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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 17283
[Schools/Ed]
Date Posted:
2/14/2007
8:35:38 am EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 8,229
RSS: 21,509
Comments: 15
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More: Mom Files Suit Over Teachers' Witch Garb
Author: Elizabeth Crisp Source: Clarion-Ledger (MS)
Title: MOM FILES SUIT OVER TEACHERS' WITCH GARB
A mother has sued the Madison County School District for $1.75 million over allegations that teachers at Luther Branson Elementary in Canton dressed as witches to scare her child.
The lawsuit was filed by Teresa Walker in Madison County Circuit Court, documents show.
Her child, Malcolm Mashad Walker, was a kindergartner at the time of the incident last April.
In the suit, which tells one side of a legal argument, Walker alleges teachers at the elementary school dressed in witch costumes "in an effort to punish the children."
The lawsuit filed Jan. 25 also alleges that teachers locked the child in a closet with one of the "witches."
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Community Thoughts: There are 15 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| "Witch Costume"? | Feb 16th. at 3:04:44 pm EST
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Lady Amber Moon (Aurora, Colorado) - Email Me
I must have missed something. Did a "Witch Fashion Rule book come out"? (I don't want the Witchy Fashion Police (WFP) comming after me) I didn't realise Witches now had a dress code. Can I sue that lady for a whole new wardrobe to get "Witch Clothing"? And does this mean all schools will now have a "No Fly Zone"? (Darn, I'll have to park my broom 2 blocks away.) hehehehehe
Blessed Be!
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| The Thing That Catches My Eye... | Feb 14th. at 10:06:08 pm EST
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Lynette (Roanoke, Virginia) - Email Me
is that the child was apparently expelled from the school. I don't know the rules in Canton, but at most schools, a kid either has to do something WAY out of line, or have a LONG history of less serious infractions to be expelled. Schools don't just call up and say "We caught Little Johnny picking his nose in English and we're expelling him."
Sounds like revenge on the part of the parent to me...
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| Facts Or Delusional Perceptions? | Feb 14th. at 4:49:20 pm EST
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Terry (Irvington, Virginia) - Email Me
Once again, we see an article which is heavy on coverage of people's claimed interpretations, and very light on substantive facts.
Skyclad would be my primary "witch garb", likely not recognized as such by any dimwit backwater baby hatcher who can't tell what was far more likely a Halloween department store theatrical costume than any real reflection of witches. That may shape shift to add a sweatshirt if it's chilly, or a hard hat and steel boots if I'm harvesting wood with a chain saw, from storm downed trees such that I've not taken a healthy tree for the wood stove in many years, while burning fuel which if left to rot would also release carbon to the atmosphere.
If we evolve US law to be less barbaric in its use of fraudulent bigotry based excuses for religious discrimination, any parents who indoctrinate kids such that they are harmed upon witnessing naturist and skyclad pagan rituals or lifestyles would be treated as child abusers, while our rights would be protected equally as those who do choose to wear silly costumes, or in theory far less protected occupational safety or fashion nazi costumes in public or publicly visible places.
It's obvious from this mother's claims that she is a serious child abuser under that neutral, broad, equitable interpretation of law which isn't yet common practice, but needs to be in order for our 1st and 14th Amendments to be honestly implemented in practice as they exist in theory.
What's not obvious in this story is what fact based acts are behind it. One might surmise that the kid involved had emotional problems and was acting out in some way which was difficult for teachers to manage. One might surmise the Plaintiff mother was in large part responsible for some aspects of those behaviors. What is in no way detailed enough to form judgements, and which the court hopefully will do a finding of fact about, is the extent and manner in which school teachers and administrators acted responsibly, versus tried to squash rather than deal with a difficult student.
This mother could be very unwise bringing that scrutiny, if in fact she and not the school have engaged in repeated actions to harm her child. In that case, the individual named teachers and school system should be entitled to prevailing party legal fees and other legal remedies against the mother.
