St. Tammany mother says teacher humiliated her son

[sunny]

If this were my kid, I'd be after this teacher.

wwltv.com



St. Tammany mother says teacher humiliated her son

08:21 AM CDT on Thursday, August 25, 2005

Shauna Sanford / WWL-TV Reporter

One St. Tammany Parish mother said her son’s teacher went too far in punishing her child; stripping him down to his underwear in an effort to teach him a lesson. The boy’s mother said the incident left her son humiliated, and now she wants the St. Tammany school system to take action.

Amy Williamson said she wants the St. Tammany Parish school system to closely examine the matter.

“I was shaking so badly, I couldn't even talk to anybody. I mean, I was furious. To make a four-year-old child, who's almost 5, endure I don't even know how many hours of humiliation in front of how many people,” she said.

Williamson said her four-year-old son, a special needs student, was humiliated after his teacher forced him to sit in class and then get on the bus in only his t-shirt and underwear. Misty Brown, director of an after care program, said when the child arrived at her center, he was upset and embarrassed.

“He did not want to come off that bus and I had to literally pick him up with his knees tucked under his shirt cause I guess he didn't want to show anybody and he had no shoes and no socks on,” Brown said before realizing that the child wasn’t wearing any pants. “And I just said, ‘come on in. We'll get you some pants.’ And he was fine after that.”

Williamson said among other things her son suffers from a severe speech impediment and had it not been for Brown she would never have known what happened. When she called the school, the teacher told her she was punishing the boy for wetting his pants twice.

"She said if it bothers you that much I won't do it again, but I wanted to show him who was boss and I wanted to make sure he won't do it again,” Williamson said, who’s now asking the St. Tammany school system to take action to protect her son and other children as well.

Williamson said she has an attorney but does not really want to put her son through a court challenge, and would rather the school board take care of the matter.

"I want to make sure this never happens to any child, anywhere, ever again. God knows because he can't really tell me what's going on, how long he's gonna carry this with him. But this is the classic thing that all kids have nightmares about being at school in their underwear. I mean, you see it in the movies. He was degraded in front of I don't know how many people and I don't know for how long,” she said.

The St. Tammany Parish Public School System issued a statement about this case:

“Parent concerns about our students are addressed swiftly and carefully. In this matter that has been brought to our attention, we will follow established procedures to thoroughly address the matter and help prevent such situations in the future.”

A district spokesperson confirms the investigation is underway.

Williamson’s son remains at the school, though he’s been moved to a different class.

[wxcrazytwo]

THAT CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DEATH FOR THE SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER.....WON'T HAPPEN IN MY HOUSEHOLD. I HAVE A COUPLE OF RUN-INS WITH SOME KIDS AT MY KID'S SCHOOL AND I IMMEDIATELY PUT A STOP TO IT.

[CajunMama]

The mother didn't send extra clothes for a 4 year old? At 4 years old, kids still have "accidents". My kids always had an extra outfit or two at school in case of "accidents". Yes the teacher was wrong in leaving the child in just a tshirt and underwear. The teacher should have called the parents for extra clothing and explained the situation.

There are so many factors that we don't know about this. We're hearing one side of the story, the mothers. The child is a special needs student and with school just starting may have been overwhelmed by all the new activies? Also, the student does have a severe speech impediment and may not have been able to communicate with the teacher?

[sunny]

The fact that the teacher said "she wanted to show him who is boss" says enough for me.

[GalvestonDuck]

THAT CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DEATH FOR THE SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER.....WON'T HAPPEN IN MY HOUSEHOLD. I HAVE A COUPLE OF RUN-INS WITH SOME KIDS AT MY KID'S SCHOOL AND I IMMEDIATELY PUT A STOP TO IT.

Death??

Okay, who hacked into wxcrazy's account?

[sunny]

THAT CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DEATH FOR THE SCHOOL AND THE TEACHER.....WON'T HAPPEN IN MY HOUSEHOLD. I HAVE A COUPLE OF RUN-INS WITH SOME KIDS AT MY KID'S SCHOOL AND I IMMEDIATELY PUT A STOP TO IT.

Death??

Okay, who hacked into wxcrazy's account?

[wxcrazytwo]

LOL, you guys are wrong, LOL..

[Lindaloo]

Cindy and Duckie.... I think you two ALREADY KNOW what would happen if this were my kid.

[sunny]

Cindy and Duckie.... I think you two ALREADY KNOW what would happen if this were my kid.

Yep - and rightfully so!

[GalvestonDuck]

Cindy and Duckie.... I think you two ALREADY KNOW what would happen if this were my kid.

Yep - and rightfully so!

And how!

[Cookiely]

In 1961, I was in fifth grade. A teacher who was also a minister would pick girls or boys up by their heels, hold them in the air and spank them. Naturally the girls were humiliated as they wore dresses. It happened a few times and no one in the class misbehaved the rest of the year for fear he would do it to them. Personally I think the teacher was a sicko.

[streetsoldier]

My first-grade teacher, Sister Rose Virginia (Sisters of the Most Precious Blood), did something close to that to a little girl in our class. This child had medical problems, and Sister was informed of them...yet, when she asked to go to the restroom, Sister said "no" three times...and she wet herself.

This nun made the girl stand in front of the class..clothed, but wet and humiliated, all the rest of the afternoon. Her parents saw that she was sent to another school within a few days.

I should also note that I was one of Sister Rose Virginia's "special projects". She couldn't grasp the idea of a six-year-old able to read 8th grade material, draw in 3-D, etc...my parents went to the Archdiocese, along with the nun and our Monsignor, and the abuse stopped (at least for me..other kids weren't as fortunate).

And, as I found out later, this nun was removed from the classroom, and eventually sent into a Catholic-run psychiatric facility by her Motherhouse.

[DaylilyDawn]

My oldest son's 2nd grade teacher was made aware of his kidney problem which was he had abnormally small kidneys that only worked at half capacity and he went to bathroom more often than kids with normal sized kidneys did. At one point she made my son stand up in front of the entire class and told the class to laugh at him because he had to go to the bathroom again during the class. I was informed of this from a janitor at the school who saw it and considered my kids her grandkids. The janitor lived near my mom so she saw my kids frequently. The teacher finished the school term and was then fired from the school. Many years later my son ran into the teacher at Wal_Mart. She told my son he cost her her job. My son said, it wasn't him that cost her, it was herself. He informed her that she may have contributed to his having to have a kidney transplant and pulled his shirt up to show her the surgical scar from the transplant. Her demeanor changed dramaticly , to being very sorry for her actions years ago. It was the first time he has ever done something like that but she deserved it.

[streetsoldier]

I would have loved to give Sister Rose Virginia a "piece of my mind" later, as I'd matured...but I discovered that she passed away in the late 70's, still incarcerated in the Archdiocese asylum.

I did have a chance to see and talk at length to the school principal at that time...I was in high school, and she'd been reassigned to another church school close by my school. This gracious lady, Sister Mary Dennis, spent many an hour explaining to me how such things happened, and assured me that I was not alone in Rose Virginia's sick game-playing.

There IS justice, after all...