My Cousin vs. The School: Round 2
By vjenkins86
@vjenkins86 (1478)
United States
May 20, 2010 1:40pm CST
My older cousin has a seven year old daughter who is really smart, social and energetic. At her first school, she did okay but was not really challenged. At her second school, though, she had a blast. The school environment was great, her teachers loved her, she was friends with everyone. Then, they had to move which meant a new school and that's where the problem arised. Things began to happen: reports of fights with other kids, grades slipping a bit, etc. However, these past few weeks was when the s#it really hit the fan. Her teacher reported that my cousin's daughter doesn't pay attention in class and is a nuisance. Then the girl was beaten up twice in school, but none of the teachers reported the incident. When my cousin went to the principal's office to ask what was going on, she was basically brushed off. Then a few days, my cousin's daughter came home sad and depressed. When asked what was wrong, she told my cousin she wasn't allowed to tell her. After hours of persuasion, she finally told my cousin what her teacher told her (I'm not sure exactly what was said) but my cousin was livid. She stormed back up to the school and confronted the principal. The principal defended the teacher saying that the teacher did not meant what she said the way she said it but my cousin was still upset that the teacher told her daughter not to tell anyone about what had happened. Trying to diffuse the situation, the principal advised my cousin to take her daughter home and keep her there for the rest of the school year since its almost done anyway.
I don't know about you, but something sounds awfully fishy. I'm not saying my cousin's daughter is the perfect little angel, but I don't think the entire story has come into the light. First off, how can any adult allow a little girl (who is scrawny and doesn't know how to defend herself) get beaten up twice? Both times happening on school property. Plus the fact that no on reported it. Second thing, does a teacher have the right to tell a student not to tell their parents/legal guardians what has transpired or been said to them at school? I don't think so.
1 person likes this
4 responses
@sallyj (1225)
• United States
21 May 10
I am now a grandmother.
My son had a poor teacher in kindergarten. A friend and neighbor told us what had happened in the class room, he did not. The teacher was young and got along well with the principle. That problem was left rather open.
First grade was not bad.
Third grade, i asked not to have one teacher as she was the grandmother of his best friend. Guess who he got. They put him in her class. I kept his spelling tests and scores. He got a lower grade than his tests showed, so i talked to her to see where i had made the mistake. I had not. "That is what he deserves". We studied every night, hard.
Finally sent him to a private school.
The private school closed when he got to high school, he decided to go back to public. That went fairly well.
Now I have a grandchild in another public school and she has a fabulous teacher. Hope the rest of her teachers are this wonderful.
Nothing is worse than a poor school system. You can only try, but it is our children that never get over it.
@cbjones (1147)
• United States
20 May 10
I'm not the type of person who really pays much attention to conspiracy theories(Freemasons aren't running things behind the scenes, it's Steve Jobs and his Apple Army), but this has the making of some kind of cover-up by the school.
I don't want to speculate, because I don't know your cousin, her child, or the entire story. Something must have happened if the girl was reluctant to tell her own mother. And the principal wanting to sweet this under the rug makes you wonder just how bad the situation really was.
@phyrre (2317)
• United States
20 May 10
I definitely agree with sleepylittlerose. It sounds like something has to be done and if the principal isn't dealing with it then it's time to take it over their head.
First, there's no reason for her to get beat up TWICE without teachers reporting it. That's negligence, but, sadly, I've heard it happen many times simply because the teachers don't want to be bothered enough to get involved. It shouldn't happen at all, though. The school should be a safe environment for the students and if the teachers aren't doing anything about what they know is happening, I can't imagine how much is really happening including what they're not seeing.
Second, I would have her removed from that teacher's class if at all possible. There is NO REASON for a teacher to tell a student they can't tell their parents something. Period. The school should be working WITH parents, not against them. Plus, if she can't tell her mother then that just makes things sound really fishy like something really negative is going on that should be reported or brought out into the light, at the very least.
If nothing else, it's definitely worth having some higher-up look into because things like this shouldn't happen. It's the principal's job to take care of these things. If your cousin had come in with concern about her daughter then the principal should be concerned about it too, not just brush her aside.
@sleepylittlerose (1648)
• United States
20 May 10
First off your cousin needs to file a report with the school board. She needs to go above the principal and get to the bottom of this. The principal has no right to tell her to keep her child at home (unless the child is being suspended) because every child has the right to a free and public education. Filing a formal complaint with the school board will force them to do a full investigation of all claims and will result in the teacher facing disciplinary action. May result in the same for the principal for trying to brush this under the carpet.
