OT: Laying Our Guilt and Paranoia On the Innocent

[Guest guest]

Opinion: Seems to me that the administrators should be listening to

the " experts " rather than the lawyers who are just creating income for

themselves. I see this as a way to make children hate schools .. and

teachers .. and even fellow students. An innocent four year old gets

suspended for a hug while a President of the United States, who got a

hum job in the Oval Office is, along with some members of his family,

still riding on his fame. Lucky we are that there are but a few

schools in the USA that are administered by blooming idiots who are

more concerned with CYA than with social and psychological development

of children .. and not surprising it is that many people (including my

daughter in law) have decided to home school their children. Butch

 

 

In Trouble For Show And Tell

 

By Roya Wolverson | NEWSWEEK

Nov 26, 2007 Issue

 

For Demarcus Blackwell, having the " sex talk " with his 15-year-old son

was " kind of embarrassing. " But that was nothing compared with the

idea of explaining sexual harassment to his preschooler. " He doesn't

have the slightest clue about sex anything, " says Blackwell, of Waco,

Texas, whose 4-year-old son Christopher was suspended last year for

sexual harassment when a female school aide reported that the child

buried his face in her chest when she hugged him. " How do you explain

what's a better kind of hug? "

 

Blackwell is one of a number of parents whose kindergartners and first

graders are being suspended, often for days at a time, for sexual

misconduct based on behavior like hugging, poking and pinching

classmates or school staff. In Ohio, 74 first graders were suspended

for " unwelcome sexual conduct " last year, up from 52 in 2005. In

Virginia, at least 13 kindergartners have been suspended in each of

the last three years for " sexual touching. " Massachusetts and Maryland

also note recent increases in rates of pint-size offenders.

 

Some educational professionals are shocked that states are even

collecting data about sexual harassment among children so young. " For

real? I'm suddenly scared that my daughter shows her panties all the

time, " says Amy Rezzonico of the Arizona Department of Education,

whose 4-year-old has a habit of lifting her skirt over her head in

public. In some states, though, the crackdown is a way for schools to

hedge against lawsuits for neglecting sexual-harassment claims. " A

lot of people say, 'Well, it's just elementary-age kids.' But … our

culture has a lot of vulgarity in it right now, " says Jim Walsh, a

Texas lawyer who trains school officials to spot sexual harassment

among students. Administrators, he says, are " on guard, and

understandably so. "

 

Experts, however, say the hard-line approach is punishing normal

developmental behavior. Five- and 6-year-old kids " need to touch, "

says Nan Stein, a senior research scientist at the Wellesley Centers

for Women. " Whether it's 'show me yours and I'll show you mine' or

snapping each other's clothes, let's not confuse sexual behavior with

sexual harassment. " Blackwell, whose attempt at explanation only

baffled his son, says that Christopher is " asexual. " That may have

changed since the words " sexual harassment " entered his vocabulary.

 

© Newsweek, Inc.

[Guest guest]

All I have to say is the Puritans are coming. The puritans are coming..

Society swings like a pendulum Do.

 

 

Jennifer

 

 

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