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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 19775
[Schools/Ed]
Date Posted:
6/20/2008
5:27:04 pm EDT
Wvox Stats
Views: 10,721
RSS: 13,005
Comments: 36
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Ohio Board Reviews Report Of Teacher Burning Cross Image On Kids
Author: Doug Whiteman, Associated Press Source: Yahoo
Title: OHIO BOARD REVIEWS REPORT OF TEACHER BURNING KIDS
Members of the Mount Vernon school board met Friday to discuss a finding that a middle school teacher preached his Christian beliefs despite staff complaints, even using a device to burn the image of a cross on students' arms.
Mount Vernon Middle School teacher John Freshwater also taught creationism in his science class and was insubordinate in failing to remove a Bible and other religious materials from his classroom, a report by independent investigators said.
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Community Thoughts: There are 36 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Two Sentence Answer | Jun 23rd. at 5:03:01 pm EDT
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Mysteries Child (Garfield, Arkansas) - Email Me
He needs to lose his job, go to prison, and be barred from being within 1000 feet of a child for life.
Because, unless the kid whose arm is in the picture is lying through his/her teeth, I don't really need to look any closer to know that this is "ritual abuse, " not "religious freedom."
I mean, even us quasi-Libertarian free-speech/free-exercise militants have to draw a line somewhere.
(OK, so it's three-- make that four-- sentences.)
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| Abuse Is Abuse | Jun 23rd. at 8:43:41 am EDT
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Nacine Moonglow (Uehling, Nebraska) - Email Me
What this teacher did was wrong. Abuse is abuse and burning these children was as basically child abuse as you can get. Period no questins asked.......off to jail, in my opinion. Also in my opinion as with most cases religion needs to be left out of it! A crime is acrime is a crime no matter the basis behind it. There are good and bad everywhere, in every walk of life. Take the religious crap out of the equation, stop focusing on it and you still have a crime. Life is simple and we need to allow other their beliefs even if we disagree with them...thats part of our faith. Focus on the crime against these children not the man's faith.
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| What The..... | Jun 22nd. at 10:27:19 pm EDT
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Azuris-Raen (Austin, Texas) - Email Me
I cannot believe that anyone would do this to a child. And on top of that not fireng him way before for his prior misconducts. It doesn't matter what he burned onto their arm, be it a cross or the starbucks logo; it matters that he burned them in the first place. Kind of reminds me of a presentation a NASA sciencitist did when I was in 6th grade, which involved a ceramic tile from a ship and a blowtorch. And I was the guinea pig, but that was cool, I wasn't burnt because the guy was compotant in his knowledge and knew what he was doing.
Back to the story, It's not only this "teacher's" fault, a finger should also be pointed at the school itself for not dealing with this a DECADE AGO. Thats where the real blame should be directed. Like in medicine, PREVENTION is the best cure.
Brightest Blessings and may The Light protect thee!!! ^ _ ^
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| Why It's Here | Jun 22nd. at 9:44:34 pm EDT
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Stormsinger (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) - Email Me
This article is here because some of us have children, and some of those children are in the public school systems. With a couple hundred thousand Americans claiming Wiccan, NeoPagan or some related "earth-based" religion, the chances that SOME of us might have something similar going on in our schools is "statistically significant."
The Religious Right has an avowed plan to push their views at the local level. They get on school boards, they become administrators, they support their own who become teachers. They push their interpretations of science, of history (try googling "Liars for Jesus" for a fun read) , of civics, of health and human sexuality, and so on.
How did this guy continue in his job for over a decade? Because someone protected him. Someone enabled him. Doesn't matter if it was kids who were too embarrassed or rebellious to talk about what happened, or other teachers who covered for him, catching their students up on the basics they should have learned in his classroom, without complaint even though "everybody knew" the kids from his classroom were not only NOT prepared with the basics, they were deliberately MIS-prepared with religious dogma instead of the basics of science. There were administrators who reviewed his performance and gave him a pass, year after year...
