own words are treated inferior to that of your students, even if you teach highschool 12 graders mostly 17 years old, a 17 year old student can say you touched her/him in a sexual way and that false accusation can jeopardize your teaching license/carrer, make you homeless in the best case scenario or convict you 10 years in prison and then make you register as a sex offender as the worst case scenatio. You HAVE to understand where these teachers are comming from. I know that if I were a teacher, I would take the same action as this teacher did if one of my students where to walk right to me and call me "cute", as a teacher you will have to break that "student to teacher crush" before its too lake and a meaningful damage can be caused. I would much rather inform the principal and have that student suspended than letting this studen't love to the teacher escalate to a point where he or she can start blackmailing the teacher in forcing a good grade or risking a false accusation amongst many other possible consequences that may arise out of this student-led "love/hornyness/etc".

My father is a teacher since year 1985 and thanks god he has not been involved in a situation like this. A good thing, the school he works have surveillance cameras and that helps keeps false accusations to a minimum.

here is what I see.

A substitute teacher at Brookside Elementary School overheard the remark, told the principal, and then the principal suspended the boy for two days. Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk...

So the substitute overheard the COMMENT the kid said to a friend and reported it to the principal.

how is that sexual harassment? he's 9 people.

Yes the kid probably was a troublemaker, yes he was probably acting inappropriate, but was it really sexual harassment? Really?

Wow ummm my friends and I should get life then. oh and so should my wife and her friends when talking about someone they think is "hot", and follow it up with an action.

Wow another example of the insanity that is going on in this country.

How is the word "cute" EVER sexual harassment?! People call kittens and babies cute, there is nothing sexual to the word! That poor kid is gonna be traumatized with women and what to call them. Do these idiots in charge not think of the child? No, it seems they don't.

Kids are very impressionable and something like this can scar a kid for life! WTH....the insanity has to stop! I can't wait to have kids but honestly I fear for my kids esp if it's going to be like this and it just seems like it's getting worse. IT's something new every day! Why can't kids just be kids?? Kids in school get crushes on teachers, that is fact NOT sexual harassment!

When I was in elementary school our music teacher, Mrs. Levine use to put on red lipstick or any kind really and kiss you on their cheek. It was cute and NOBODY thought it was threatening and parents NEVER complained. She would give us each a kiss on the way out to her little "angels" as she called us. If you didn't want one you just kept walking lol I will never forget her!

Now fast forward 20+yrs...I am working at an Elementary School and wouldn't you know Mrs. Levine is the music teacher! I was so happy to see her, she was always so fun and upbeat! I mentioned the lipstick thing and she smiled and joked about how today you can't do those things....sad because it was harmless.

Originally posted by CanadaMaster

Originally posted by WakeUpRiseUp
reply to post by antonia

 

That's what the kid said, another article I read stated there was an inappropriate action after the statement. It's the kid's word against the Teacher's and Kid's do lie you know. I work in a middle school, trust me these kids aren't innocent.

What are you talking about not innocent? He is 9 years old!
I dont care if he slapped her on the ass he wouldnt know what any of it means, if a teacher cant deal with a little kid having a crush then she shouldnt be teaching full stop.
The school system is messed up and has proven not to be effective.

Yes, I Agree that the school system is messed up, not only do I agree that the school system is messed up, I also agree that the current system is in its general form messed up.

You have to see this case from both sides. This kid, what you consider to be "totally innocent" ONLY HAVE TO MADE ONE LIE TO GET THE TEACHER ARRESTED", and this can happen in the form of a retaliation. For example, the teacher gives a 9 year old student an "F" grade, rightfully because the student was too lazy to do his work/homework, etc or because the student decided to play "minie minie miny moe....." on the scantron on his city wide test, then, out of anger the student decides to tell his mother that the teacher touched him or her in an improper way and wanted to have sex with him/her, then or course the mother is going to naturally believe the student, the mother calls the police, its the student's word over the teacher and next thing you know, with no evidence what so ever except for the studen't statement, the teacher is in jail for 10 years and then force to register on the national sex offender's registry.

I wonder, how many, not only teachers, but people in general are in jail today, while being 100% innocent, over a lie of this type?

So, dont bring up this crap that this kid is innocent, he is not. With today's mass media and multi media establishment, no 9 year old kid can no longer be innocent, with exposure to networks like MTV, BET, etc and exposure to the hip-hop/rap culture where the knowledge of filthy sex/violence/the "ghetto life" is promoted, yup no kids today, in the cities, can be innocent any more.

This also remind me of the legal imbalance between males and females. For example, two adults, a male and a female decide to have consensual sex, only to later the female accuse the male of raping her and the male goes to jail with no evidence of anything except the female's word. Even though the female is an adult why do the legal system assume she is innocent? Because she is a female?? Females do lie too. That's why I say the system is broken in general, there is a huge imbalance, every civil complain MUST be acted upon with the necessity of concrete evidence.

So, back on topic, when you are a teacher, and you realize that you are working on territory where your own words are treated inferior to that of your students, even if you teach highschool 12 graders mostly 17 years old, a 17 year old student can say you touched her/him in a sexual way and that false accusation can jeopardize your teaching license/carrer, make you homeless in the best case scenario or convict you 10 years in prison and then make you register as a sex offender as the worst case scenatio. You HAVE to understand where these teachers are comming from. I know that if I were a teacher, I would take the same action as this teacher did if one of my students where to walk right to me and call me "cute", as a teacher you will have to break that "student to teacher crush" before its too lake and a meaningful damage can be caused. I would much rather inform the principal and have that student suspended than letting this studen't love to the teacher escalate to a point where he or she can start blackmailing the teacher in forcing a good grade or risking a false accusation amongst many other possible consequences that may arise out of this student-led "love/hornyness/etc".

My father is a teacher since year 1985 and thanks god he has not been involved in a situation like this. A good thing, the school he works have surveillance cameras and that helps keeps false accusations to a minimum.

I agree that a lot of things are messed up on both sides of the fence.

Don't know all the details so it is hard to make an informed opinion without all the information. However if the word cute is all that happened - holy snapping duck s**t! For me to take this story seriously the Student would have to touch the teacher - try to act out in a physical way - this is ludicrous!

I am a Teacher (Australia) and if a Student of any age called me cute I would respond with - are you all right would you like to see the nurse?

These days it can be difficult to make a joke without offending someone but I would smile and diffuse the situation with humour. Kids love humour. Crikey can't a kid have a schoolyard crush - it will give him something to smile about when he's older.

Wish the media would not write so scantily - perhaps that's all they are permitted to print.

Much Peace...

Originally posted by CaptChaos
The article is very vague about exactly why calling someone "cute" is sexual harassment. Obviously there is a lot more to this than they are saying. And very strange actually how there are no details. I'm never on the cops' side, but in this case I think this kid might deserve it.

A news story publishes something bizarre and you put in those kind of poisonous words out of vague imaginations. Stick with the factoids. Don't fill in the blanks with fanatasies and based on your fantasies run with the side of the SS NAZI's.

You guys do realize that in most districts, if a school claims that there was any "sexual harassment" issue reported in the school, that it must also be investigated by the police and the city prosecutors office, in order to save the city from a possible lawsuit in the future.

In many cases this means arresting the child.

This is an overreaction by cities and counties due to REAL harassment cases school systems had ignored, and thus the cities and school systems were suede.

So This Kid may just be seeing the beginning of it all.

Did it really have to be "sexual harassment?"

Like I keep repeating, who did he harass?