By Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
Author’s Note: Grace Under Pressure is an ongoing series of posts honoring everyday people who courageously make positive differences in their own lives and consequently in the lives of others. It is my own personal affirmation that unexpected heroes live among us and that their service is quiet but unshakable proof that virtue really is its own reward – and ours, too.
A Pittsburgh area teen thought he was doing the right thing to end his bullying but his audio recording of the abuse only resulted in criminal charges for wiretapping. Sophomore Christian Stanfield had endured a miserable school year at the hands of two classmates who tripped, shoved and even attempted to burn the 15-year-old with a cigarette lighter. Pleas for help to his teacher went unheeded for the teenager who suffers from comprehension delay disorder ( a brain disorder involving slower processing speed for information than is normal) ADHD, and an anxiety disorder. So last month Christian decided to get the proof he needed to make school officials listen. Sitting in his math class, he activated his Ipad as his tormentors launched another verbal fusillade. “”They were talking about pulling his pants down, and some things I can’t repeat, and laughing and cutting up like it was a big joke, it was not a joke, not at all funny,” said Christian’s mother, Shea Love, who heard the recording at her kitchen table that afternoon.
Ms Love was being generous with her words. The actual recording allegedly contained sexual references and demeaning language. With a teacher helping Christian with a math problem one of his bullys is overheard on the tape saying, ““You should pull his pants down!” Another student replies, “No, man. Imagine how bad that (c**t) smells! No one wants to smell that (t**t).” Then, a loud noise is heard—the sound of book being slammed down next to Love’s son after a student feigned hitting him in the head with it. The teacher screams. Laughter follows.
Ms. Love and her son transcribed the audio and then called the principal’s office the following morning to demand some action amid deflections that the school’s hands were tied because the teen had no proof of his abuse. (I guess the teacher missed what was happening directly in front of her.) Principal Scott Milburn told Shea he was going to do something and Shea sent her son to school for the expected remediation. Instead of anger at the perpetrators after confirmation of their bullying, Principal Milburn summoned South Fayette Township Police Lieutenant Robert Kurta to the school to interrogate her son in the presence of the associate principal and the dean of students. With his mother now at work, the four male authority figures threatened to charge the special needs teen with felony wiretap unless he erased the recording. Bullied again, Christian complied and was then told he would be receiving a break – only a misdemeanor charge.
In a rambling decision District Judge Maureen McGraw-Desmet found Christian guilty of disorderly conduct .“Normally, if there is — I certainly have a big problem with any kind of bullying at school. But normally, you know, I would expect a parent would let the school know about it, because it’s not tolerated. I know that, and that you guys [school administrators] would handle that, you know. To go to this extreme, you know, it was the only alternative or something like that, but you weren’t made aware of that and that was kind of what I was curious about. Because it’s not tolerated, but you need to go through — let the school handle it. And I know from experience with South Fayette School that, you know, it always is. And if there is a problem and it continues, then it is usually brought in front of me.” Huh?
Christian and his lawyer had had quite enough of this Pennsylvania justice and appealed the conviction.
Attorney Jonathan Steele took the case saying what happened here was no crime at all and contending Christian attempts to fight back did not trigger the anti-wiretapping laws. In a remark that should top every school discipline handbook, Steele added, “The lesson is zero tolerance doesn’t necessarily mean zero common sense.” After discussions with another reasonable man, District Attorney Stephen Zappala, the charges were dismissed at the appeal hearing.
Mike Manko, a spokesman for Zappala, said Judge Robert Gallo signed the order Thursday to withdraw the citation against the teen.”No one in our office who is authorized to give advice on wiretap issues or school conduct issues was ever contacted in this matter. We have made multiple attempts to contact the officer who wrote the citation and (the) results have been unsuccessful,” Manko said in a written statement. “We do not believe this behavior rises to the level of a citation.”
Christian has returned to school but no discipline has yet been handed down to his tormentors or the look-the-other-way teacher. No evidence exists you see. School Principal Milburn remains at his seat but his chair is getting hotter. Lawyer Steele promises that the case is not over and the hubbub has caught the ear of more enlightened government officials. The U.S. Office of Civil Rights has been contacted and an investigation is in the offing.
South Fayette Township School District Superintendent Bille Rondinelli declined to comment. That’s about the only thing the school district has got right in this case.
Source: WTAE; PINAC; The Foundry
Kudos and thanks to my brother-in-law Mark Daley of Uniontown, PA for bringing this story to my attention.
~Mark Esposito, Weekend Contributor
Mr. Spinelli,
Sorry to interrupt.
