From CNN:
A New Jersey man has launched a website to publicize what he calls “a culture of bullying” by teachers in his son’s Cherry Hill classroom after sending the boy — who has been diagnosed with autism — to school with a covert recording device.
Stuart Chaifetz said he placed the recorder in the pocket of his 10-year-old son, Akian, in an attempt to find out why staffers at Horace Mann Elementary School had reported that the boy had been acting out and hitting his teachers.
What surfaced was more than six hours of recordings of what he says are teachers and aides apparently talking about alcohol and sex in front of the class, punctuated by yelling at his son to “shut your mouth.”
Lamar Tyler says
This is sad but I’m glad that as a dad he stepped up to find out what was going on in the school with his child. It also shows that he knew his child well enough to know that something was going on.
Evelyn Garcia-Merkerson says
This breaks my heart and boils my blood to the point of tears. I have 2 autistic children and I can’t imagine them being bullied by an adult who they’re supposed to feel safe and secure with. It’s a disgrace and I’m proud of Dad for going public with this. Hopefully this exposure will prevent other autistic children from enduring this type of treatment. Way to go Dad!
Letrell manchand says
Stop it. I am a special eduction teacher 11 years. And until you teach autistic kids please do not comment. I don’t care whAt they were talking about. The child has no right to hit anyone. Alot of patent use their child’s disability to condone violent behavior. Oh he doesn’t understand. Or oh he is angry. Or oh he has special needs. Foh your child hits me. They will be restrained without any question. Mind I don’t care what I’m discussing with a colleage. And if the parent can do a better job then home school your kid.
Anonymous says
I hope to God you aren’t teaching anyone’s child. You can barely put a sentence together.
Anonymous says
It is sad, that the only part you received from this message was what was being done to the teacher and not the child.
The child did not cause them to talk about alcohol and sex in front of him. The hitting part is not the issue, the verbal abuse of the teacher’s is the issue.
No, a student should not hit their teacher, but REMEMBER the student is the child. Not an adult and there are appropriate ways to deal with this behavior. I am sure there is a handbook of discipline policies and I am positive it does not say to, when in doubt: VERBALLY abuse a child
L.C says
No way that with that kind of response you are a teacher! If so you may want to reconsider your profession! I’ve worked as a teacher’s aid in a special needs class while working to earn my degree and by no means is that comment or the “professionals” reaction to a special needs child justifiable!
Lynn says
I am a teacher, 18 years, I taught the autistic class computers one year, and there were students who had bursts of violence against whoever was close, teacher, para, another student….It was only one period for me (I teach a different content area) but I thought that the teachers and paras should get more money than the rest of us. The parents in my district sued for their children to have a new set of paras 1/2 way through the day so they wouldn’t get burned out. When you work with a special needs population you have to love what you do, be knowledgeable about the correct ways to redirect behaviors, have the patience of Job, have a sense of humor, very very thick skin and know that they are CHILDREN, its not personal. I teach middle school the hell years of hormones, believe me you have to love it…My best friend’s son has Downs Syndrome and is 5. He is not completely verbal and would have trouble verbalizing any trouble. I would be filing the lawsuit for my friend if she had a remote feeling of any of this! To the previous teacher poster, I understand your sentiment I have and continue to work with people who share it. Most of the public doesn’t understand the culture of schools (getting through school yourself doesn’t count lol) and how like the police protect their own, its not right but its reality. As a parent of an AA 11 year old that is 5’3 I am TERRIFIED that some young right out of college white teacher will be so intimidated by his size they will over react to an innocent situation. So I have literally trained him how to act/react in various sketchy senarios…I know I am off topic, but all of this is to say as parents who love our children deeply you HAVE to get in that classroom, be known, make your presence felt….teachers give attention to students whose parents are vocal, with them they do everything correctly….they SHOULD be this way with all students but just like society we have lazy complacent people in our profession also.