Not Good
This article was in the Times this afternoon. Let's hope it was just a vengeful girlfriend.
Tuesday Open Thread
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Comments
I'm hoping that the kids at Whitman have not been exposed to any illegal behavior and that this teacher has maintained professional behavior with students and staff.
Doesn't sound good.
I hope the accusations aren't true.
IF he has been falsely accused, where does he go to get back his reputation?
IF he has been falsely accused, where does he go to get back his reputation?"
That's exactly why I hope the accusations *are* true -- if a guy's life has to be wrecked, I'd be happier if it were because he deserved it, that others were going to be protected from him, etc., rather than contemplate an innocent guy's life getting ruined because of a lie.
There has to be a villain in the case one way or another -- if the accusations aren't true, then his girlfriend must be a really pathological liar. I don't see how they could both be decent people.
While fewer evil events need to be assumed if you assume the girlfriend is a liar, little good would come out of the situation, either. (It's unlikely that anything that would happen to the girlfriend would protect people from her lying forever.) Whereas if he's a pedophile, then he's been caught, and that would be a good thing.
But of course what actually matters is what the real truth is.
Helen Schinske
The first thing that came to my mind was the Neal Summers case:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002162113_cloud26m.html
I don't know if Neal Summers was involved in pornography, but it can be a prelude to sexual abuse and assault. It's chilling that this happened at the same school where a student shot his teacher 13 years ago. WenG
What we need to do, and even though I knew the importance of it, apparently didn't do it enough ( as when my 14 year old daughter allowed her orthodontist to put bands on her teeth even though it was so painful for her that she took them off while I was driving her back to school)!,
is teach our kids that unless they are hurt and medical is needed to help them, that their body is their own, they have a right and responsibility to speak out, and to stop anyone from ever hurting them.
Even if they aren't able to at that instance, they should tell as many people as needed until they get help.
Adults can help by not being complacent, by recognizing that for a child to speak out is usually extremely difficult, and having a relationship with your kids where they don't fear they will be punished if they tell the truth, even if it makes you uncomfortable.
I realize that this teacher is not being accused of molesting children, just of possesing illegal materials in the guise of child pornography.
Im sure it is not the only illegal thing an employee of the school district has ever been accused of doing ( especially not in Ballard).
However, something like this- is probably much more upsetting, than hearing that a teacher smoked pot with a high school student on a field trip.
( although that is pretty disturbing as well-)