Teachers stage fake gun attack

Holly crap man. I can understand drills to teach kids what to do in a emergency. That should be a crime like yelling fire when there is non.

Oh man would I be pissed if someone did that to my kid. That would be something that might get a violent reaction out of me (as in kicking the principles a**) at the very least I would press charges and definitely want therapy paid for by the school district.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dragonfly @ May 14 2007, 10:42 AM) [snapback]441660[/snapback]</div>

I have to admit, when I first read this story, I thought it was about the stupidest thing I could imagine. A press release from the school paints it in a somewhat different light (i.e., a prank/ghost story the children had been warned to expect on their field trip all week). Which is not to say that, after Virginia Tech, it still wasn't stupid. It just seems the national coverage is overblown as usual.

The person most offended from the start however appears to be the school's principal (a Virginia Tech alum) who wasn't at the trip this year. I can't imagine the teacher who chose to do this will have a whole lot of job security.

Each night of the trip, after daily activities such as caving, canoeing and hiking, the group of students, teachers, and park staff would gather for campfires and storytelling. Some of these stories were ghost stories.

"Following Thursday night's stories, another story was told that I believe crossed the line. I've tried since yesterday to remain calm," said Principal Catherine Stephens.

The students were told there were armed subjects in the area and to take precautions.

As a graduate of Virginia Tech, the site of the recent massacre that left 33 dead, including the gunman, Stephens was upset when she heard about the incident.

The school:
http://www.cityschools.net/schoolsites/se/index.html

The local paper:
http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A.../705140314/1002
http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007705130327
http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770512007

 

This is stupid ... no matter which version is the real story, it shows the stupidity of the adults.

School shootings are extremely rare, and we should not traumatize children with drills, warnings, or training on what to do if the one-in-a-million chance comes about. Its time we let our kids be kids again.

 

Parents of the 6th-grade students were outraged.

You know, I'm nowhere close to Tennessee, don't have children at all and I'm outraged! I think jail time is definitely in order. If they don't see jail time, they need to, at a minimum, be fined, suspended, and sentenced time on community service. What a complete disaster.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE("fshagan")</div>

Agreed.

 

I am somewhat ashamed to say that I do live close to the town where this incident occurred. The teachers were suspended, not quickly enough in my opinion. Children were traumatize because of their sick prank. Learning experience? Pshaw! I hope the teachers learn that they won't get away with this.

 

I think suspension is the right course of action... I'm not sure the teachers did anything that was criminal - The worst that could happen would be a lawsuit for emotional trauma suffered by the students... And teachers aren't paid enough to make that worth while (heck, my starting salary fresh from college was higher than my mom's, and she's been teaching for 30 years!).

This was incredibly poor judgment on their part. Pranks and jokes such as these should not happen to kids... However, it is important that all of the kids know the proper procedure whenever their building is put on "red alert" or whatever they want to call it. It's extremely important that they know the classroom doors will be locked immediately - otherwise they might be in the restroom, come out, and just stand there pounding on a door while a gunman comes up behind them... :shudder: There are right ways and wrong ways to teach kids what to do in different emergencies. This is the wrong way.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(efusco @ May 15 2007, 08:13 AM) [snapback]442338[/snapback]</div>

I also find the thought of jail time confounding. This was a ghost/scary story told on a field trip. Summers from 4th-6th grade, when I was a kid and we went to camp for a week (one night overnight), the ghost stories on the overnight were my favorite part. And they scared me a lot, but I still loved them. The media reports keep making this sound like it was some "gunman" drill run at the school, when it was nothing of the kind. Was it still stupid? Yes. Was trying to make it a "learning experience" even stupider? Yes. Was it criminal? No.

The two individuals involved, by the way, have been suspended.

http://www.dnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A...3n8Wi1zAE/aw%3D

Brandy Cole, who said her son told her he wished he hadn't gone on the trip, said she was disappointed the teachers didn't receive a harsher punishment.

"I'm glad that they saw fit to take disciplinary action, but basically they're getting two weeks of vacation. That's not discipline; that's two weeks off without pay," Cole said. "They should be treated just like a student would be if the shoe was on the other foot."

Mastin was the mastermind behind the prank, said Cheryl Harris, spokeswoman for the district.

"I think it was his night for a spooky story. It was his turn, and unfortunately, it turned out that it was just too close to the frightening situation at Virginia Tech," Harris said. "No one planned for it to be as frightening as it was. But the story, it's just become so sensationalized."

At least two Scales Elementary parents said they support the decision to suspend the two educators.

"It was the wrong timing with all this stuff happening now with this shooting in Virginia," said Donald Claybrooks, whose son is in the first grade. "It's pretty harsh to scare a bunch of kids like that. They could have done something else. They should have just enjoyed the field trip."

Claybrooks said he's still confident with school officials.

"Scales has been good to my child," he said. "He's been progressing. Everything has been progressing great there. Ms. (Principal Catherine) Stephens has been doing excellent job."

Stephens is an alumna of Virginia Tech, where a student recently killed 32 people and then himself.

Scales Elementary Parent Teacher Organization President David Ross agreed.

"I still have the utmost faith in Scales," Ross said. "In my mind, it's one of the best schools in the system. Although this incident was unfortunate, I still feel my children are getting the best education possible. I would have no problem with any of the faculty or staff taking my children on a field trip or a retreat."

Ross said he has not heard from any concerned parents about what happened.

 

No wonder education in this country is in the shape it is. Someone in this group had to be thinking...this is not very smart!!! :blink: