Monday, August 18, 2008

When Teachers Abuse Power

When Teachers Abuse Power
by Heather Johnson

Teaching is a noble profession, one that demands a great deal of patience and flexibility. A teacher plays different roles in the lives of students; besides giving them an education, they also act as guides and mentors. Children spend most of their waking hours at school, which is why it’s important for teachers to be accessible to the students not just as educators but also as a friend. While there are some teachers who live in your memory as the ones that did make a huge positive impact, there are others who are remembered for reasons that are both shameful and a disgrace to the field of education as a whole.

Teachers are given a degree of power over the students they teach – they are trusted by both the school authorities and the children’s parents to use that power judiciously and for the general good of the children. But there are some bad eggs who give the entire teaching fraternity a bad name; they’re the ones who use their position and authority for their own purposes, some more horrendous than others.

We routinely hear of teachers sexually abusing children in their care; some of them are so perverted that they film their dirty deeds and sell them for profits. As if this were not enough, they hold the threat of bad grades over their students’ heads if they tell anyone what happened. Statistics state that around 5 percent of teachers and coaches abuse minors, but this is not a true reflection of the state of events. The number of incidents that are unreported are much more than those that are. Most students are afraid to come out in the open fearing the repercussions – the ostracism from their peers, the future of their education and the effect the media impact would have on their lives and that of their loved ones.

Abuse need not be sexual to be detrimental to the well-being of students – some teachers send children on the wrong path by encouraging them to smoke, drink and do drugs. Others play favorites in a blatant manner, with the students who are affected being powerless to do anything to bring the offenders to book.

The reason that such incidents are widespread is that most students look up to their teachers and are willing to go to any lengths so that they are not disappointed in them. A subtle word here and a small hint there are enough to make these immature minds fall prey to the more cunning brains of their educators. The only way to prevent this from happening to your child is to educate him/her in the ways of the world and warn them of the dangers that could befall them if they are not careful. Parents must play an active role in every aspect of their children’s lives and encourage them to report any untoward incident, no matter how trivial it may seem.


This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of top online college. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree students spend their waking hours at school. I wonder what happens when these educators and their PTA premadanas turn against children?

Oh, I remember a lot of teachers that are shameful and disgraceful and even child molesters have gotten a lot of national attention. One has to wonder why these abusers are not tracked or finger printed?

Vista Unified School District has a fair share of them; these predators tend to gravitate toward backwards cities and school districts. No monitoring and a lot of dirty politics.

I remember poor little Ruben (Case No. GIN024528) didn’t stand a chance at the hands of one of VUSD teachers who molested him for years. A reporter portraying a child looking for child molesters online finally caught the teacher (David Irving Hatch.) Yes this teacher had been using a computer at VUSD to lure his victims.

So what happened in court? Maybe Daniel Shinoff can tell us how he got VUSD off the hook? Mr. Shinoff did you attack the victim isn’t this your most powerful strategy?

Lets be fair Daniel Shinoff does help his friends win a few times. How about that poor teacher at Casita Elementary Ruben’s old school did you help him get a settlement? What was the amount of the settlement? Was it $ 850, 000.00 or so? Was this the case of
KISSIN vs VISTA UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Case Number: N77265 is this the case of the teacher who said he was discriminated because he was Jewish?

Well, Casita Elementary is the home of a lot of predators and vultures but they prey on African American, Hispanic and disabled students not on Jewish teachers.

How about San Marcos School District and their treasured Alvin Dunn Elementary School who did not want disabled students in their campus? How can we forget about Gabriel King? Poor little Gabriel he didn’t stand a chance against his predator teachers who body slammed him was it ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE times in SIX MONTHS? Onell R. Soto UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER wrote;

“The boy's mother bristled at school district lawyer Daniel Shinoff who called her son "out of control" and "extremely psychotic."

"He's not a monster," she said outside court.

"He's not a psychotic crazed animal. He's a sweet, special boy."

Gabriel King was not necessarily a boy by Daniel Shinoff’s standards just another trophy under his belt. This case was called the MILLION DOLLAR CASE I wonder if Daniel Shinoff actually charged a million dollars in billable hours?

Here is another trophy for Daniel Shinoff Richard Smithfield (Case No. GIN034135) a teacher who got fired for protecting disabled students at VUSD Mission Meadows Elementary School again famous Vista Unified School District. Mission Meadows Principal David Monce wasn’t going to accept a schoolteacher going against the status quo of perpetual abuse against disabled students and their families. Agents of VUSD perpetrated a scheme to phony up allegations of child abuse against Smithfield.

CPS investigations proved the allegations to be false in the end but Smithfield lost his job and reputation in the process. John Hannaman Director of Special Education for VUSD had enough of Smithfield and wanted him gone. No problem Daniel Shinoff and his coconspirator Jeffery Morris made sure VUSD got off the hock and Hannanan and Monce moved on to their next victims.

Daniel Shinoff seams to go out of his way to drum up charges to protect his predators like paying expert witnesses to phony up false reports.

In Daniel Shinoff Lawsuit (VUSD vs. B.J. Freeman (Case No. GNI035902) whereby Daniel Shinoff sued Dr. Freeman for fraud, deceit, intentional misrepresentation under California CCP section 430.10 (e)), 430.10 (f)) and section 17200.
However Daniel Shinoff could not find evidence to or any facts to support his allegations. Instead there was plenty of evidence Daniel Shinoff favored school district (VUSD) wanted Dr. B.J. Freeman to phony up false reports and to provide supporting witness testimony to these phony reports at upcoming due process hearings for autistic students.

John Hannaman falsified a report in Peters vs. Guajome Park Academy et., al. John Hannaman was expecting Dr. B.J. Freeman to testify against the family in an upcoming due process hearing. John Hannaman wanted Dr. Freeman to testify in support of VUSD phony assessment, which was conducted without Dr. Freeman’s approval or consent. Dr. Freeman reviewed the phony report and told the VUSD that she could not support their plan. If she testified she would testify based on the best interest for the child.

Peters filed a Complaint in Federal Court against the agents of both VUSD and their famous charter school Guajome Park Academy in February 6, 2004 and in March 4, 2004 Daniel Shinoff filed a Complaint against Dr. B.J. Freeman in California North County Court. It is a good to know that Daniel Shinoff cannot buy or bully ALL professionals or pay them off to phony up reports and testify against disabled children.

VUSD has a lot of bad eggs and has long as Daniel Shinoff is on the clicking billable hours these predators will be protected from facing criminal charges.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21392345/ AP: Sexual misconduct plagues U.S. schools Survey finds 2,500 incidents over 5 years, across all types of districts.

Yes Ms. Johnson you are correct “Most students are afraid to come out in the open fearing the repercussions – the ostracism from their peers, the future of their education and the effect the media impact would have on their lives and that of their loved ones.”

What is a parent to do when the very agencies that are supposed to protect children from abuse instead turn around and protect public agencies abuses against children?

What is a parent to do when Daniel Shinoff (SASH) spends MILLIONS of DOLLARS in public funds to exploit and attack child victims?

What is a parent to do when Daniel Shinoff uses the court with the intent to pay off the opposing attorneys, threatens and arrests parents, abuses of the courts by filing motions with the intent to wear down the plaintiffs with the exact same motions to dismiss over and over and over?