Quote:Teachers Face More
Discipline Complaints
1514 cases were
substantiated in '01 probes
Karen Chavis didn't think it was a big deal to bring a water bottle into class.
Teacher Jerry Selkowitz thought otherwise and ordered her to put it away. When the 12-year-old Staten Island student didn't move fast enough, Selkowitz allegedly pulled out a pocketknife, pointed the blade at the girl's cheek and threatened to pop the plastic bottle.
Karen Chavis, 12, of Staten Island, says Selkowitz pointed knife at her.
"He looked like he was crazy," said Karen, a seventh-grader at Intermediate School 72 on Ferndale Ave.
Selkowitz, who was arrested on Jan. 4, is one of thousands of city teachers accused in recent years of shoving, hitting, threatening and pummeling students.
Although teachers are forbidden to use physical force to discipline students, a Daily News investigation found that such allegations against teachers are rising.
Last year, 4,326 city teachers were accused of corporal punishment — 200 more than the year before, Board of Education records show.
Outpacing the rise in complaints was a 36% jump in the number of charges substantiated by principals or Board of Education investigators.
A total of 1,514 cases were substantiated — meaning some evidence was found to support the charge — last year. That's 400 more than in 2000. Among the charges:
A Bronx teacher partially severed a student's finger.
A Staten Island teacher punched and dragged a student.
A teacher's aide in Brooklyn was arrested last Thursday for losing his temper and allegedly smacking an 11-year-old special education student in the legs with a stick.
Board of Education officials contend the increase in incidents is not a reflection of rampant student abuse, but the result of efforts to make it easier to report errant teachers and investigate allegations more seriously.
Teachers union leaders note the vast majority of allegations against teachers are not proven.
And a union report found that more than 1,000 teachers were assaulted by students in the 1998-99 school year.
"No one is condoning the use of force. But the reality is that principals are told to report everything, real or not, and there are kids who have figured out the way to get a teacher is to make a false claim," said United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. To parents, though, the numbers are troubling.
Kerry Selkowitz was put on administrative duty after alleged knife incident.
"This is not right, what is happening. I know teaching is a tough job, but adults can't take out their anger on our kids," said Karen's mother, Sharon Chavis.
Karen said that after Selkowitz pointed the knife at her on Jan. 3, he pulled out another knife with a larger blade, waved it before the class and said that, as a science teacher, he was allowed to carry it.
A dozen other students in the class confirmed Karen's account to investigators. "Nobody could believe a teacher was acting this way," Karen said. "Kids act that way, not teachers. It was scary."
Selkowitz, 52, was yanked from the classroom and placed on duty in the District 31 administrative office pending the outcome of an investigation.
Along with criminal charges of menacing and endangering the welfare of a child, the veteran math and science teacher faces dismissal by the Board of Education.
Selkowitz, speaking outside his Staten Island home, said he could not discuss the charges. But he waved his hand dismissively when asked if he pointed a knife at Karen's cheek.
"I probably was not within an arm's length of her," he said. He said the second knife actually was a "tool kit."
HOLY SHIT! :eek: :eek: :eek:
I thought schools were supposed to promote non violence in the class room. Shit, I would have been shot of this shit happened while I was in HS. This is just further proof how "us" as a whole are fuckin doomed.
What are we teaching our kids about the concept of Committment if we never follow thruough? If you're stupid enough to pull a weapon, be smart enough to use it.
I grew up in an upper middle class to extremely wealthy area...
I was shoved...Even hit by teachers...
I saw out and out fights with teachers and students...
I wouldn't tell my parents, because it would probably lead to another beating.
I for one think some of these kids need beatings...not at the hands of their educators but of their slacker parents who basically look at teachers as a baby sitter for 8 hours a day.
thank god that never happened in my one of my schools i dont know what i would do
I went to private school and the nuns tried to beat me blind. I deserved it without a doubt. If I even mentioned this to my mother, rest assured, I had another beating on it's way.
But a teacher pulling a blade on a student? thats just fuckin nuts. I know kids are a hard bunch to control these days but they aren't going to learn anything by trying to shank them OZ style because they feel asleep in class.
i have nothing against corporal punishment in some of teh schools but [Leykis]Come on[/Leykis] pulling a switch blade on a 12 year old? That's going a bit too far.
Edited By IkeaBoy on Jan. 29 2002 at 11:19
Now you understand why I moved to the fuckin boonies of Orange County and refuse to have my kids go to school in the NYC school system.
I grew up in Long Island City and went to school in that shithole system. I'm lucky to get out alive and with a semi-decent education. I refuse to let my kids go through the same thing.
As a side note: if I ever found out a teacher hit one of my boys, rest assured I'd be at his/her house waiting to show him/her what a REAL beating is like medieval style. That shit aint right. It doesn't matter how bad the kidding is. Self defense I can understand but to hit someone without provocation is unexcusable.
