First-Grader Suspended for Singing 'I'm Sexy and I Know It'

Well, in first seeing the OP and headline it looks like another case of discretion missing and school faculty power tripping again...

...on a closer read, doesn't this say the little boy in question has been harassing this girl repeatedly and after it being made clear his attention wasn't wanted in a serious way?

First, I imagine how many times I'd need to hear a 1st grader sing this lyric..over and over and over and over and over again....before even I was looking for a window and calculating distances to a soft landing below for the kid. (j/k...but only half way. Parents out there have to relate here..)

Second though.. If our misguided first grader can't understand no, won't accept being told to back off and just HAS to keep being overtly sexual in harassment, what are they supposed to do? They tried the easy way already, by the sound of it? It can't go on forever...so the kid kinda made the choice here.

I'm QUICK to jump on school misconduct for even slight reasons, and for very personal motivations. However, the bad isn't worth much if we don't use care for what is highlighted a major problem right? This sounds like a kid and his mother failing to accept proper discipline about the same way the kid failed to understand the word no,IMO.

reply to post by Quyll


I agree that a lot of children are ignored by their parents, a lot of children have a T.V for a babysitter. But in this case that is just you speculating. We have no idea what kinds of parents this child has. But I also don't think that a child should get suspended for singing a song that they hear on the radio, a song that is in an M&M commercial. Like I said, my 5 year old listens to this song. I grew up listening to KISS, BTO, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC. My dad was what I guess you would consider a "redneck". He is also the most intelligent man I have ever met. But above all, he was and is a fantastic father. He taught us to respect other people, but also to respect ourselves and to stay true to ourselves. So while I respect your point of view, I totally disagree.


Edit: I have to admit that I went off of the op for my facts. I just read the article and it does appear that this child acted inappropriately. My apologies.

For the sake of argument however, I don't raise my children in a bubble. I do monitor the games, shows and songs that they play, watch and listen to. If a song is clean enough to be on the radio, I have no problem with it. T.V is a different story because they push the boundaries on nudity a little too far for my 5 year old.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


How many times did you have a girl/guy that constantly picked on you in school because they did or didn't like you. How many kids were bullies in school? Just because you have bad behavior growing up doesn't mean you are going to be mean forever.

In this kids case just because he picked on the girl and sang to her all the time and shook his butt does that mean he is going to grow up to be a rapist? You cannot judge what will happen to someone's behavior or lifestyles based on the actions of a adolescent boy/girl.

I'm glad to hear it, that kid has horrible taste in music.

Maybe he'll pick up some John Coltrane while he's on break from school.

reply to post by Phantom28804

You know, I almost did take the path of "Oh and if we let it go now..what will he become??". I realized though, thats a silly argument for a first grader being a really stupid kid, like this sounds. It doesn't say he was arrested or charged or expelled. He just got suspended. Well, again, the article clearly says this wasn't his first time harassing the girl. Were they supposed to ask nicely and be ignored through the end of the school year?

A flip side to this argument..by the way. What is your take as the Father of this little girl? How many times should she have to tolerate the bratty boy and his warped sense of humor before expecting something be done to end it?

Naww... I'm not even going there for "what will he become". It's sufficient to ask what he already was for a royal pain in the butt to faculty and at least 1 other child. Suspension seems like a decent way of raising the stakes just a bit and see if that gets the kids attention. Given the Mothers response though, it doesn't sound like it'll do any good.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I understand that this was a repetitive thing, and I am not in anyway saying the kid is right for his actions or that nothing should be done at all. I do think suspension is to harsh for this maybe some counseling and some after school detention, but what is the point of suspending a kid who doesn't even understand what suspension is. At that age kids aren't all that excited to go to school in the first place. So to this kid its a nice vacation.

All I am saying is that at some point we have gone from common sense to outlandish. I hate the argument of what this kid might become later on life, but honestly its not just the school systems. It's lack of parents teaching their own children the difference between right and wrong.

When I was growing up I was watching MTV, Freddy, action movies etc. We had Salt N Peppa "lets talk about sex", Sir Mix Alot "I like big butts" and numerous other songs with sexual undertones and I grew up to be quite normal as my mom had the sense to teach us the difference between right and wrong. I still did the normal stupid kid stuff. Explored in a house that turned out to be occupied, stole my mom's car, stole some hood ornaments, got in fights, took a run through the girls locker room, and other stuff. I still grew up normal and I don't run around harassing women or committing crimes. One thing I can say for sure is it had nothing to do with the school system or the government. It had everything to do with learning from my mistakes etc. Learning what behaviors made the girls mad vs happy. Not because I was being suspended left and right or punished for everything I did.

LMFAO comes on the radio, if he has any older siblings he could have heard the song from them. I mean pop music is unavoidable at times. Just look how many views their videos have on youtube. Honestly, their lyrics aren't even that bad.

