Hello, I'm a complete pussy. (1118 hits)
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Submitted by Foonbo (View user info) at 2006-01-24 16:28:37 EST
`Silly fun' floors Bronco fan
Tribune news services
Published January 24, 2006
BEAVER FALLS, Pa. -- A 17-year-old high school student said he was humiliated when a teacher made him sit on the floor during a midterm exam in his ethnicity class--for wearing a Denver Broncos jersey.
The teacher, John Kelly, forced Joshua Vannoy to sit on the floor and take the test Friday, two days before the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Broncos 34-17 in the AFC championship game. Kelly also made other students throw crumpled paper at Vannoy, the student told the Associated Press on Monday.
Kelly said Vannoy, a junior at Beaver Area Senior High School, just didn't get the joke.
"When you are joking and everyone's laughing, it's obvious," Kelly told the Denver Post. "If he felt uncomfortable, that's a lesson. That's what [the class] is designed to do. It was silly fun. I can't believe he was upset."
And it's not the first time Kelly has employed the tactic.
"I did the same thing last week with one of my ninth-graders who wore Peyton Manning," Kelly told the Post.
Vannoy was wearing a No. 7 Broncos jersey because he is a fan of John Elway, the Broncos' retired Hall of Fame quarterback. Kelly, who wore a Ben Roethlisberger jersey, and his principal, Thomas Karczewski, didn't immediately return messages left Monday.
Vannoy claims Kelly grabbed him by the neck of his jersey when he tried to sit in his chair and told him he would give him a zero on the exam if he didn't sit on the floor. Kelly told the other 12 students that part of their midterm was to throw paper at "the stinking Denver fan."
Kelly said he didn't threaten Vannoy's grade or grab his shirt. He said he told students to do those things but that nobody took it seriously.
Vannoy said he was so unnerved he left at least 20 questions blank on the 60-question test and just wants out of Kelly's class because he's afraid the teacher won't treat him fairly.
"I'm going to have to deal with him for two more nine-weeks (school quarters), and he's going to want revenge somehow," Vannoy said. "I took the test. I'm shaking. I'm furious. I didn't know what to do."
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Why are kids these days complete and utter whimps? I'm not talking about "your grandpa calling you a pussy for crying after you stapled your sack to your leg" whimp. I mean the "can't take any criticism or moderate harassment by anyone whatsoever without filing a lawsuit or seeking some sort of counseling--or firing an automatic weapon at a classmate/teacher" whimp (the anti-Uberite, if you will... or the prototypical Uberite, maybe?).
I'm not about to make this some "back in my day" rant because, although I'm very much a traitor to my generation in many ways, I'll only be 24 next month, so I'm not far removed from these whiny bastards. Actually, I lied--this is a "back in my day" rant ONLY because of one big midigating factor--I spent 12 years in Catholic school, and never EVAR was there a story of physical or verbal abuse in a Catholic school making the news because we knew three things: 1. Telling your parents that your teacher hit you or yelled at you or whatever would get you a similar, yet more severe, consequence from your parents; 2. You'd look like a total pussy by making a public ordeal of it; 3. If you fuck around in school, you deserve what you get, and sometimes even if you don't fuck around.
The problem as I see it lies in the total pussification of the public school system in this country. I'm on the last leg of my studies in becoming a high school English teacher, and I am repeatedly inundated with everything and anything you can and can't "do" to a student. The American public student has become the end-all be-all of utopian being whose perfection is strictly implied at all times and whose any subsequent imperfections that develop during the course of his/her educational career are the fault of the teachers. They are to be coddled (but not touched in any way) to the nth degree while at the same time turned into the next great leader of this country--anything less means I, the teacher, have failed. I can't tell a disruptive student in a class to "shut up." I can't touch a student in ANY way--save your jokes, I mean as in if there is the rare occurance that every teacher dreams of where he or she has greatly and positively impacted a student's life in some way and the student is so overwhelmed they look to give the teacher a simple hug, that teacher is required to deny that hug. It's all fucked up. But, again, this is in the public schools.
It doesn't work this way in the beautiful theocracies that are Catholic schools and many other private schools. I'm hardly religious nor do I promote the theological elements of private schools. What I do promote is their better educational practices and disciplinary practices. Here's a list of a few punishments experienced during my Catholic school career by either me or someone I know:
--Being struck by the following: meter sticks/rulers, fists, open hands, ginormous state-champion football rings, textbooks, keyboards, clocks, belts, my own fist, shoes (both my own and others'), and many more
--Kneeling on one's own fingers for an entire class period.
--Rape... KIDDING, KIDDING.
--Running around a track until vomiting (as was the preconceived verbal explanation).
--Cleaning toilets and showers (in an all-boys high school).
--The denial of bathroom priviledges for the whole school year.
--Pseudo-exorcism.
