Hell In A Handbasket

Seriously. Have you read this news story about the third graders in GA that planned to attack their teacher?

Comments

[Michelle]

I saw that today too. DISTURBING!

[bee]

I saw it on Headline News, I think. I hope they can get those kids some help!

[Jane @ What About Mom?]

I don't know if it is better or not that some of the kids might have thought they could stab her and then she would be able to stand up and "be all better."

When my oldest was almost 4, she colored her baby sister's eyelids with ballpoint pen ink to "make her beautiful." I said, "But you could have poked her eye out." No problem, Sally said, "We could stick it back in."

So you expect that kind of reasoning from a 4 year old. But from 8 and 9 year olds? My church considers the age of accountability to be 8. I hope by the time my kids are 8 they'll a) know this kind of behavior is wrong and b) be aware that actions have consequences that are, sometimes, horribly permanent.

Hell in a handbasket, indeed.

[jen]

Yeah, I heard that this morning. I'm just horrified. And even though I have two boys of my own, I'm more horrified as a former teacher...and even more relieved that I'm no longer teaching. 'Cause if you can't discipline a child for doing something wrong in class...hell in a handbasket indeed. I just hope those parents see this as an extreme wakeup call and realize they have to do something here, and not just reason it away as "not my little angel!" Sigh...

[Christy]

Isn't that horrifying? I read about it this morning. I just can't believe that the entire class was in on it. That is amazing to me.

BTW, Congrats on yet another Bloggy Gig! :)

[Anne]

It's beyond horrible. I'm going to write about it at BlogHer on Friday.

[Jen]

Yes, it's unbelievable!

[Dana]

Scary. And sad.

I believe expulsion for the remainder of the school year is in order. If those children are to be re-enrolled in that district, I think it should only be after mandatory counseling.

[Amanda- VintageDutchGirl]

That is SCARY! They are in the THIRD GRADE.

I second Dana's suggestion of expulsion for the year and mandatory counseling.

[Antique Mommy]

That is just astonishing, in a bad way. It makes every cell in my body sad that our culture is so soaked in violence that it permeates little 3rd graders.

[Kellyn]

It made me sick to my stomach to hear about this, and how the school handled it. It took a teacher going against the principal for the other parents to find out. It happened on Friday, and the parents of the non-involved children didn't find out until Sunday. That seems wrong in my mind.

It makes me nervous about the schools my children go to. My son's school had bomb threats two years ago, they shut down school for a week to get to the bottom of it.

[Shalece Fiack]

Um..yeah I'm thinkin' these kids need a little more than a "time out" from school. Maybe a frontal lobotomy???

[Shalee]

Okay, here is where I get on my soapbox and say that parents must start parenting and start disciplining their children in the ways of respect and accountability! Rather than just stick them in front of the boob-tube or in front of a violent video game, which is becoming quite the common occurrence around the US. Kids don't always make the jump from reality to fantasy and they really do need guidance (and spankings, but that's another soapbox for another day.)

[trashalou]

Seriously? 8 and 9 year olds? Scarey.

[gretchen from lifenut]

I read about that on a site where people left commentary. Believe it or not, there were people DEFENDING the kids, saying the teacher must have done something to provoke them.

Sick, all around.

[Gina]

I read that on the front page of our newspaper yesterday! My jaw dropped and mouth stayed open as I read the whole thing. What a sick world we live in when tiny children are somehow taught vengeance.

[Angie @ Many Little Blessings]

I hadn't heard about this until just now. Oh my goodness -- how horrible!!!