For months, Houston residents Diana and Oscar Mijares heard about behavior problems their daughter Megan was having in school -- problems she wasn't having at home. The concerned parents bought a tape recorder and hid it in the girl's 'High School Musical' backpack. Turns out, 4-year-old Megan isn't the problem ... it's her teacher, who was recorded saying things like "I'm going to be mean to you" and "Y'all are just stupid kids." Not surprisingly, the Mijares -- and other Houston-area parents -- are outraged, and are demanding that the teacher be dismissed.
Reader Comments (Page 52 of 54)
766. ALL classrooms should be set up with intercoms that can be activated from the office. The office should be able to quietly monitor any classroom at any time without the teachers knowledge. It may sound like "Big Brother", but really, if it's something that every child in the class can hear anyway, there isn't any assumption of privacy.
Posted at 7:00PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Johnny Cardenas
767. Cameras in the classroom! That is the answer. It will prove unequivocally what is happening in the classrooms in our schools; it is an objective observer of everyone's actions.
I would think teachers would EMBRACE this idea. After all, isn't their position that children are out of control? What better way to prove it to a Senate subcommittee, perhaps, than to show the world the videotapes of these abusive children?
Posted at 7:22PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Emmaline
768. Parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles: Talk to the young children in your family and ask them to describe their normal day in school, what the teacher does all day, for example.
This is a description from 7 year-old Opie as he's chewing on a cookie. "Well, first we say the pledge and stuff. Then Teacher tells us to open our books. Then she tells us about the book. Then she writes it on the board. Then she gives us our workpapers and says, 'Work on your pages now.' So, then we work on our papers."
"Well, but Opie, what happens if you DON'T understand?" I ask. "What do you do then? Do you ask her to explain it again?"
Opie looks at Grandma like she is stupid. "Grandma, you got to understand the lesson. You can't bother her."
"But, Opie," says I, "what happens if you go up to her desk and tell her you don't really understand and you need more help?"
Opie takes a slurp of milk, "Well, you can't go up to her desk. You got to put up your hand."
"Okay," says Grandma, "Then what?"
"Well, she says, Opie, what is it? And I say, I don't understand, Miss Crump. And she says, I explained it to the class once, Opie, just read your book."
Grandma asks, "What if you tell her you just don't understand the lesson?"
He chews on his cookie and opens his eyes really wide, like Grandma, are you that dumb? He answers patiently, "She says, Opie, ask your mother to explain it to you."
Grandma, in her ignorance, says, "But what do you do if you REALLY DON'T UNDERSTAND, Opie? Can you go up and show her in the book what you don't understand?"
Opie burps slightly and says, "Grandma, if you do that, she gets mad. She says, Opie, sit down and do your workpaper. If you bother me again, I'll write your name on the board. Then you can't go out for recess."
ASK your children about this scenario. I have now asked over 75 children and they all told me the SAME STORY - it didn't matter what school district or what town they came from.
I say it again. Today's teachers do not want to TEACH; they want to lecture the children and have the children teach themselves. LECTURING is not an appropriate teaching method for children.
ASK YOUR CHILDREN, and then post their answers.
Posted at 8:00PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Emmaline
769. If the issues at school were REALLY the ill-mannered children, don't you think TEACHERS would be begging for video cameras in their classroom to prove their point?
Teachers don't want video cameras in their classrooms because that will prove they are LECTURING the children and then leaving them to their own devices to learn.
ASK YOUR CHILDREN.
Posted at 8:10PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Emmaline
770. That's why they assign so much homework. They want Mom and Dad to explain it to the kiddies. If Opie isn't the fastest kid in the class, then that's Mom and Dad's problem, not Miss Crump's. Miss Crump is there to teach the top 10% of the kids in the class who can get by with "lecturing," the 10% that is bright enough to teach themselves.
You don't think SHE is going to spend the extra time with Opie to help him grasp the lesson, do you?
Posted at 8:37PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Emmaline
771. One more thing, then I step off this soapbox for tonight.
Every time I have posted a message like this on this board, THE TEACHERS DISAPPEAR LIKE COCKROACHES. Turn on a light and they disappear into the woodwork.
What does that tell you?
Posted at 8:42PM on Mar 3rd 2008 by Emmaline
772. They should install cameras, do spot checks & listen up to what is going on in the schools. All these chiefs & no indians in sight??
Posted at 11:32AM on Mar 4th 2008 by Nancy
773. Denise,
Many things you say are true, but and a BIG BUT, as a lady that has two teachers in my family and a long career dealing with the public, there is NO excuse to ever talk to a small child like that, especially one that isn't yours!! You aren't their parents, go to the Principal, parents, anything but this teacher verbally abused that classroom of K's. I do know how amazing teachers are and appreciate them, but what you say at home to your own children is very different then what you say to a child that isn't yours!
Posted at 2:33PM on Mar 4th 2008 by Suzanne
774. OMG! I am a toddler/pre-school teacher and I would never say a child is stupid. And even if the kids are being mean to you, u never respond that u are going to be mean to them in return! when a child is hitting me or kicking me I would ask them why they are hitting and kicking me. And if anything i would tell them please dont hit or kick me I am not doing it to u so please dont do it to me!
I mean come on now, first of all who is this teacher to even say a child is stupid! No one is stupid some may have delays or a medical condition but that doesn't mean tehy are stupid!!!!!!!!!!
I agree with the mother on this, that teacher needs to be FIRED! And never allowed to teach again!
Plus a piece of advice for teachers, if you are pissed off cause your day isn't going right. For example the children are being to active, not listening, not responding and you havn't gotten a break all day, Just try to breathe and remember that it's the not the kids fault so dont take it out on them! They may just be bored!
Posted at 11:28PM on Mar 5th 2008 by cynthia
775. ok i had a teacher in kindergarden that scarred me for life. yes teachers can be mean and sometimes use inappropriate language. but get real. ur children arent perfect little angels that you think they are. once they leave your sight and control, they act differently. you were kids once. you know how u acted when ur parents were around. why do u think just because its a different generation that theyre gonna act better? its the teachers fault for getting that mad and saying things like that. if the teacher cant handle it she shouldve controlled her anger just long enough for that day and went to the principal to get reassigned or to leave the school for another school. no excuse for what she said.
Posted at 6:15PM on Mar 8th 2008 by celeste
776. Did that teacher seriously say, "nobody are you good for." How did she get hired in the first place.
Posted at 8:05PM on Mar 9th 2008 by Eric
777. Guess what.....the kids are brats these days. I'm sure that if they respected the teacher she'd have no reason to say the things she said. I would never be a teacher. Too many bratty kids and too many rude parents.
Posted at 2:24PM on Mar 12th 2008 by d
778. FIRST OF ALL. THESE TEACHER ARE OUT OF CONTROL. TO ME THEY ARE OVERWORKED AND UNDERPAID. THEN THEY HAVE NO TRAINING FOR DEALING WITH AT HOME STRESS THAT THEY BRING TO WORK AND TAKE OUT ON OUR KIDS. I THINK THEY NEED TO PUT CAMERA'S UP IN THE CLASSROOMS BECAUSE NOT ALL KIDS SPEAK UP FOR THEMSELFS MY SON IS ONE. HE THINKS THAT IF THE TEACHER IS TRIPPN WITH HIM THAT I WILL ALSO. I HAVE TO CONTANTLY EXPLAIN THAT HE HAS TO TELL ME IF SOMETHING HAPPEN. I BLAME ALL OF THIS SHIT ON THE GOVERNMENT BECAUSE THE PARENTS HAVE TO WORK AND THERE IS NO ONE TO GO TO THE SCHOOLS AND REALLY CHECK WHAT IS GOING ON. JUST THINK OF HOW IT WAS BACK IN THE DAY ALL THIS CRAP THAT IS GOING ON NOW IN THESE SCHOOL DIDN'T HAPPEN WHEN WE WERE GROWING UP BECAUSE OUR PARENTS WERE ABLE TO POP UP AND GO STRAIGHT TO THE CLASSROOM.
Posted at 4:41PM on Mar 12th 2008 by super
779. The teacher had a pet dog, but it piddled in the floor just a little, so she stuck it in the microwave to teach it a lesson!
Posted at 10:29AM on Mar 14th 2008 by Crystal
780. i currently have a teacher in school who yesterday said that "you have no friend no one likes you your an animal go to the office" to me yesterday all because i threw a french fri at my friend. my mom wasnt to happy and everytime she calls the school about it they dont answer or reply. to tell you the truth i dont think they care....
Posted at 9:17PM on Mar 14th 2008 by Brandon