I was hit right between the eyes with that when I read this article at ColorLines.
Jennifer O’Brien, a first grade teacher in Paterson, N.J., posted remarks on Facebook that her class that’s made up of mostly black and Latino students were “future criminals.”
The post, intended for O’Brien’s 333 friends on Facebook read, “i’m not a teacher - i’m a warden for future criminals,” reports NorthJersey.com.
“They had a scared straight program in school—why couldn’t i bring 1st graders?” she went on to say in a post six hours later. O’Brien was referencing a school event that took place earlier that day that allowed sixth graders to talk to prison inmates about the consequences of crimes...
Boyce Watkins, a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World coalition, says O’Brien’s frustrations are understandable but “it’s not difficult to see that her comments are rooted in the same racial bias that destroys so many black and brown children in America’s broken school system.”
“Although Ms. O’Brien would like to believe that these six year old children have already routed themselves to prison, the truth is that she herself has incarcerated her kids in the prison of low expectations. Instead of spending her time trying to elevate their minds to become doctors, lawyers and professors, Ms. O’Brien seems to believe that the most she can do for her six year olds is keep them out of jail.”
My gawd, this kind of stuff pisses me the hell off!!!!!! And I work closely with enough schools to know that Ms. O'Brien got caught when she wrote it on Facebook. But there are WAY too many teachers who replicate her thinking.
I know teachers are under attack from the right. And it stinks to high heaven!!!! But we also have some incredibly serious problems in our education system that need to be addressed...now. Not the least of these is the fact that over 50% of African American boys don't graduate on time. Do you think perhaps attitudes like the one expressed by Ms. O'Brien have something to do with that? They damn well do.
In my professional life I work with several African American staff who have dedicated their lives to turning this kind of thing around. They remind me that every day this goes on - we loose more of our children. Their sense of urgency about this doesn't allow for the fact that we have to be careful to protect teachers from the rightwing attacks. There has to be some accountability.
So if the left/right conversation can't happen with Republicans, we certainly better start having it amongst ourselves as Democrats.
(P.S. You can tell that my language goes all to hell when I get angry.)
Please, oh please, tell me she was removed from the classroom. Wait, I'll go look at the article.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't say, but I have to remark that she was right in her preface of 'I'm not a teacher...'. This sounds judgmental I know, but it's how I feel. She further remarked that the comment arose from her not knowing what to do with misbehaving 6 year olds. School has only recently started. Why not seek help from a more experienced teacher, or a supervisor? So what if she might be asked to stay after school to hone her managerial skills? IMO that would be a worthy investment for her future in this her chosen career. I know we all say things to friends that are said in frustration and fun, but it bothers me that she continued the theme hours later. I can just imagine the psychological damage this 'teacher' will do to young children if this is her approach. I sure hope she is redirected to another profession where her defeatist attitude won't have such potential to inflict lasting harm.
ReplyDeleteVC - the article did talk about an administrative judge having to decide whether or not she'll be able to keep her job. So perhaps there's not a decision yet, but at least its under review.
ReplyDeleteshe definitely needs to lost her job.
ReplyDeleteperiod.
Just to play Devil's advocate, did she mention the race specifically of her children or did she only mention the fact that they hit teachers and such?
ReplyDeleteIf she is seeing them commit kiddy crimes that would be forbidden and stopped in some cases and they are basically getting away with it, no matter their race or ethnicity, her statement is somewhat reasonable, and in fact, to declare otherwise would be racist.
To me it hardly matters if she mentioned race or not. Her comment is inappropriate whatever the colour of her students. I believe teachers are educators, in other words they motivate, and that to me means that they are trying to move their clientele from one point to another. 'Future criminals' of whatever shade can be reached if faced with a 'real' teacher. Real teachers not only teach the '3 R's', they teach tolerance, social skills, etc., etc., not to mention wise use of public/social media.
ReplyDeleteJohn
ReplyDeleteI agree with VC. I don't think this has to be cast in terms of "racism."
The reality is that - from the article - we know that the majority of her class are black and latino children. And she doesn't have the skills to manage them.
She needs to either obtain those skills or get out of the school/profession. The fact that they are "getting away with it" is her responsibility.