I don't know. I was listening to some saucy songs when I was young and I turned out fine. 50 cent was my favorite when I was in the 5th grade.

reply to post by Phantom28804

Fair enough..and I have a question here as I'm starting to feel like my perspectives of school punishment and what it actually means may be part of the problem here?

I'm looking at the suspension as it was when I went to school..and as some of my Son's have been in his time. It happens..he serves his suspension, or I did as they case may have been, and then it's over. Done... No biggy and the kid is expected to go forth and sin no more.

Your reaction and some others seem to suggest there is a lot more to being suspended these days? Are trivial discipline matters really following kids so badly that a simple suspension has become a matter worth fighting and taking stands for? I'm honestly thinking it MAY by the passions on display here. ..and I've just entirely misunderstood the severity of what we're debating?

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


A suspension is 2 or 3 days out of school from my memory. Which means no school at all. One of the things my high school started doing when I was there was In School Suspension. Where you were isolated from your school mates but still had to do your lessons. Much more effective in my mind.

reply to post by Phantom28804


The in school suspension of one of the schools I went to was sitting in an abandoned elevator hallway, staring at the wall or talking to other people. It was a complete waste of time/failure but I guess it all depends on the school.

Originally posted by ucantcme

Originally posted by Quyll
As much as I agree with you that this has gone a bit too far, 1st graders should not be exposed to music such as LMFAO. Disney songs maybe, but definitely not music of the sexual nature.

edit on 4-5-2012 by Quyll because: (no reason given)

Yes but that is not the kids fault it's the parents. So should the kid be punished for singing a song his parents listen to around him?

I suppose he could have heard it on the m&m commercial. But there's nothing to be done about that then, he still shouldn't be punished for it.

edit on 4-5-2012 by ucantcme because: (no reason given)

It's not the teachers job to skill the parents. So it's a situation where they can only do what they have power to.

Kids don't know better, sure, but this is in a way, forcing it onto them. These songs, while all over the radio, tv, movies, media in general, are doing it. Parents need to pull their fingers out.

I mean, would it be any different if a child was singing "I wanna f*** you in the a**" at school? and that's a song. Teachers can only, by law and even then they go overboard, look out for ALL students.

It's certainly a sign of the times... that we willingly expose kids to such filth yet blame teachers for trying to remove such influence.

reply to post by RealSpoke


God when I was in grade 5 it was still split enz and pseudo echo.

You kids have had a bad lot I rekon

Originally posted by lacrimosa
that child should be shot(to death , possibly by the parents). infront of the other children.
i am disgusted.

edit on 4-5-2012 by lacrimosa because: (no reason given)

Umm..while I am very impressed by almost every other post on this thread, yours alone is one that I can only HOPE you are joking about. If not, then it is people like you that I really worry about when my children get older and have to meet.

I have a newspaper clipping of me kissing a girl in pre-K from over 25 years ago and it was delivered to every house that got the AJC.

The fact this kid is geting suspended over a song is ridiculous. It should be a slap on the wrist and if it is so bad then talk to the parents about it if it is that big of a deal.

Sure, parents are not as involved these days it seems, but to suspend a kid over a song that they could have heard anywhere, even at a baseball game, is over the top to me.

Either way, YOUR comment was way out of line if it was sincere. Hopefully a joke or hopefully you NEVER reproduce.

If anything the parents should be reprimanded, not the child. He's in first grade, he probably doesn't even know wha the song or band name even mean. Kids repeat things try hear whether they understand it or not. I'm not a teacher, and I don't have kids. I don't even really like kids all that much, but I guess common sense is just way too much to ask for these days.

Originally posted by newsoul
If a song is clean enough to be on the radio, I have no problem with it.

I have to disagree with you on that.

One example is Rihanna's song "S&M"

That song is incredibly inappropriate and should never be listened to by children.

I do agree that children shouldn't be placed in a bubble until they're 18, but I disagree that if a song is clean enough to be put on radio, then it's ok. Things like that should be under careful consideration.

Well first, the article only states his prior infraction was singing the song's chorus to the girl and shaking his butt in her face. So he was suspended for that and his recent serenade to this girl. The mom was quoted, "...They’re going to look at him like he’s a pervert. And it’s like, that’s not fair to him.” She is totally right, too. You can't charge a kid, who did nothing to justify sexual harrassment, with such a serious crime that comes with grave consequences. He will be branded a pervert since he was charged with sexual harassment. Now it becomes almost a self-fulfilling prophecy. Kids and teachers alike will consider him to be different and a sicko. This seems like such an overreaction considering the things my classmates and I did back in elementary school. I remember being in computer programming class during fourth or fifth grade, and making a program for my teacher, whom I had a crush on. I asked her if she thought I was cute and if you typed yes it would display something like, "You are the best teacher in the world!" lol She told me I was cute and was welcomed to my pandering. Nothing sexual there, but in today's hyper-judicial world she would be thrown in jail for pedaphelia. We just need to collectively relax and stop our control-freak attitude. Kids are kids and unless he was seriously hurting her there are other ways to make him want to stop bothering that girl. Now he thinks he is a bad person and it will affect his future actions, most likely for the negative.