It's here because when it comes to what's going on in our schools, in the preparation of our children for the world that, gods watch over them, they MUST inherit, there is no such thing as "too much information."
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| Why Is This Article Here? | Jun 22nd. at 8:09:58 pm EDT
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David Eagan (Cleveland, Wisconsin) - Email Me
This article is not pertinent to Neo-Pagan interests at all. The only thing posting this article here does is suggest that Neo-Pagans have something to fear from Christians, and thusly fan the flames of religious hatred. There are far too many of us Neo-Pagans walking around with a chip on our shoulder and the unjustified belief that we are being persecuted.
For those of you who could not be bothered to RTFA, this teacher is facing criminal charges.
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| Insanity Unlimited | Jun 22nd. at 10:29:43 am EDT
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Moonlight Wolf (Bradford, England) - Email Me
I have to wonder what on earth was going on in this school to create this mess.
Why was this guy a science teacher when he was throwing creationism in kids' faces? How the heck did he even qualify as a science teacher?
Heck buring anything onto anyone's arm is wrong. Are the admins of Western education slowly turning into mindless zombies?
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| ... | Jun 22nd. at 1:34:36 am EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
I'm glad this f*cktard was fired. More schoolboards need to review the teachers on their staff.
And by the way, this was a guy that did it. Shouldn't refer to him as a "she."
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| How Could This Happen? | Jun 21st. at 5:27:35 pm EDT
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Richard Brownbear (North Wilkesboro, North Carolina) - Email Me
And WHY was it not put to a stop years ago?
Here are some excerpts from another report:
1." He kept creationist books and videos in his classroom........
2. He also kept the book Refuting Evolution there. Parents showed the investigators handouts from religious groups slamming evolution and claiming that dinosaurs and humans lived together, among other things.! ! ! !.................
3. " He then went on to say that an article in Time magazine a few years back stated that scientists had found a genetic link to homosexuality. 'In that case science is wrong because the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin' and so anyone who is gay chooses to be gay and therefore is a sinner.! ! ! ... (WHAT A TOTAL BRAIN DEAD NAZI!!!!!!!!!!!) ..............................
4. They also had reports from all the high school science teachers talking about how every year they had to reteach basic science for the kids who had Freshwater as a teacher, that those kids came to high school steeped in creationist material and very hostile toward evolution and practically all of modern science. In fact, even the high school principal refused to let her daughter be taught by the guy.,................
5. The High School Principal specifically asked that her daughter not be assigned to Mr. Freshwater for her 8th grade science due to her concern about his teaching not being consistent with the curriculum.
WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON AT THAT SCHOOL TO ALLOW A TEACHER TO GET AWAY WITH THIS $#@*!?!?!?!?!?!
If this creep had touched ANY of my kids, the very last thing on this planet he would have to worry about is being fired!!!!!!!
This guy should get the @$$hole Fundy Of The Century Award for this crap!
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| This Is Child Abuse | Jun 21st. at 4:18:12 pm EDT
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foreverknightfan (Dardanelle, Arkansas) - Email Me
Plain and simple, this is child abuse. There is NO reason for anyone to BURN a child, regardless of what the image used to burn them is.
Assuming for a minute this teacher is not mentally ill, how did she think she could get away with burning a child without it being discovered? IMO the religion she uses as a focus for her cruelty is only an excuse, and if she is mentally ill, she should be forced to get treatment.
Granted some Christians do get carried away with their preaching/ proselytizing. We all have seen or read of instances of their fanaticism. However I don't think even their most " devout" leaders like James Dobson would advocate such obvious cruelty and outright criminal behavior.
Not only should this teacher be charged with criminal charges, she should also have her teaching license revoked and be prevented from not only teaching children but also being near children, period. Her religion is only her mask for doing what she did. And he parents of the children abused should sue her and the school.
