Should these people be teaching? One tells the world she sees her students as "future criminals"

I actually think it's a good thing that parents and the community are beginning to learn what sort of conversations take place day in and day out in the teachers lounge. I heard this sort of thing frequently during my years as a teacher. The problems with this attitude are that the teacher...
1) isn't taking responsibility for improving kids' behavior;
2) is making a self-fulfilling prophecy;
3) is being unprofessional;
4) is stereotyping and making harmful generalizations about the people whom she is paid to help;
5) should consider a career in law enforcement.

I'm wondering exactly how these teachers' attitudes translate into action in the classroom. Obviously, these teachers are very negative. I'm guessing they are abusive toward the children they are talking about.

Teacher Suspended Over Facebook Post (Round Two)
By Francesca Duffy
April 6, 2011
Education Week

Another teacher has garnered national attention as well as a suspension for posting a comment about her students on her Facebook page, according to the New York Times. In this case, the first-grade teacher from Paterson, N.J., wrote that she "felt like a warden overseeing future criminals."

The post spurred negative reactions from parents, students, and the community. "It's horrible," said Irene Sterling, president of the Paterson Education Fund, a nonprofit group that supports the local school community. "And unfortunately, I don't think she's the only teacher in Paterson who thinks that way."

Meanwhile, the teacher's lawyer, Nancy Oxfeld, argued that the teacher, whose name has not been released, wrote the posts on her personal time:

"My feeling is that if you're concerned about children, you're concerned about what goes on in the classroom, not about policing your employee's private comments to others," said Oxfeld, as quoted in the Times.

Just this past February, a high school English teacher in Pennsylvania also was suspended for maligning students on her blog.


Teacher Suspended for Blogging About Students
By Caroline Cournoyer
February 10, 2011
Education Week

Attention all teachers with blogs: Be careful with your words. A high school English teacher in Pennsylvania has been suspended for writing what she really thinks about her students on a personal blog, according to CBSPHILLY.

More than a year ago, Natalie Munroe of the Central Bucks School District in Pennsylvania expressed her frustrations with her students on her blog, using phrases like "seems smarter than she actually is," "I hate your kid," and "am concerned your kid is going to open fire on the school." It's unclear whether Munroe specified which students she was referring to, and the blog has since been shut down, reports CBSPHILLY.

It was a parent who discovered the blog and brought it to the district's attention, and parents—and students—are condemning the teacher's actions.

"Why would you be with children if you are feeling that negative about everything they do?" parent Kelly Woloshyn asked.



Apparently, a lot of teachers do more than just verbally abuse their students.

Is it Time to End Corporal Punishment in Schools?
By Caroline Cournoyer
February 14, 2011
Education Week

After an elementary school teacher in Maryland was recently charged with several counts of assault for choking, punching, kicking, and/or scratching eight of her first graders, Washington Post blogger Valerie Strauss recalls the failure of Congress to pass a bill to end corporal punishment in schools.

In June, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) introduced the Ending Corporal Punishment in Schools Act—which would do just what it says—but the bill never made it out of its assigned committee, reports the Post.

Although almost half of school corporal punishment cases occur in Texas and Mississippi, it's still legal in 20 states and was responsible for 10,000-20,000 children seeking medical treatment in the 2006-2007 school year. Studies show that it most commonly occurs in rural schools and is directed toward male and nonwhite students, according to Strauss.