Is this the face of a sexual harasser? This week, we discussed a seven-year-old who was investigated for sexual harassment for kicking another boy in the groin. Now, a nine-year-old boy in North Carolina who was accused of sexual harassment because a substitute teacher overheard Emanyea above chatting with a friend and calling a teacher “cute.” UPDATE: Jerry Bostic, the principal, has resigned over his decision to suspend the student.
Putting aside that the kid is nine, when did telling a third party that someone is cute become “sexual harassment.” Amazingly, the school found it was sexual harassment and suspended the boy. The principal of Brookside Elementary in Gastonia reportedly informed the mother that she has a sexual harasser in her midst.
The school handbook below contains a sexual harassment provision:
Rule 17: Sexual Harassment (Please see policy code #4360 & #4370 for complete policy)
Sexual harassment means and includes any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and any other non-consensual and/or offensive verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature between an employee and a student or between students and includes misconduct by males against females, females against males and between students of the same gender. Sexual harassment is further defined to include two different levels or degrees of misconduct.
Physical – This form of sexual harassment includes touching, fondling and/or grabbing a student in a sexual way without that student’s consent or when the student finds such behavior offensive; and
Verbal – This form of sexual harassment includes: teasing, joking and/or making lewd remarks of a sexual nature to a student without that student’s consent or when the other student finds such behavior offensive.
Sexually harassing students, employees of GCS and any visitors or other individuals while at school is prohibited. Students are further prohibited from retaliating against an employee or student who has filed a sexual harassment complaint or participated in an investigation, proceeding or hearing regarding said complaint.
The verbal rule is pretty vague. The focus is how the comment is received subjectively by the subject of the comment: “remarks of a sexual nature to a student without that student’s consent or when the other student finds such behavior offensive.” What if no one else would view it offensive? Moreover, this is not another student but an adult who should understand that this is an innocent comment from a nine-year-old. What is interesting is that the procedure section appears to reflect an intent to protect students. (“Any student who believes that he/she has been sexually harassed by a school employee or another student should report such behavior immediately to any school official at his/her school (such as an administrator, teacher or school counselor).”). Here it is being use to protect a teacher from a statement not made to her but allegedly to another student.
This strikes me as rather bizarre and another example of zero tolerance becoming zero judgment by school officials.
Here is the handbook: Code of Conduct Student 09-10
In today’s article, it is reported that “Brookside Elementary Principal Jerry Bostic said the Gaston County Schools superintendent gave him one hour to decide whether to quit or be fired.”
Source: AJC as first seen on Reddit
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Hmmm…and this took place in which State? North Carolina. You know what they say. “You can take the Principal out of the Klan but you just can’t get the Klan out of that Principal.”
Was the teacher black? Or are black teachers still frowned upon by the school in this area?
Boy Howdie, we havin’ fun now; ain’t we? Ain’t we havin’ fun though?
Professor Turley, this is a beauty of an update. And it’s a “Ain’t Karma a Bitch” story.
Guess which dumbass principal has been forced to retire over this?
And guess what policy he complains about? Guess?
“”One mistake in 44 years, and I’m not given the benefit of the doubt. I really don’t believe I was treated fairly,” Bostic told the station.”
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/07/9277654-principal-forced-out-over-9-year-olds-sexual-harassment-suspension
If only all Zero Tolerance fascists could be retired. Retired with extreme prejudice, just like we would any replicant.
It’s madness of course. First, that a nine-year-old would be charged with sexual harassment for saying a teacher is “fine.” She probably was and who would take offense to that being said ABOUT them. Second, for firing the principal with 44 years experience.
The whole gang needs to step back take a breath. Then the kid can apologize to the teacher for the remark. The principal can apologize to the kid and his mother for the impetuous charge. Finally, the superintendent can apologize for holding a loyal employee to a perfection standard and reinstate him. Lots of apologies to go around that would have occurred but for the media sensationalizing some bad judgment in a case of premature hormones.