Grumpy Wrote:As a side note: if I ever found out a teacher hit one of my boys, rest assured I'd be at his/her house waiting to show him/her what a REAL beating is like medieval style. That shit aint right. It doesn't matter how bad the kidding is. Self defense I can understand but to hit someone without provocation is unexcusable.
i totally agree with you, i dont have kids but if i did and a teacher even yelled at them the wrong way my foot and their ass would meet in less than a heartbeat
the teachers job is to teach not to scare the shit out of kids
Grumpy Wrote:As a side note: if I ever found out a teacher hit one of my boys, rest assured I'd be at his/her house waiting to show him/her what a REAL beating is like medieval style. That shit aint right. It doesn't matter how bad the kidding is. Self defense I can understand but to hit someone without provocation is unexcusable.
No offense, grumpster, but if your kids are like you in any way, shape or form, i would beat them out of principal alone. :real good: :real good:
Seriously, that shit does not fly in this day and age, that you are correct on. But when we grew up, and especialy in private school, it was expected that we get roughed up a little, right or wrong, that was the way it was and not too many questions were asked.
As far as parents today, just take a look at us, Generitation Who Cares. I know for a fact I can not have a kid at this point because I would be guilty of doing the same shit as far as the babysitting for 8 hours a day is concerned. That's one of the main resons I haven't procreated and have no forseeable plans to do as such.
Well, that and the fact of the whole world just being swalloed into the abiss upon birth! :burnfucker:
Sean Cold Wrote:As far as parents today, just take a look at us, Generitation Who Cares.
Good call on that one Sean!
OK, Mrs. Metal is a school teacher and has to deal not only with obnoxious defiant and disrespectful students on a daily basis, but the mindless fucking parents as well. These kids have their parents so scared or in denial or whatever the fuck you want to call it, that rather than attempting to discipline their filth ridden vermin...they write letter after letter to the teachers and the administration telling them why little Johnny or Susie didn't know they were doing anything wrong, and if they get disciplined, then a fucking lawsuit will be handed down so quickly it will whip their shit into a milkshake. Trust me friends, I have seen these letters and it is totally fucking deplorable. Shit, if my 4 year old gets a bad report from daycare she feels the wrath. I don't want to have to deal with shit like that when she is older.
Fucking pussy parents......remember who the fuck is boss!!
:burnfucker:
I need to add that even though I expierienced these things...
I don't in any way condone them.
Thank you.
Quote:That's one of the main resons I haven't procreated and have no forseeable plans to do as such.
Thank God for small favors. lmfao.... :real good:
I've said it before and I'll say it again. You need a license to drive but you don't need a license to be a parent. Some people just should not have kids. (not you sean, but the kind Metal is talking about). It's the parents responsibility to take care of their kids, teach them and discipline them.
First line of defense is talking to him and explaining why what he did was wrong. 999 out of 1000 times this works with my son. for that 1 out 1000, it's not beyond me to smack my sons tush but he's really really got to get wayyyy out of line for it to happen.
My mother-in-law babysits my wife's niece and nephew. She uses any excuse to smack those kids (3 years old and 1 year old). I told the bitch straight out - "my son acts up, you TELL ME. You lay one hand on my kids, you'll never see your grandkids again". You think I let her babysit for more than a couple of hours? You think I don't ask my son if grammie hit him or not? The one things young kids are is HONEST. They haven't learned to lie yet. He'll tell me outright what he did or what anyone else did.
Grumpy Wrote:The one things young kids are is HONEST. They haven't learned to lie yet. He'll tell me outright what he did or what anyone else did.
Exactly! My daughter may be all teary-eyed depending on what has happened, but she'll tell me exactly what happened and wait to find out what, if anything, will be done about it. But gah damn, right after my tirade is over, the first thing I do is hug her and tell her I love her.
I think that is one thing these weak-minded fuckwads of parents forget to do....tell their kids they love them. Its amazing just how much good that can do for your kid. Mine knows that no matter what happens....I may not like what she has done, but I will never stop loving her.
I know this next comment is going to be pretty shitty, so I am just giving the warning ahead of time.
I think that to be a teacher in todays world, it should be a prerequisite that you already have children. How do we expect these nimrods to know how to handle kids when thay don't have any opf their own to know how to treat them?
Put it this way, since most of you know me and can attest to the fact that I really am a fuckin evil individual, would you want me teaching your child? I mean, honestly, there are teachers who may have my same demented outlook on life as I do. I know for shit sure I am totaly unqulified to teach a kid how to shit oin the potty, much less anything that can be taught in a classroom enviroment.
< sarcasm > One more news article based thread and i'm calling you Ikea Cold < /sarcasm >
Seriously though, the reason why you have these mental patients teaching students is because you have to be NUTS to want to be a teacher these days. They simply do not compensate teachers enough to get the kind of quality educators we need in schools. We need to create a system that allows for teachers to be compensated for their difficult jobs, yes they have some sweet perks like summers off but its still a hell of a job.