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| APRIL FOOL'S JOKE | Feb 14th. at 4:43:01 pm EST
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Shadow Dragon (nashville, Tennessee) - Email Me
This may be a April fool’s joke. Ether the teacher was playing it or the original article was a joke.
Also I had a pagan friend that did some counseling for some satanic cult abuse victims. I didn’t believe it existed until he told me. There never been any proof. But now I keep a open mind. This is the perfect cover. First you make up a story like this (a witch hunt/ A practical joke) , and people will laugh. Than you start the real rituals (having kids naked in a circle forced to do satanic rituals) . The kids will talk and every one will laugh. There are movies on this.
These April fool’s jokes have gone to far. The reporters try to start a witch hunt ever year. Printing false stories about the pagan religion is a act of bigotry . Now we have to investigate to see if this is real.
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| Workman's Tools | Feb 14th. at 2:42:59 pm EST
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Ahr-Ohn (Bridgeport, Connecticut) - Email Me - Web
If my kid were locked up with a Fundy, I'd be bothered also.
"Walker claims that she spoke with Naron in April about how her child was treated. According to the lawsuit, Naron told the mother that "she had become aware of the teachers' conduct and the scare tactics used in Malcolm's presence" and would speak with the teachers.
However, Walker said she was notified on April 28 that her son would not be allowed to return to the school because he was disturbing class. Walker alleges that her son was suspended as retaliation for her complaints."
Was this a retaliatory dismissal, or did the loss of Scare Tactics deprive the teacher of her methods? The Megabuck Price might be a way of insisting that Insurance Carriers require Teachers to get adequate intellectual support.
I hope that kid isn't sentenced to Methylphenidate, or other type of Speed.
Arawn
Knight of Swords flipped out in Shuffling... Drawn is The Magician Inverted: Weakness of will; Ineptitude; Insecurity; Disquiet; Delay; The use of one's skill for destructive ends.
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| Greed | Feb 14th. at 2:04:44 pm EST
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
So she won the case and got over a million for it.
That is just plain greedy.
Surely the money could have gone to something better, like improving the school.
It may or may not have been wrong of the teachers to dress as witches but I wasn't there, I don't know the facts.
Still it's very fishy none the less.
After all, what's all that money going to do for them. Simply get them a lap of luxury while the school struggles after losing money that could have been put to good use.
No matter who's right or wrong, 1.75 million is far too much money for compensation.
As I said earlier, she's just plain greedy.
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| Has Anyone Noticed The Date? | Feb 14th. at 1:28:03 pm EST
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Lady FoxFire (Franklin, Pennsylvania) - Email Me
"...kindergartner at the time of the incident last April."
So this 'thing' happened in April of 2006, the woman files a lawsuit in Jan 2007.
If this really happened I would be after these people a LONG time ago.
In my personally opinion the woman wants money. I would need to see a lot more evidence before I believe her claim.
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| Light On Facts | Feb 14th. at 1:05:49 pm EST
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Lora (Leominster, Massachusetts) - Email Me
Impossible to tell from this article whether this is something that actually happened, or something made up, or something completely misconstrued (e.g., teachers dressing up for Halloween) . It contains nothing but the parent's assertions from her one child, and no supporting statements from the local PTA, CPS or a school administrator confirming or denying. I'm sure the school admins might very well be instructed by their lawyer not to speak to media, but surely other parents or social workers would have something to say, even if it's along the lines of, "That lady is a freakin' nut-job".
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| What Needs To Be Thought About Is... | Feb 14th. at 11:31:38 am EST
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LD Wolverine (Edmonton, Ontario) - Email Me
What if its true? What if there are teachers thinking they are doing the right thing but really traumatizing the students?
A sentence that leads me to believe the alligations came from the Principal herself when she said she "had become aware of the teachers' conduct and the scare tactics used in Malcolm's presence" and would speak with the teachers." Not that the parents phone call made her aware...that she was ALREADY aware of the problem.
If we disregard this as the overactive imagination of a five year old...or the vindictiveness of an over protective parent, how would we feel about those in power there if the alligations turn out to be true and some real terrible damage happens to a child there??