I would say this story is congruent with the trend in the 80's to blame music, specifically metal, for childhood violence and crime. It was a ridiculous statement back then and still is today. That song is not at fault whatsoever. When the Black Album came out by Metallica and I listened to it over and over and over, yet I never killed anyone or worshiped the Devil. (Not that he exists anyway.) Remember when Judas Priest was taken to court because a mother thought her son was brainwashed by their music and made him kill his friend and himself? Sounds stupid right, and this is no different. Relax people. I remember kissing girls all the way back then and I am sure most of you do too. Was that sexual harassment? Were you brainwashed by music and the industry's sexuality? It really seems people want to control kids and put them in a social bubble, hiding them from real life, instead of allowing them to be free and flourish through not being afraid to act and think like themselves. I mean, adults want kids to act like they are 40 years old and not act like kids, while those same adults did the same things if not worse when they were of that young age. Don't blame music, don't blame the TV, don't blame the parents, but blame the school for not knowing how to handle someone being annoying. (No sexual harassment involved anywhere in this story.)

Shaking his butt in front of her face is actually pretty funny for a first grader. We used to fake dry hump each other in school and it was hilarious. We would mostly do it with guys, but girls sometimes too as long as we knew they were cool. There were some who you knew were no fun and would tattle on you. We didn't have anything sexual in mind, and thought it was just a funny joke. Today though, you would be thrown in jail and burned at the stake of public perception for the rest of your school career. If my situation happened today, subsequent to my arrest, the "sexually deviant" fourth grader, any music I had on my Ipod or computer would be blamed since the parents would be looking for a scape goat. I guess that also means we knew about sex way back in elementary school. So much for trying to keep your kids in a bubble. We thought sex was gross and funny, which actually is a good way to ease into fully understanding it and getting used to it's social implications. We also kissed girls! GASP! If I went through this in the early 90's, that means everyone from the 60's and 70's went through it too. Don't forget how you acted as a child and what you knew because these ridiculous punishments for kids being kids are going to start ruining their psyches and just imagine how they would treat their children growing up. Bringing down such harsh punishments, where the police are even arresting kids sometimes, will cause them to be either extra cautious and conformist to stay out of trouble or to rebel more than normal to compensate for such control. We can't be giving children labels of sexual deviants for normal behavior, for labels can ruin lives as it causes perceptions of an outcast, a weirdo, and abnormality. That is not appropriate for children! Metallica played backwards tells you to worship the Devil, too. lol

Originally posted by Monsatan
reply to post by Quyll

 

So what if the parents didn't "expose" him to it? This has been aired over and over since the Super Bowl, and since this is the only part he sang, he might not even know the song

If the phrase he qutoed comes from an M&M commercial with a piece of candy dancing lewdly, how could any adult think its logical to punish a child for imitating a behavior that society is promoting. Why or how would a 7 year old know that dancing and sining the words is over the top? If the song and dance wasn't televised to the public on a candy commercial shown on almost every channel, it might be fair to have a few concerns about his mom/dad's parenting skills.

I think the school is just building a case to get the boy expelled and force his parents to move him to another school. You can't punish a special needs or "special education" child for regular behavior problems, but if you claim they are a sexual deviant you can probably get them expelled and off your hands for good. The administrators at this school are total douchebags.

This is nothing. After I overtake you wimps and erase your leaders. Singing such a carp-awful song will result in disembowelment.

I'd say this kid is pretty good shape.

reply to post by KillThePoor


I gotta agree with you 100%
My daughter used to sing Breakin the Law by Judas Priest all the time when she was around 7yrs old cause I personally played my metal music all the time in the house. I still do LoL! But it didnt make her into a monster or a criminal she is now in her 20's and a registered nurse.

This kid got into trouble more I think for not leaving this little girl alone then for singing a song. And I can't really say its the parents fault like other posters here do because it's not like most parents can be there anymore for the children especially if its a one parent household.

Trying to work a job and provide for your kids is hard enough, most people have to work a full and part time job just to make ends meet especially when they have kids, plus the goverment is always telling you how to raise your kids anyways.

Should this kid be suspended? Yes and No, he must understand that his actions have consequences maybe an after school detention cleaning up would be sufficent. Missing playtime outside. Something like that. Should he be looked at like a monster? No, he is being a typical little boy.

I think it was blown way out of proportion myself but America has gotten way to sensitive nowatdays in my opinion. When someone tried to bully me in school I fought back and the bullying stopped. Today there are laws written to stop it ect...

This is just a school system that over-reacted IMO

reply to post by Phantom28804



Wow, pathetic to say the least. Someone should post contact info for the school in question ...