As to the other abuses by Christians on students, including Catholic nuns, where are the parents in these cases? Heck nuns and their corporal punishments are standard fare for comedians for decades. They can cite their religion all they want but it is the LAWS that protect the chldren that should be enforced. Yes you can cite all you wnat about what this or that Christian did, but let's be honest here. It's not the religion it's the excuse to use the abuse and hide BEHIND the religion that's the problem. Female children in Buddhist/ Hindu countries are sold into child labor and sexual slavery. Is the rleigion to blame? No. In a number of Muslim countries they have the disgusting " blood honor" killing of women who were raped or who even refused to marry who the family said they should marry. There have even been two cases in North America where female chilren were murdered by their familes under this barbaric "custom". In this example while the Muslim faith is part of their culture the blood " honor" killings are not directly linked to Islam, though nothing is said to condemn this practice.
And lest us not forget that there have been cases where certain individuals who claim they are Pagan have commited crimes. A Goth guy pretending to be a vampire lured a teeenager to a cemetery where he raped her, a guy caught trying to burn the house where he killed his girlfrirned's two daughters claimed it was a " spell gone wrong", and other recent cases show WE aren't immune from such despicable behavior.
It's the ABUSE that's the problem, the criminal behavior, not the religion they use to " excuse" their actions. People of any faith have to understand that they can't hide behind religion in these mattert, nor should religion be the " get out of jail free"card.
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| Firing Isn't Enough | Jun 21st. at 2:52:53 pm EDT
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Shadowbear (Hillsboro, Oregon) - Email Me
Sending home children who have been deliberately burned - I don't much care what the pattern was - is a crime. If he had drawn penticles or triple moons he would have been arrested on the spot. Maybe the parents think it is cool to have their children branded like cattle so they can be easily identified so burning them without their parent's consent is ok.l Maybe he had secret conferences with the parents and agreed to mark them because they were too young to be tatooed with the mark of their faith.
This man is sick, no matter what his religion, and needs to be kept away from children.
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| Why Haven't Charges Been Filed On This Guy | Jun 21st. at 2:32:18 pm EDT
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Shadow (Webb City, Missouri) - Email Me
This guy is a christian fanatic, and burning crosses on the arms of children, why have not the parents of these children filed criminal charges against him.
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| UPDATE ... They Fired His Butt | Jun 21st. at 1:45:46 pm EDT
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GreeneDragon (Palmdale, California) - Email Me
This news item went wildfire on the press network, AP, CNN, FOX, etc ... the good news is the investigation was completed and the school board terminated him **immediately**!
The following link is to a website that includes a link to the actual investigation report detailing confirmation of the many abuses of his teaching position.
Well worth reading --> [Web LINK]
Here is also an AP news article on the board vote to terminate --> [Web LINK]
GD
Find More info -- HERE
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| Now There's A Good Christian . . . | Jun 21st. at 12:41:39 pm EDT
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R. Cicero (Seattle, Washington) - Email Me
Why act sensible when you can prance about like an exorcist, terrorizing children? This is just too rich. If only Jay Leno or Conan could get their hands on this. The real horror is this teacher has been at it for 11 years. Eleven bloody years of tormenting kids with religion in a science classroom, of all places. There's a 'culture warrior' for you.
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| If That Was My Child ..... | Jun 21st. at 12:24:40 pm EDT
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Leafy (Albuquerque, New Mexico) - Email Me
.... There would be a lawsuit so fast it would make his head spin. This guy should not be teaching science in a public school. If he wants to spout his beliefs in a classroom, he should teach in a school run by his church. Hopefully he will be convicted of child abuse and nobody will have to worry about it. He is a psycho.
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| ... | Jun 21st. at 11:13:06 am EDT
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Draken (Bronx, New York) - Email Me - Web
Sometimes you just have to smack unruly children around. Even the New York State Penal Law recognizes this (Article 35.10.01) . There is a difference between using reasonable force to discipline a child and using excessive force because the child refuses to sit down. Burning symbols of evil into the arms of children more than crosses that line.
Bring back the gallows. It's obvious we need them for hardened criminals. :)
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