Random Musings

Put the Blame Where it Belongs

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060419194509990002&ncid=NWS00...

Third-Grader Takes Teacher's Van for Ride

"The way I see it to is like this. The school has full responsiblity of this child and he was not being watched very closely, and last the teacher should not have her keys, purse, or other personal belongings in plain view..." excerpted from an AOL message board post in response to the above article.

I am so sick of schools being blamed for kids who haven't been taught proper behavior at home. Teachers are at school to teach, not babysit, play warden or lookout, or to keep track of or chase down students who do bizarre out-of-the way things. Having to do that takes time away from the kids who come to school and do what they are sent there to do. I can say, without hesitation, that far too much time is wasted during the school day on students and behaviors that detract from the educational process. The above should not have happened, but the bulk of the fault does not lie with the teacher in this situation.

The bottom line here is you have a kid who hasn't been taught respect for authority, respect for other people's property, respect for laws, or to recognize boundaries. That kind of learning happens at home, and hopefully it will be reinforced at school. Because this child was bored in the classroom, he went into his teacher's purse and removed her keys. He left the classroom, and the school building where he entered the teacher's van, adjusted the seat and the mirrors, and then drove off with it. He was bored with the classroom, but he wasn't too bored to have schemed that up. What he did was not a spur of the moment deed; he had thought long and hard about what he was going to do and how he was going to carry it out.

In discussions about this article today, I kept hearing, "She should have locked her purse up." "She shouldn't have had her keys where he could get to them." Whatever happened to he shouldn't have been in her purse? What about he shouldn't have had his hands on what wasn't his? Had he completed his classwork? Why wasn't he on task with what he should have been doing?

The teacher shouldn't have to lock up her purse and her keys to keep an eight year old kid from stealing her van. In fact, if the world was right, she SHOULD be able to leave her purse, her keys, her cell phone, and anything else that's hers where ever she chooses in her designated area because her students SHOULD be taught at home to keep their hands off things that don't belong to them.

As far as stealing the van goes, any eight year old knows that it's wrong to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, turn it on, and drive it. If he doesn't, that isn't the fault of the teacher or the school, it is the fault of his parents. Going by his being able to adjust seats and mirrors, make his way through traffic, and park the van in front of his house; this isn't the first time that he's done it. And I have to wonder why he had the nerve to drive the van home. Perhaps because he knew that there would be no repercussions from anyone inside?

In this situation, the student did exactly what he wanted to do. He waited for an opportune moment, and when the teacher was otherwise engaged, he took it. I was offended by the amused tone of the article and the the cavalier attitude of the responding police department. What this child did was not funny nor was it typical eight year old behavior. It was foolhardy, devious, and it was illegal. He put his life in danger, the lives of others in peril, and compromised the livelihood of his teacher. The teacher got up that morning and went to work for the purpose of educating her students. She was busy doing her job when the boy took his shot. Why should she have to worry about a third grader stealing from her purse? Why would she anticipate an eight-year old stealing her van? A middle or high-schooler maybe, but not someone still in primary school.

Put the blame for this situation where it belongs, with the student and with his parents, and the punishment should be more than a mere reprimand. The adults who find this story funny are the reason this type of thing continues to occur. The kid had a lot of nerve and what he did was wrong on so many levels. His punishment, in the hope of deterring future such incidents with him, should fit the crime, I don't care if he is only eight.