NO TOUCH! horseplay or felony crime?

There are real issues at stake here. One of the issues with charges of sexual abuse are built in.  People committing such heinous acts seek privacy for the crime.  If a teacher is accused, chances are they were alone with a student at some point so the charges come down to hearsay.  Not being able to disprove the allegations leaves outsiders wondering/ doubting whatever comes of an investigation.

I do not know whether Mr. Ziskin is guilty or not.  It appeared to a school worker that he had a hand in some boy's pants while seeing him wrestling with some boys during lunch or break.  At this point, seeing physical contact between a teacher and students can set alarms off.  I used to play basketball, touch football, and even wrestled some of my students on occasion. And speaking of physical contact, I had a 4th grade teacher who scratched my back while we were watching movies in class.  I do remember being creeped out about it.  I didn't know what a pedophile was and, frankly, I don't think it describes him.  I think he thought I was a cute kid. I didn't like it but I quickly got over it.  I am not advocating that teachers do this by any stretch of the imagination.  At the same time, I am not happy about the direction things have swung where the bottom line is to play it safe in case someone decides to ruin your life. 

It is easy to say "no touching."  "Do not be in a room with a student alone."  Those are the 2 big ones and they are not hard to follow on a day to day basis.  They make it easier for a district to do cya.  Nevertheless, it is sad that many kids could use a hug and one has to think twice about something so innocent that demonstrates inter-human affection.  Perhaps it's our old Puritan obsession with sex.  We can't look at human contact as anything but driven by libido.  When I lived in Paraguay, I routinely saw girls walking hand in hand.  I got on buses where we were packed like sardines against each other. People's idea of personal space was different. I think I probably inherited my own inclinations from my father and his mother.  They are/were friendly midwesterners who lived in a time where there was more trust between strangers.  My father can't get to the bathroom at a restaurant without stopping to say "hi" to some kid he sees at a nearby table.  Once in awhile, he gets a look of suspicion from someone.  How can I not find that to be a sad example of where trust is at in our society? 

As for what the school worker who observed Mr Ziskin saw.  Is it possible that their perspective was swayed by their own subjective biases?  We all have them.  Take the test from the link below and see how astute your own powers of observation are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo


Mr. Ziskin has served 6 years out of his 15 year sentence.  What is significant is that one of the accusers is now saying he was wrong.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/escondido/escondido-ex-teacher-seeks-new-child-molestation-trial/article_9819eb2a-c36e-5afa-937b-98ba83edbfe3.html

Acquitted teacher sues

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/02/21/3033890/teacher-sues-cms-alleging-he-was.html

 Jeffrey Leardini was coerced into resigning rather than fighting bogus charges.  When teachers are accused in the kangaroo courts of academia, they may get some due process, but it is not justice.  Administrators who play this game have sold their souls or never had them to begin with.

Miramonte elementary teacher pleads "not guilty." Student recants accusation.

We'll have to wait to see what shakes out of this.  There are still ongoing charges.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/02/girl-who-accused-miramonte-teacher-of-abuse-recants-her-story.html

Martin Springer stands to lose everything.

veteran and beloved social studies teacher retires rather than put up with the kangaroo court following questionable "sexual harasment" complaint

http://www.newstimes.com/local/article/Rally-supports-Stephen-Flanagan-2554212.php

Judge Cotton Mather presiding....lack of transparency....I can't blame the guy at all. 

Guilty based on hearsay

She is found "not guilty" but career ruined. Her lawsuit against prosecutor is thrown out

Dept of Ed. on false accusations

The strange thing is that only a few times were the accusations completely fabricated.  Usually, it was someone taking something I did and twisting it when it fit their agenda.  Hmmmm....your grade is low.  Why is this?  Hmmmm well the teacher did x, y or z 2 months ago.

I have allegedly: slammed a head into the wall, poked a kid with my finger, kicked a child in the leg, hit a child with a chair, squeezed a girl by her shoulder, purposely short changed students on their grades, told a student to shut up, berated a student in front of their peers, got in the "face" of a student, told a parent I would no longer harass their child and then did so, came on sexually by calling a student "sweet heart" and licking my lips, sang love songs, baited children to come into my room alone, kept a girl in at lunch and did not respond to her panic attack,  showed video of myself naked, ogled girls' chests, attempted to film girls' chests....the list could go on.  I admit I have a temper when pushed too far.  I was worried that my tendencies might one day push me too far after being baited the way I have been (remember the tiger that got lose in the san fran zoo?).  By the time I got to my final year, I rarely raised my voice despite the behavior of the students.  I noticed that as my self control became greater, that the tactic students used switched from physical abuse to being some sort of sexual predator.  I am a heterosexual male but I am happy to say that I have absolutely no interest in 13 or 14 year old girls.  When you add that these were insipid, narcissists I can only say that I would not have ever found them interesting....not at 47 and not at 13.  I suppose that on first take one might see the anger in my talk, but at its core there is a great sadness.  I am sad for myself and for this society that seems to have lost its way.

False accusations

If you are accused of sexual misconduct or physical abuse involving students and it is determined that the allegations were knowingly false when they were made, the DOE must remove all references to the allegations from your DOE personnel file, restore any lost pay with interest and permanently reassign the student from your class absent compelling and extraordinary circumstances.
The agreement makes clear that the disciplinary process should never be used to retaliate against whistle-blowers or for any other illegal reason. It goes on to state that all employees who make a knowingly false allegation shall be subject to discipline.

Suspicious of teachers?

turning teachers into objects of suspicion

The article deals with information from a new book on allegations of sexual abuse in classrooms in UK.

Here is the book on amazon

researching sex and lies in the classroom

falsely accused teacher and website

http://falsely-accused.net/falsely-accused-abuse.html

Kindergarten teacher accused by three little girls (even her daughter) lost home, custody of her children, etc.

See what psychology today magazine says.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-social-thinker/201005/why-would-child-falsely-accuse-her-mother-crime

Tail wags the dog

It is not surprising that programs on sexual abuse elicit accusations.  Once someone creates a mental template in our heads, we can find the evidence everywhere.  Put the template of  witches in heads and watch the suspects roll in.  Being a male teacher in a heavily feminized environment is enough to keep many men out of the classroom.  This has led to the skyrocketing number of accusations of abuse against teachers.  Couple this with the entrance to sexual maturity that adolescent girls are going through.  Many are consumed with validating their attractiveness.  Unfortunately, it seemed like the shallowest in the bunch are most prone to this.  They have little interest in academics and, it seems to me, most likely to presume that everyone else thinks like they do.

bad touch program leads to accusations

sexual harassment charges against educators

http://lawreview.wustl.edu/inprint/76-4/764-1431.pdf

student inventor projects 2

I was placed on administrative leave the following day for doing this.  There were 5 parent complaints.  My union appointed lawyer was little help.  The word of the students (guess which ones?) were taken at face value while my defense was ignored. Some parents were so rabid about this video that the district went to the local police.   Typical of the district kangaroo courts where admin plays judge and jury and often have a vested interest in a teacher leaving.