Boy Suspended From School For Profanity
ATTORNEY VOWS TO KEEP CHILD’S INCIDENT OFF RECORDS
Posted: March 14, 2012 at 5:33 a.m.
A Rogers attorney vows to keep a one-day school suspension off the records of a 5-year-old boy, who garnered the punishment for using a profanity in school.
AT A GLANCE
Suspension Policy
In the Rogers School District, the principal or assistant principal of any school may suspend any student from the school, for good cause, for no longer than 10 school days.
According to district policy, within three days, written notice of any suspension must be hand-delivered to the parent or guardian or mailed to the student’s address. Parents may appeal suspension decisions to the principal, then the assistant superintendent and the superintendent before appealing to the school board. Appeals must be filed in writing within five days of the previous decision.
Source: Rogers School District
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Comments
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Maybe the teacher has lived in the bubble and just does not realize the reality of life in this century. This is obviously an over reaction without teaching.
Posted by: Oldearkie
March 14, 2012 at 7:39 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
The teachers today have very little control over their classrooms than they did just 20 years ago. The children can get away with almost anything and with parents sending their lawyers out for revenge instead of correcting their child's behavior, it's no wonder the average career of a teacher is down to just 5 years until they decide to switch to a less stressful job.
Maybe parents should let the principals and teachers run the schools and leave the overreactions at home.
Posted by: Ludwick
March 14, 2012 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
What a crock of $#!+.
Responsibility without authority doesn't even come up to babysitting. No wonder people find it so easy to complain about the public schools.
Posted by: AlphaCat
March 14, 2012 at 1:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
It must have been some word!
Now if we could just put Rush and Maher in timeout...
Posted by: Coralie
March 14, 2012 at 1:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
isn't this teacher, Anita Turner married to the editor of this newspaper?
Posted by: suek
March 14, 2012 at 1:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
My son, now 25, uttered a 4 letter word at Tillery Elementary many years ago. My husband received a phone call from the principal letting us know about it and saying that it was inappropriate. No suspension, no theatrics, just a phone call to Dad so we were aware. We never had any more phone calls like that. No spankings or threats, just a parent talking to a first grader explaining that we don't talk like that. This is a huge over reaction from the teacher.
Posted by: suek
March 14, 2012 at 1:50 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
@Ludwick:
I think you're confused about where the overreaction was in this case.
Posted by: AutopilotAR
March 14, 2012 at 3:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
I am appalled at the foul language I overhear from young people in public. I find it hard to be sorry someone tried to nip this in the bud in someone. It's obvious that many young people and their parents need a wake up call. My father always said foul language is a sign of a small vocabulary and a smaller mind.
Posted by: inquire
March 14, 2012 at 4:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
@inquire
Please clarify what combinations of letters is considered foul and why? Also, are we limiting it to just English or considering the whole range of languages?
Posted by: Nilatir
March 14, 2012 at 8:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Nilatir, if you are implying that expecting people to be brought up to use appropriate language, especially in public, is something for you to make fun of, that says a lot about you.
Posted by: inquire
March 14, 2012 at 9:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
@inquire:
I think you're confused as well. This wasn't "nipping this in the bud" as you say. The kid is 5 and most likely had no idea whatever word he said was wrong especially if he was hearing it at home regularly. Suspending him wasn't the appropriate action. Taking him to the principal and having a conversation about it was appropriate then the principal/teacher having a conference with the parent(s) was appropriate. There are probably older kids that get in scuffles at school that don't get suspended for a day.
Posted by: AutopilotAR
March 14, 2012 at 10:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Thank you Autopilot. That is exactly what happened when my son was in school. He wasn't hearing it at home, but the school bus was not a good environment. Once he knew it was not acceptable he didn't do it again. No need for suspension, just a conversation with a parent would most likely have handled it in this situation as well. Sometimes it may be time for a teacher/principal to retire and get someone in who isn't worn down by school and life to make better decisions about suspensions and appropriate discipline.
Posted by: suek
March 15, 2012 at 12:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
It is possible that the boy was told repeatedly to stop and did not. My mother had some experience dealing with pre-k children who behaved exactly that way.
Posted by: inquire
March 15, 2012 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
This is the silliest thing I've ever heard. Who ever heard of a suspension for utilizing foul language. When I was in school, suspensions were reserverved for fighting or repetitive offenses. Beyond that, a 5 year old has no idea what is inappropriate and what is not. For that matter, inappropriate is a subjective term. I don't think a child can be punished for "inappropriate language" unless it is clearly defined what is considered inapparopriate. When I was growing up, crap and butt were "inappropriate" words for kids.
If the child did something he/she was not supposed to do (over and over), as one commentor speculates then I understand the supsension. However, the suspension at that point would be for being insubordinate and not for inapparopriate language.
Posted by: superdave10
March 15, 2012 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
In the absence of facts, create your own! Does anyone know if this child's behavior is good or bad? Was he an otherwise angel who recently learned a bad word or is he a repeated discipline problem who was sent home for profanity? Could it be he was in trouble for something else and then directed profanity at an adult, in the presence of others? Of course none of these ideas makes any sense. The boy MUST have asked a teacher what a word meant and the school called out the National Guard. Someone mentioned over reacting? Read the above to learn what the definition is...
Posted by: BCGuy
March 15, 2012 at 11:51 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Wonder where he heard the word in the first place? His Dad maybe...just a thought
Posted by: Apbacker
March 15, 2012 at 1:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Yes, Apbacker, I am suspicious of any parent whose first reaction to a child having to be punished by the school is to call a lawyer. If anyone from the school had ever had to call my parents, I know a lawyer would have been the last thing on their minds.
Once when my father, a policeman, had to supervise a Saturday morning work crew made up of juveniles who had vandalized exterior of someone's house, he came home and said he had two kinds of parents there that day, the ones who came to make absolutely sure their kids completely made right what they had done, and the other kind, the ones who thought their poor badly behaved offspring were being picked on.
This kind of parental attitude, and the kind of child it produces, starts young and only gets worse.
Posted by: inquire
March 15, 2012 at 3:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
@inquire- the attorney IS the child's father. It's not like they have an attorney on speed dial just for this type of occasion...
Posted by: RogersMom
March 15, 2012 at 4:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RogersMom, I went back and reread the story three times and no where does it say that. I'm not doubting you, but if you are right, the paper did not do a thorough job. I still stand by my opinion. There will always be parents who think their child should be an exception. I don't see how telling the truth on a KINDERGARTEN record, of all things, is the end of the world. If it happened, it happened. Hopefully, the rest of his record will be good.
Posted by: inquire
March 15, 2012 at 5:01 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
inquire--
In this case, the parent is a lawyer. The paper appears to have been coy on the issue in order to avoid identifying the student.
From the Channel 5 News web site:
"Five-year-old Jordan Swindle was suspended for one day after he said a four letter curse word on the playground. Now, his father is suing the Rogers School District and Northside Elementary Principal."
....
"Superintendent Janie Darr says parents are well aware of discipline policies at the schools.
“'We send this displicine policy home with all students every year and ask parents to read it and sign it so they understand it. So, they know what we are expecting of our students.'
"Swindle says the 5-year-old admitted to saying the word, but didn’t know the meaning of it.
“'He knows that he said a word that he shouldn’t have said. Of course, he has no understanding of what that word means, he just knows it’s a bad word.'
"Swindle says he learned the word from a cartoon.
“'We have determined that he got it from a cartoon that we thought was for children and it wasn’t. We bought a used DVD of a cartoon and let him watch it and we found out that it does have bad language in it.'"
I couldn't find a copy of the the discipline policy online, so I don't know whether this particular infraction and punishment were addressed, but it sounds like a lawyer might have signed on to a policy he disagreed with or didn't read carefully, then raised an objection when it affected his family.
And I would be curious as to whether the used DVD was in its original packaging, and whether the packaging had any kind of advisory on it.
Posted by: AlphaCat
March 15, 2012 at 6:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Interesting points, AlphaCat. With such a young child, it would pay to watch something yourself and be sure what it was, wouldn't it.
Posted by: inquire
March 15, 2012 at 9:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Alpha- since I am the parent of a Rogers student, I have a printed copy of the Rogers discipline policy. It seems as though profanity is considered a "major" offense, and is punishable by a one-day suspension. However, in the opening paragraphs of the discipline policy, it states, and I'll paraphrase here- that the administrator is to determine the punishment that fits the crime. I was able to find the discipline policy online- scroll down to section "JK- Student Discipline Policy" and then you can choose either a Word document or PDF.
http://rogersschools.net/modules/cms/...
Posted by: RogersMom
March 15, 2012 at 9:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RogersMom--
Thank you. I'm glad to know that the discipline policy has some leeway built into it, as zero tolerance bothers me a lot more than profanity does.
Posted by: AlphaCat
March 15, 2012 at 10:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Here's a STATEMENT from the child's father.
Note the school also had OTHER GUIDELINES which could have been used:
"I appreciate everyone's comments and interest. For the record, I stay quite busy and am quite behind on my work this week due to this case. I did not seek the television or radio publicity from this matter, although it has certainly sought me. Appealing a suspension is a public matter and holding government officials accountable for their decisions is a good thing, I think. To those interested in the facts, the word was said at recess during a playful game. There was no violence associated with it. The child obviously does not understand the word. The reaction of the school was one-day suspension, which skipped over several much smaller steps that the school could have taken by its own punishment guidelines. I felt the punishment was an overreaction and refused to pick my child up as I feared that would send the wrong message to the child. Therefore, the school changed the position to "in-school suspension" for one day. There is only one way to clear that mark from his record and only one way to set an appropriate precedent for how the school should have, in my opinion, used its discretion, and that is to appeal to the school board. This is what I have done. Some of you view the appeal as an overreaction and I understand that. I believe an appeal such as this is what makes America great. The school is not run by some far off dictator like in some countries. It is run by local folks who take time out of their lives to run for the school board because they care about their community. On the one hand, maybe the school board will agree that the school overreacted and give the school a clearer direction on how to handle such situations proportionately in the future. If so, that will protect not only my child, but all children in the school from such overreaction in the future. Several parents have already contacted me to say thanks for indirectly helping to protect their children from such an overreaction, and I deeply appreciate their words of support. On the other hand, maybe the school board will agree with the principal. Either way, this is what makes America great - the right to be heard by an impartial jury of your peers. Thanks again for all of your interest. I have really been surprised and overwhelmed at the interest so many have given to this case."
Posted by kenswindle on March 15, 2012 at 9:27 PM
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/...
Posted by: cdawg
March 16, 2012 at 12:58 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
It appears to me this particular teacher and principal need additional training and a whole bucket of common sense.
Posted by: lilloop2loo
March 17, 2012 at 9:09 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
"Swindle said his son admitted to cursing, 'He said the "F" word.'" http://arkansasmatters.com/fulltext?n...
Well, there it is, then. Our former Vice President dropped one of those very bombs on the floor of the Senate, without consequences. He was proud of it-- said it made him feel better.
Move along. Nothing to see here. In the meantime, we have a Republican Vice President in the making.
Posted by: AlphaCat
March 17, 2012 at 2:02 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Surely our goal for public speech should not be to duplicate Cheny's behavior. It was wrong, and compounded by his lack of shame over it. One of my grandmother's favorite sayings was "two wrongs don't make a right."
Posted by: inquire
March 18, 2012 at 5:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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