Danielle,
I used the word “fine” in the same context as he did at that age. When I used it, and even when I use it now in my adult life, though rare, Im simply saying someone is cute. Not that I’d like to jump their bones, or anything of that sort. Its called a cultural difference. Excuse me for assuming, but I’m willing to bet that you are not a PoC. If you are, excuse me, but I have a feeling I’m right. Even still, as you said to YOU that means hot. to me, cute. Thats called a matter of opinion. You cant tell him what he meant. Apparently, to him, the two are interchangeable. I cant say that he’s wrong in that thinking, either. In all my years, and I like to brag on how well I was taught right from wrong, I was never taught that “fine” was a “bad word”. Only that it had it’s “time and place” to be used. That time and place was with friends, the same way Emanyea used it.
Besides, even if he’d said “I’d tap that”, its not sexual harassment if not directed at the accusing party. Inappropriate, absolutely, but harassment? Hardly .
The word that he used was “fine”……….now he claims he said “cute”. The difference in the two words is huge. My son is 11 and he thinks “fine” means “okay.” If the word “fine” is used in describing a person, to me its like the person is “hot”………that is inappropriate especially at his age…..
This is crazy, they’d lock me up and throw away the key now-a-days for some of the conversations I had with mates about teachers when I was in infants.
In senior school we had a couple of teachers who were particularly attractive and one guy just up and asked one out in the middle of glass. She just stared at him. Nothing happened though.
I’m all for stopping harassment but jeez these cases make me wonder what the hell’s going on.
“I don’t feel tardy . . .” 🙂
Imagine this video in the context of the “New Puritanism” in North Carolina schools. Don’t be playing this on your I-pad!
Anyway when will the student get back in school?What is the state of N.C, doing about this dumb act of the school.
“Learning while Black. An offense that merits punishment. “Zero Tolerance”
the refuge of small minds unable to think for themselves, allowing them to cover their bigotry and/or authoritarian mindset.”
A) There is no evidence anywhere that the kid being black had anything to do with this. There are way too many zero tolerance cases against all kids to turn this into a black/white thing.
B) Zero Tolerance is almost always a solution demanded by and prescribed by lawyers afraid of lawsuits. And in doing so, yes, it does allow cowardly dumbass administrators to inflict and perpetuate evil and laziness.
“Otteray Scribe
1, December 7, 2011 at 9:27 am
I suppose it would have been OK had the kid commented that the teacher was as ugly as homemade sin.”
Or that letter from the alphabet.
Sounds worse than the mythical Sharia law they tremble about.
Sounds like the teacher should rethink her career choices. Children are, well children, and need time to mature and grow. You can’t learn if you don’t make mistakes once in a while. Would it have been considered a mistake if a white child said the same thing or even a girl?
This is a ludicrous situation and as Prof. Turley said, it is another example of zero tolerance gone wild.
Quick answer to this one. OH MY GOD!!! This is yet more proof that Liberal America is crumbling
Something very strange is going on here. The principal listed in the body of the story, Jerry Bostic, is nowhere to be found on the school web page. The link takes you to the assistant principal, one Jill Payne. When we look at the list of faculty and administration, it appears the position of Principal is blank, as in vacant.
Make you wonder just what has happened over there in the back offices of the School Board. I am sure they really love the international attention they are receiving that makes them look unfit to operate one of Newt Gingrich’s toilet cleaning sets, much less a school.
Learning while Black. An offense that merits punishment. “Zero Tolerance”
the refuge of small minds unable to think for themselves, allowing them to cover their bigotry and/or authoritarian mindset.
I suppose it would have been OK had the kid commented that the teacher was as ugly as homemade sin.
You really want there to be something more to this story & not just insanity on the part of the administration.
I think these guys need to use the “headline” test for these actions:
“If I read the headline, 9 year old accused of sexual harassment for saying teacher cute, would I want my school to be named as the source”?
Ut oh……
Thank god that the SOL has run on me….I had a hot, hot, hot teacher in 6th Grade….
BTW….This is not the way to teach children…..Now if his conduct had been directed at another student…then…ahh…whats a kid supposed to do?