When I first became a teacher, I didn't even want to shake a kid's hand for fear that someone would misconstrue it into something disgusting. I swear!
And whenever a kid ran up to hug me (kids do that cause they're kids and they love grown ups until they get to high school) I would visibly cringe. LOL But you cannot be an elementary school teacher or a middle school teacher without some physical contact with your students (I haven't taught high school yet, so I don't know). It's not possible. I mean they want to give you five whenever they score a point in the game.... or when they are feeling down, squeezing one shoulder and saying one word may be enough to carry them through the day. I know this is not the same thing, but just keep following me. To make a blanket statement saying that a teacher must keep his hands off all students, that may truly be an impossible feat to accomplish (without running away each time a kid comes near).
There are so many people who do look at something and immediately turn it into something ugly. And hey, the best way to stay out of those situations is just not to be in it at all.
But to say there is this magical formula that keeps every adult out of sticky situations is just a lie, especially when you are surrounded by someone else's kids all day long. Sometimes it just creeps up on you and you end up scrambling around to CYA.
Do I think this teacher's behavior was inappropriate? I feel like anything that could be considered misbehavior, or "borderline behavior" should be avoided at all costs. However, besides the tickling and the verbal put downs to the students, I didn't see any other evidence. Besides the fact that he is also the kids' favorite teacher and I have seen plenty of jealous teachers trying to get rid of those!
The teachers' lounge thing was just ridiculous. Come on! Let’s stop for a second. Our teachers' lounge door always locks behind us, ALWAYS. In every school I have been in, it does that. And every school has a NO STUDENTS ALLOWED rule; however, when there is a responsible adult in there watching the kids whether they are using the phone or buying one of the coveted snacks in the machine, that is NOT wrong. He was in a group. He did nothing wrong with that incident. THIS was why the teachers didn’t report it. They would have been laughed at (by the wacky principal no doubt).
And reporting gut feelings? That is SOOOOOOOOO crazy. That isn't even evidence.
"I feel Sunrise is a beating a student in her class."
SO WHAT! Prove it! You go out in public and say that in my school, and I will sue you for slander. They had better have evidence or else they will be sued.
"We feel that although "nothing" may be going
on with him and the boys now, he is a walking time bomb,
and it's only a matter of time before he really does
something to someone and if we don't say anything, we go
down, too."
We suspect he may be a crazy pedophile, but until we get hard evidence, we'll keep a diary stating how he makes us feel weird. We will watch him like a hawk and bide our time until we can catch him in a compromising situation. And without getting any sides of the story, because we smell blood, we will jump up as fast as we can and get him fired! Woohoo!
From the one sided story that I read, he may not make the best decisions as a teacher (Ok, he's done stupid stuff that could get him in trouble.), but there is not hard evidence that he is abusive. Or that he is a queer... LOL but hey, everyone is entitled to opinions. Opinions aren't appreciated when someone's job is at stake. Show me evidence!
As for abusive tickling, there are some adult people who love tickling someone WITHOUT ASKING until he or she is in serious distress. It's under the name nonconsensual tickling.
Sunrise