The courtesy of a reply to my inquiry as to your authorization in shutting down our thread the other evening is requested. Did Prof Turley ask you to shut it down. A simple yes or no will be fine.
annie – paranoia does not mean people are not actually out to get you. 😉
Zero tolerance for guns is not the issue. That is a sane policy in K-12. There was no gun in this instance, there was an iPad!. There are no guns when a kid is suspended for having a Tylenol. There is no gun in the MYRIAD of zero tolerance policies, enacted by the Education Industry, and well documented in the archives of this fine blog. You’re simply wrong. It’s OK to be wrong. We’re all human.
Paul if you aren’t some bully’s sockpuppet you need not be so paranoid. I have no idea who you are, I don’t care.
Because you said it Paul.
keebler my little elf – it would help if you stopped trying to bully me or bait me, which ever and got on topic.
keebler – you know it is misinformation because?
Did she say she narcd you? There you go again spreading misinformation.
And yes indeed I WILL send and have sent Professor Turley an email regarding a certain commenter here known for his bullying ways, every single time he oversteps his bounds which are clearly stated in the civility rules. One of the reasons I really like and appreciate this blog is because the owner of it actually had the intestinal fortitude to have civility rules. Without them this blog would quickly degenerate into an Althouse type blog, believe me that is not conducive to discussion and intelligent argument.
Annie – then why so defensive? However, I do think you pick sides. 😉
Try this on then sit in the corner with your hat on:
In the United States and Canada, zero-tolerance policies have been adopted in various schools and other education venues. Zero-tolerance policies in the United States became widespread in 1994, after federal legislation required states to expel any student who brought a firearm to school for one year, or lose all federal funding.[2]
Paul,
“Turns people in”? What is this, kindergarten? I’m fairly certain that Professor Turley reads his own blog’s comments sections, especially if he sees rapid fire responses which could be indicative of a tit for tat fest. If you say something that you think may be ‘reported’ to Professor Turley for a SERIOUS violation of the civility rules, then for pity sake don’t say it, duh. Or use your big brain and try to reword it.
Annie – I do not blame you for narcing me out. You were right to do so. You have no idea the difference between what I really want to say and what is posted. 🙂
“A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” Zero tolerance is POLICY, not law. They are a construct of the Education Industry. 80% of the Education Industry are Dems.
Paul,
I don’t think that’s true.
Thank you Feynman.
Paul S
Knock off the “elfy”. It is demeaning.
At least she’s honest.
The only person I know for sure who turns people in is Annie and the is because she says she did.
rafflaw, you are right about bankrupt administration, but did you miss the part about the teacher looking the other way? It is only a matter of time before the next student decides not to record but go further — with guns. Do you not see how entrenched misfits emotionally destroy children? It is not complicated, unless one is so caught up in his own life, one cannot see the injustice, the pain, and the suffering of others. Thankfully, this student has a supporting parent who was willing to support him all the way.
I can’t help but think of the ferry disaster in South Korea, where hundreds perished at the hands of misfits at the helm, all of whom are in custody awaiting justice. Things will never change here at home until we get tough as nails, making everyone accountable for their reckless behavior. And when it comes to child education, so long as we look the other way, as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, another school massacre is already brewing.
Feynman,
Keep meticulous notes, because one of the two will turn you in for bullying. Just an observation. It’s not the first one that gets caught, it the one that respond to it that gets blamed.
keebler my little elfy friend – my understanding is that Prof. Turley looks at the totality of posts before he makes a decision.
Everyone that I know that’s connected with the education industry hates this zero tolerance policy. Most of these were passed by the GOP legislatures to tell the teachers what to do and what not todo. Teachers have very little discretion, another stupid thing is the mandatory testing. It’s very similar to zero tolerance on drugs and alcohol. Then the prisons got over crowded. Oh my what should be do now.
Don’t blame the zero tolerance on teachers that want to teach.
Mr. Spinelli,
Sorry. This is a bit off topic but I have been hoping you will respond to my repeated, but simple, inquiry. Did Prof Turley ask you to tell us to shut down thread the other night?
Bullying is the worst in middle school. For boys it’s this sort of stuff. For girls it’s the mean, verbal, and exclusionary horseshit. Working the lunchroom was heartbreaking to me. Dealing w/ the boy stuff, if you’re a good teacher or administrator, is actually easier than dealing w/ the more subtle girl pathology. When I was teaching middle school, it was the nascent era of the internet. Girls saw it’s use for bullying IMMEDIATELY.
Zero tolerance gets a lot of posts here and except for the education industrialists, everyone else is on board of it’s insanity. As I read this tragedy, I was angered by the incompetence of the teacher. That is why the administrators were so angered by the tape. Combined w/ the entire schools tacit approval of bullying, this was the smoking gun.