TAUGHT to the TUNE of a HICKORY STICK

There’s a story in my local paper, front page, about what seems like a pretty minor school incident. 'High School Chemistry Teacher [insert verb here] Pupil on Head with Pointer' -- that’s the gist of it. The definitive missing verb may be the key to the whole story. Or not. The story may be just an everyday dust-up that will quickly fade from public consciousness--or it may represent evidence of a major shift in the way America thinks about its public schools. You decide.

The school in question, Parker High School, is not a failing or troubled school. It was a rural school just a few decades ago, but is now in a solidly suburban district, set in a pretty little town where families migrate to escape city problems (and—city diversity). Most kids who attend Parker are what you might call advantaged, and parents have lots of access to school leaders and school policy. Because these parents are well-educated and feel—rightfully—entitled to a voice in the way their public schools are managed, we read more and more about their involvement in day-to-day school decisions. In fact, stories about school incidents dominate the local news, and not in a good way.

In this headline account, we have a HS girl who falls asleep in class. Her teacher touches (or strikes/taps/pokes/hits, depending on the narrator) her on the head with a rubber-tipped metal pointer. The teacher’s rationale: he was waking her up, and using his pointer was preferable to disrupting the instructional flow by shouting at her, or touching her with his hand. Students in the class say he “tapped” her—and also note that this teacher sometimes throws M & M wrappers at kids who put their heads down and snooze in Chem.

The girl’s mother, however, wants the teacher arrested for assault. Mom went directly to the police, and claims her daughter suffered undue pain and nausea for several hours. There’s no way to ferret out the truth—did he really harm the girl?—but the district suspended the teacher for three days without pay and reprimanded him. It would take someone with insider knowledge to determine whether there was a pattern of unprofessional teacher behavior, or merely a helicopter parent with a king-sized grudge and an urge to see her own name in the paper.

What I find interesting about this story is the fact that my own district (which adjoins Parker High) fired a teacher a few years ago for allowing students to sleep in his class. There are dozens of messages in the newspaper’s chat forum, many asking the very logical question: when did it become OK for kids to nap in class? After all, many parents pay handsomely to send their children to Catholic schools, where swatting a slumbering student would be expected, not debated. Or so the chatterers say.

This little incident has become (yet another) community rallying cry, and any way it’s interpreted, the school gets the blame: School won’t defend strict, demanding teacher. School hires abusive jerk and fails to punish him. School allows kids to slack off in class. School does not honor parent concerns.

The thing is—generally speaking, this is a pretty good school, by all external measures. They score well on tests, have a well-qualified teaching force (including some award-winning standouts) and excellent facilities. It’s the kind of community where people support the victorious football team, the choir and the French Club. In the past half-dozen years, however, there has been a growing public drumbeat of parental discontent. Last year, a group of parents asked the local prosecutor to investigate “distribution of pornography to minors” at this high school, naming a teacher who made Freedom Writers an optional reading assignment.

Is this just a local quirk, a group of activist parents with time on their hands? Or is this the beginning of a national trend of parents demanding that public schools be organized and run to meet their wishes, places where their children can associate with similar children, and obtain necessary credentials? Is it reasonable for teachers to require respect and attention from their students, to engender an atmosphere of scholarly inquiry? Or are we public employees and thus subject to public demands?

Comments

[IMC Guy]

It's too bad the loudest parents are the ones who are heard the most.

It's also too bad that the district didn't stand up to the parent. If teachers are going to be suspended for 3 days for "tapping" a student, they might as well give a good "whack" and make it worthwhile.

[Nancy Flanagan]

Hey, IMC Guy.
Thanks for responding. As I said in the blog--maybe there's a pattern of this guy whacking kids, or maybe it's just someone's mama protecting her perfect child. What's interesting is how often this stuff crops up lately. I'm thinking this is a harbinger of a different way to view public schools: as a service where the customer is always right.

I'd be the first to say that for too long, it's mostly been the other way--put up or shut up. But this issue--kids sleeping in class--isn't something we should be making excuses for. Should we?

Thanks for visiting.
N.