A teacher in Paterson, New Jersey, is in boiling water because she told her Facebook friends that some of her students were “future criminals.â€
The pedagogue of Paterson has been suspended with pay, and might well be fired. The students were disrupting her class, but her critics claim her remarks were “racist.â€
Paterson’s population is largely black and Hispanic.
What She Said
Veteran teacher Jennifer O’Brien said she posted the comments to Facebook because of her frustration that the students in her first-grade class are out of control, and she can do little about it.
O’Brien came home from work, North Jersey.com reported, and expressed her genuine feelings after what must have been another tough day in the "blackboard jungle." Wrote O’Brien, “i’m not a teacher — i’m a warden for future criminals.â€
Six hours later, North Jersey.com reported, she posted again, wondering why she couldn’t put her first-graders into a Scared Straight program, which introduces hardened criminals to youngsters. Wrote O’Brien, “They had a scared straight program in school — why couldn’t i bring 1st graders?â€
Unsurprisingly, given that O’Brien had 333 friends on the social networking site, her feelings didn’t remain among those friends for long. Complaints came into the school board, and O’Brien was suspended. O’Brien appeared before a government school inquisition last week.
According to North Jersey.com, “O’Brien told an administrative law judge that she wrote the post in exasperation because six or seven unruly students kept disrupting her lessons, distracting children who wanted to learn.â€
One boy had recently hit her, another had struck another child, and she had given the principal several disciplinary reports on students during her three months in charge of a class of 23. She said they also stole a box of stickers she hid in a closet to use as prizes.
“I was speaking out of frustration to their behavior, just that build up of ‘I don’t know what else to do,’ and I’m actually scared for their futures, for some of them,†O’Brien said. “If you’re hitting your teacher at 6 or 7 years old, that’s not a good path.â€
O’Brien, North Jersey.com reported, “told [administrative law] Judge Ellen Bass that she was surprised her posts were so misinterpreted.â€
She said she deleted them as soon as she realized they were causing offense and immediately apologized to her principal. She said some parents also had trouble handling the kids in her class.
“I had quite a few parents that came to me saying ‘I don’t know what to do with them at home … give me some strategies,’†she said.
Whole Story
The pedagogue of Paterson has been suspended with pay, and might well be fired. The students were disrupting her class, but her critics claim her remarks were “racist.â€
Paterson’s population is largely black and Hispanic.
What She Said
Veteran teacher Jennifer O’Brien said she posted the comments to Facebook because of her frustration that the students in her first-grade class are out of control, and she can do little about it.
O’Brien came home from work, North Jersey.com reported, and expressed her genuine feelings after what must have been another tough day in the "blackboard jungle." Wrote O’Brien, “i’m not a teacher — i’m a warden for future criminals.â€
Six hours later, North Jersey.com reported, she posted again, wondering why she couldn’t put her first-graders into a Scared Straight program, which introduces hardened criminals to youngsters. Wrote O’Brien, “They had a scared straight program in school — why couldn’t i bring 1st graders?â€
Unsurprisingly, given that O’Brien had 333 friends on the social networking site, her feelings didn’t remain among those friends for long. Complaints came into the school board, and O’Brien was suspended. O’Brien appeared before a government school inquisition last week.
According to North Jersey.com, “O’Brien told an administrative law judge that she wrote the post in exasperation because six or seven unruly students kept disrupting her lessons, distracting children who wanted to learn.â€
One boy had recently hit her, another had struck another child, and she had given the principal several disciplinary reports on students during her three months in charge of a class of 23. She said they also stole a box of stickers she hid in a closet to use as prizes.
“I was speaking out of frustration to their behavior, just that build up of ‘I don’t know what else to do,’ and I’m actually scared for their futures, for some of them,†O’Brien said. “If you’re hitting your teacher at 6 or 7 years old, that’s not a good path.â€
O’Brien, North Jersey.com reported, “told [administrative law] Judge Ellen Bass that she was surprised her posts were so misinterpreted.â€
She said she deleted them as soon as she realized they were causing offense and immediately apologized to her principal. She said some parents also had trouble handling the kids in her class.
“I had quite a few parents that came to me saying ‘I don’t know what to do with them at home … give me some strategies,’†she said.
Whole Story