--Writing various things on one's body, e.g. "I talk too much," "I called Jesus 'weak'," and "Español no es alegre" ("Spanish class isn't gay").
--Copying "a letter" from the Chicago phonebook (don't think that's too tough? Go copy all the information from your yellow pages of everybody with the last name beginning with... oh, let's say "G" and see how much fun that is--and nobody ever got Q, X, Y, or Z).
--Given nicknames such as "The Posterchild for Birth Control" and "The Human Yeast Infection" (not all the teachers are clergy).
--Being doused in spray air-freshener for farting.
--Being doused in fire-extinguisher "stuff" for smoking.
--Being forced to eat a pack of cigarettes.
--Washing the cars of every priest at the school.
--Being shaved by a teacher without any shaving cream or lather for having too much stubble (on one's face, Shlongy, you perv).
--Head slammed in locker.
--Writing papers on such subjects as "Why Masterbation Isn't What It's Cracked Up To Be" and "Why 'Fingerbanging' Is a Disrespectful Term."
And many, many more. What do all the above punishments have in common (other than being a part of Apollo's Friday night ritual)? They'd all be followed by lawsuits and firings at a public school, especially one in the suburbs. You hear people say "My old man beat my ass and I'm better for it." Well, guess what? It's true. I hold no grudges against my former teachers for anything they ever did to me because I have a better grip than had I been coddled and kept in an educational bubble like most public school kids are today. And I went to Catholic school with many non-Catholics and non-Christians because their parents understood the shortcomings of public schools and how the education and discipline of private schools far outweighs any religious elements. "But the cost of tuition!" you say. "Oh, the tuition!" Well, I live in a working-class neighborhood and have ZERO friends from my childhood who did not attend private schools even though their parents took heavy, heavy hits in paying the tuition. So for all you parents who say "I'd do anything for the betterment of my child," send them to private school. You'll thank me later.
User Reviews
Submitted by Foonbo (user info) at 2006-01-25 13:52:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:50:01 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:40:38 (#)
Ranking: 1
i got to agree with loki. the kid is soft as shit, but that teacher is a total prick.
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There is also a difference between punishment and humiliation.
I'm sure a nun didn't make you kneel on your fingers simply because you used a half-knot in your tie, or because you said that St. Augustus was a better saint than St. Ignacious.
I'm all for the paddle being brought back in class for a kid being a dick, but this kid was just wearing a Broncos jersey in Pittsburgh.
-------------------------------------------
Oftentimes humiliation was the crux of the punishment so that such behavior would never happen again. Also, it's "Ignatius."
Submitted by sicosemen (user info) at 2006-01-25 10:45:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I just read the article part and that kid is a pussy. NO a SUPERPUSSY. Fagot!
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2006-01-25 06:20:11 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Well... I am a little dubious about getting the other pupils to all join in with something like this, I think legal action or serious disciplinary action is heavy handed though. A stern word and maybe having him stay after school to write "I will not instigate public shaming in class" 50 times on the blackboard.
Submitted by GuinnessSince1759 (user info) at 2006-01-25 00:36:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Fuck that...if a teacher at my school did that, I would fucking kick their ass because I'm bigger than them. Seriously I sometimes wish one would just try to push me over the line.
Submitted by precision (user info) at 2006-01-25 00:02:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
At least my kid isn't the school pussy, two weeks ago my son was hit in the back of the head by the school bully...my son takes karate...the bully got expelled, and my son got a letter sent home telling me to tell my son not to crescent kick any more kids in the head no matter how many times they hit him first...thats my boy! (and yes...I'm waiting to be sued by the bullies parents because it traumatized their little angel)
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2006-01-24 23:38:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
My god. I totally did not expect that image to be attached to this post.
Submitted by darkspoon (user info) at 2006-01-24 19:17:15 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
for the picture
Submitted by userpete86 (user info) at 2006-01-24 18:29:29 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Going to the papers was the right thing to do. That teacher is abusing his authority to feel big at the student's expense. Having public attention placed on the teacher is the right course of action, and it makes the student even braver for telling his story well knowing that he'd take shit for it.
Teachers like that should be punished, not students who wear sports gear.
Submitted by jagmcmanus (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:42:21 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
sometimes you gotta stop cryin like a bitch and cop it on the chin, there is a difference between humiliating someone traumatically so they are scarred for life and joking around
Submitted by Spooner (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:28:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I've seen thsi done before. You try to make a point about bigotry by singling out a student or a group of students for something arbitrary. It's nothing new at all.
Submitted by MavisMing (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:26:27 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Ammusing. If a teacher tried to mock a students team over here like that they would get their face cut open and no juge would convict the student.
chop chop.
come to think of it why didnt the boy just shoot him and see if he could get on Americas gunniest Hi Schools.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:26:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I don't doubt that at all.
