How can we expect the kids to behave...

.....when the adults act like children? This is real stupid & a total waste of tax payer dollars.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/topstory/1322056

Squirt gun puts teacher in hot water
Instructor's use of toy draws assault charges
By CINDY HORSWELL
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle
To Maria Ripke, the small, red water pistol she has used in class in recent years is a teaching tool.

Bryan and Dana Adkins say it was used to assault their son, not teach him.

Now, what began as a science lesson at Baytown Junior School has evolved into a legal battle as the teacher faces charges in municipal court.

Ripke, who has taught for 10 years in Baytown's Goose Creek school district, pleaded not guilty Thursday to an assault charge. If convicted of the Class C misdemeanor, she could be fined up to $500.

"This whole thing is frivolous harassment," said her attorney, Frank Knight III of Baytown.

Knight contends that the charge never would have been filed if the boy's parents were not a teacher at the school and a Baytown police officer.

"This is just a police officer using his position to say that 'you can't treat my son that way,' " he said.

But Bryan Adkins countered that if a police officer had been charged with assault he would be removed from his duties until the case was resolved. Ripke's status remains unchanged.

The charge arose from a Feb. 1 incident in Ripke's sixth-grade science class. She said she has used the plastic squirt gun, small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, for several years to demonstrate kinetic energy -- the energy that results from motion.

In a complaint filed Feb. 11, Dana Adkins -- who teaches math at the school -- told police that Ripke had surprised her son by shooting him in the chest with the water pistol during class.

After the boy objected, Adkins reported, the teacher laughed and squirted water into his face.

The parents asked for a teacher conference on Feb. 4. Three days after that meeting, their 11-year-old son was assigned detention for borrowing paper, the report states.

According to the report, Ripke gave police her driver's license for identification but refused to be interviewed about the complaint. She was issued a citation alleging Class C assault.

Knight, Ripke's attorney, disputes the mother's account of the second shot from the water gun. Ripke said the boy had asked excitedly to be "squirted again," the attorney said.

The father said that, in the conference, Ripke described her use of the toy pistol as an "attention-getter," not a teaching tool. He contends that she uses the water pistol as an inappropriate way to keep students' minds from drifting.

Adkins said Ripke assured him that his son would never be squirted again. He said he believes, however, that she was retaliating against his son when she gave him detention, his first, for borrowing a sheet of notebook paper.

"The detention slip stacked three complaints against him for that one incident," Adkins said. "It said he failed to be prepared, then argued about it and then failed to follow directions."

The parents have since had their son transferred to another science class.

Adkins, who once taught a drug awareness class at the campus, said school officials are allowing a double standard in Ripke's case.

He said that, a week after she squirted Thomas, another pupil received 10 days of detention for bringing a plastic toy hand grenade to school.

Since the charge was filed against Ripke, Adkins said, teachers at the campus have been split into two camps -- some supporting his wife and others supporting Ripke.

He added that he believes his wife, who has taught in the Goose Creek district for 14 years, is being harassed for having complained. In one instance, he said, one of her paychecks disappeared from her mailbox in the school office.

In another, Adkins said, someone put a stack of 50 "how to lose weight" notices in her mailbox.

Melissa Sanchez, a theater arts teacher at the school, attended Ripke's arraignment Thursday to show support.

"She taught both of my children and they loved her. She's an excellent teacher," Sanchez said. "She uses different stimuli, from chewing gum to bubbles, to interest the kids in science and make it more relevant. My daughter recalls her using the water gun and thought it was great."

Wilyne Laughlin, president of the Baytown Education Federation, also attended the arraignment.

"It's always sad to see teachers having problems with their profession. But it's rare to see two teachers in a dispute," she said. "It would have been better handled with discussions between the two professionals rather than going to the courts."

A pretrial hearing on the case is set for May 16.

 

This article is a prime example of what's wrong with kids today. With our sue happy society, teachers & principals are afraid to discipline the students. When I went to school, if you acted up or caused a disturbance, they busted your butt. The coaches & principals used a half inch thick board with holes drilled in it, so it would whistle (no sound was actually heard, except in your head) on it's way to smacking your butt. While, I & my butt didn't like it at the time, I now look back & realize that every time it was used, I never repeated the offense.

Our society has gotten so paranoid they'll be brought up on charges of child abuse, that they let the kids get away with almost anything. The result of this attitude is that many kids have no values, discipline or respect for adults, or anyone else for that matter. That's one of the reason's that kids can take a life so easily & not show any remorse.

I put the blame for this on two groups, lawyers & parents. I know that many of the laws are in place to protect the children from genuine child abuse, but whatever happened to common sense? Wait, I'm sorry. I forgot, lawyers & common sense are on opposite ends of the spectrum of life.

A friend of mine was spanking her daughter in a grocery store, for acting up, when a stranger made the comment that she shouldn't be doing that. Well, needless to say, that lady was told to mind her own business.

Using my sister's kids as an example, they're good kids &, thus far, haven't gotten into any trouble, but they have never uttered the words yes, sir, or mam together so much as once & they speak to adults with disrespect & contempt in their voices & mannerisms most of the time.

Discipline, respect, & values are taught at home. Maybe it's time for us to slow down in our pursuits of wealth & stuff, & start focusing more on the kids. By the way, I don't mean to imply that every kid is this way, but I would say the vast majority of them are.

 

Thanks for sharing that DaDakota. It's good to hear that some parents are teaching their kids right. That just happens to be one of my pet peeves. If they don't respect others, then how will they ever learn to respect themselves?