I dont care how many innocents get investigated as long as the truth comes out. I do not think that we should allow ourselves to become so jaded by the craziness of politics that we allow our children to go through this type of terror.
I have seen worse so this type of thing is entirely plausable.
The fact that anyone would ignore something like this really burns my bottom.
I applaud the Mother in this case and I will believe her intent to be a true attempt to protect her child, until genuinly proven otherwise!!!
Peace
Linda
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| IF | Feb 14th. at 11:14:19 am EST
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stalkingwolf (Bullhead City, Arizona) - Email Me
the events of this case are as reported then the teachers involved were wrong and should face
trial for their actions.
What are the complete facts of this incident? WE dont
know and probably will never know.
IN the first place you have the media, and the first rule
of journalism is " If you cant distort it dont report it."
Second you have a 5 yr old and some form of Child Protective services that are or will be involved.
CPS in most states are a law unto themselves.
They can make baseless and unsubstantiated charges and are under no requirement to prove them.
They can make the vilest charges and never have to provide the first iota of evidence to back them up.
IMO CPS and anyone that lacks the testicular fortitude
to work for them are lower in the food chain than dogcatchers, who are lower than whale s****.
CPS employees are masters of getting the answers
they want to questions. In support of this I refer you to the McMartin case. As I recall in the end this case
was proved to be false. In fact it provides a prime example of Inquisitional processes. When it was all said and done the people involved had their lives shattered, their livelihoods destroyed, but they were proclaimed innocent of the charges. remember the portrayal of the Witch?
What ever happened to the legal ideal of this country? It is better that 100 guilty go free than to convict 1 innocent.
Beware my friends , for the burning times they do return.
CPS does as they want.
The HOA tells you what and when you can do
on the land you buy,
you are in all things guilty until you prove your innocence.
If you belong to a historical reenactment group,
or a non fundamentalist belief, if you are not W.A.S.P. ,
you are suspect. Do not be surprised if you find yourself on a "no-fly" list or dragged in front of a tribunal as a "suspected terrorist.
If you have an Irish surname you are potentially IRA, a German surname you are probably a neo-NAZI.
Well you get the drift.
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| Cruel And Unusual Punishment | Feb 14th. at 9:30:20 am EST
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Cynthia (Miami, Florida) - Email Me - Web
My husband, who worked for family services helping children over bad behavior, had a case where a teacher pinned a child with cerebal palsely to the floor with a ladder., so I am inclined to believe the allegation.
To deliberately take a child to a secluded room to be deliberated frightened and imprisoned in a closet is not an acceptable form of punishment for anyone. Surely the spirit of the Constitution is meant to govern all our governmental institutions, including public schools. Cruel and unusual punishment is expressly forbidden. I would say that terrifying a child with a stereotype of a religion and imprisonment in a closet would be cruel and unusual punishment for a child.
If these teachers were having so much trouble maintaining discipline with this child why didn't they call in a professional for help? Teachers are all taught a little bit of behavior analysis to help them deal with discipline and so they all know that for difficult children there are professionals who deal specifically and successfully to call upon.
It is great this mother is standing up for her child.
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| Oh Well... | Feb 14th. at 9:08:54 am EST
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Erihu (Sunset Beach, North Carolina) - Email Me
I was really hoping for more of a follow-up. I still want to know the details before deciding. Like why were they dressing up as witches in April? Was there really an incident where the children were put in the closet. I'm tempted to dismiss this as sour grapes from a woman whose son was expelled, but maybe not. Maybe the teachers were fanatical Christians who were trying to scare children away from the 'evils of witchcraft'. Who knows?
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| Sounds Like. . . | Feb 14th. at 8:43:29 am EST
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Dynnys Derwydd (Lubbock, Texas) - Email Me
. . .another lame attempt to gather money not earned or truly needed. Greed is one of the world's true evils.
Fight with knowledge, not in ignorance.
honi soit qui mal y pense,
Dynnys Derwydd
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