If he would have left it up to the school, and left it a private manner, all that would happen would be his transfer into another class, and maybe some ribbing for a week or two.
Now? He'll need to change schools, and is labelled a bitch.
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:19:55 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:50:01 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:40:38 (#)
Ranking: 1
i got to agree with loki. the kid is soft as shit, but that teacher is a total prick.
-----------------------
There is also a difference between punishment and humiliation.
I'm sure a nun didn't make you kneel on your fingers simply because you used a half-knot in your tie, or because you said that St. Augustus was a better saint than St. Ignacious.
I'm all for the paddle being brought back in class for a kid being a dick, but this kid was just wearing a Broncos jersey in Pittsburgh.
=========================
In the environment I grew up in, a kid like that would either do one of two things:
1) Learn a really shitty lesson and never wear a football jersey in class again, or
2) Complain about it and get picked on for the rest of his days.
I agree that the teacher went over the line, but taking it to the papers will just make his life harder.
Submitted by HighVoltage900 (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:13:42 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:50:01 (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:40:38 (#)
Ranking: 1
i got to agree with loki. the kid is soft as shit, but that teacher is a total prick.
-----------------------
There is also a difference between punishment and humiliation.
I'm sure a nun didn't make you kneel on your fingers simply because you used a half-knot in your tie, or because you said that St. Augustus was a better saint than St. Ignacious.
I'm all for the paddle being brought back in class for a kid being a dick, but this kid was just wearing a Broncos jersey in Pittsburgh.
----
It is extreme in this case.
I had a teacher give me an F because "You are too short".
Unfortunately for her, the school hired me to help rebuild the school network after a sudden crash. I made her life a living hell.
Submitted by r0fl (user info) at 2006-01-24 17:01:41 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
In fourth grade my substitute art teacher drew a cicle on the board and made me put my nose in it for the rest of the class. I forgot what I did.
Emo tears flowed like the salmon of Capistrano.
+2 for making a solid point
-1 for making me relive my younger, fragile self.
Submitted by Oxymoron (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:55:00 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
I had my chair taken away from me in 3rd grade. I was the kid that always leaned back in his chair with his knees on the desk. My teacher was a catholic school product and had, by far, the strangest ways of dealing with children...I'll be married to her sister in a year... guess I got the last laugh.
Submitted by jgreening (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:50:01 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:40:38 (#)
Ranking: 1
i got to agree with loki. the kid is soft as shit, but that teacher is a total prick.
-----------------------
There is also a difference between punishment and humiliation.
I'm sure a nun didn't make you kneel on your fingers simply because you used a half-knot in your tie, or because you said that St. Augustus was a better saint than St. Ignacious.
I'm all for the paddle being brought back in class for a kid being a dick, but this kid was just wearing a Broncos jersey in Pittsburgh.
Submitted by PokeyPecker (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:43:09 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I had to come back and +2 this because I used to get my ass beat by teachers with boards and crap.
That was in Texas though, where they still love to execute people.
Submitted by AllyJeans (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:40:38 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
i got to agree with loki. the kid is soft as shit, but that teacher is a total prick.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:39:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!!!!
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:37:40 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
The kid is a pussy, but the teacher is an asshole. I've done a bit of teaching, it was community college so the kids were older, but you have to be a better judge of who you can pick on in class and who you can't. Keep in mind that from the front of that classroom you hold the power of life and death over that class.
Ok that was a bit too dramatic, but I've said things in jest that were taken seriously and learned to really be careful about things like that.
I don't think it's exactly reasonable to expect a kid sitting on the floor after being berated for some arbitrary reason, and have shit thrown at them to do their best work.
It is unfair I have to say. Now if this had been my kid I would have just talked to the teacher and not run to the press, but yea that kid should drop that class and get the fuck out of there.
Submitted by Fartman (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:37:25 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Oh noes, not the COMFY CHAIR!
Submitted by inion_de_trua (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:35:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
man we never got to do any of that stuff when i was in catholic school. i feel cheated.
Submitted by Foonbo (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:34:45 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I'd never punch a kid or something like that--it's just that you can't even remotely hint at some shortcoming of anybody these days. My rant was getting to long, so I didn't elaborate as much as I'd have liked to. Another day.
Submitted by Maddog (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:34:03 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
"NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISTION!!!!"
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:33:31 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Ask any teacher in a public school, and they will tell that their #1 priority is avoiding lawsuits.
Submitted by HighVoltage900 (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:32:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
The stuff you did in Catholic school was funny.
But seriously dude, I think if you are willing to lay some skin on someone, be prepared to take some back. Teacher or not. And if you do trade heat and you lose, don't complain cause you helped start it.
Submitted by PokeyPecker (user info) at 2006-01-24 16:32:14 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
<inserts penis>