Catastrophe Award

81

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/8- ... ories.html

Do your homework :fp:

The mother of an 8-year-old Arizona girl who was presented with a "Catastrophe Award" for apparently having the most excuses for not having homework believes her child was humiliated by her teacher.

Christina Valdez said her daughter, Cassandra Garcia, came home one day from class at Desert Springs Academy in Tucson, Ariz., with the paper award.

The document, which looks like a colorful card, contained the following message: "You're Tops! Catastrophe Award. Awarded to Cassandra Garcia. For Most Excuses for Not Having Homework."

The teacher signed the card "Ms. Plowman," added the date - May 18, 2012 - and even included a smiley face.

The teacher announced the award in front of the entire class, and the other students laughed at her daughter, Valdez said in a Thursday interview with ABC TV affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson.

When she contacted the school to complain, the principal "blew me off," Valdez added. "She said it was a joke that was played and that the teachers joke around with the children."

But Valdez told KGUN that she didn't find any of it funny.

"I think it's cruel and no child should be given an award like this. It's disturbing," she said, adding that she was not aware her daughter had a problem with homework, and that the girl had been enrolled in an after-school homework assistance program.

Desert Springs Academy's principal declined to comment to a KGUN reporter, the affiliate reported.

Nami

seen this today... so dumb.

DS1119

I blame the teachers.

Lizard

that was mean

ZiggyStar

Why doesn't the mum know her daughter doesn't do her homework? Obviously pays a lot of attention to her daughter's schooling.

Jason P

Anyone ever have to get to the mail before their parents and try to doctor up your report card?

And have success too?

Neil

well deserved... and mom blames someone else :fp:

voidofman

I would have won that award if I was in that class. I never did my homework.

And you can blame the parents!

"Did you do your homework?"

"Yes."

(Good enough for me.)

Ask them to see it!!!

DS1119

Jason P wrote:

Anyone ever have to get to the mail before their parents and try to doctor up your report card?

And have success too?

Never doctored my report card but I used to throw it out.

bionicamy

Was given an award by the Nuns in elementary school for "no demerits this 9 weeks "

It was the most positive thing they could say about me :fp:

no one was mad and we all laughed again when my mom found this not too long ago.

When did we become so sensitive?

Jason P

DS1119 wrote:

Jason P wrote:

Anyone ever have to get to the mail before their parents and try to doctor up your report card?

And have success too?

Never doctored my report card but I used to throw it out.

Yeah, I tried to turn a D into a B and a F into an A, figured it wouldn't pass, so I burned it. It helped postpone a whipping for a month or two.

comebackgirl

I think it's funny. Don't want to be humiliated? Do you freaking homework Probably should have given it to mom.

I work in a college counseling center and I have so many students (who I've never seen for therapy before) who come in and ask for a note to get out of an exam or a class or a paper because of anxiety or some stupid reason. Ummmm...no You're supposed to be anxious for an exam. If it's someone I've been working with and I know it's legit or if it's a new client with a documented crisis, that's one thing. Most of the time they were partying and didn't study. You can see their horror when they realize they're not getting a "get out of jail free" card. Dumbasses :roll:

stargirl69

comebackgirl wrote:

I think it's funny. Don't want to be humiliated? Do you freaking homework Probably should have given it to mom.

I work in a college counseling center and I have so many students (who I've never seen for therapy before) who come in and ask for a note to get out of an exam or a class or a paper because of anxiety or some stupid reason. Ummmm...no You're supposed to be anxious for an exam. If it's someone I've been working with and I know it's legit or if it's a new client with a documented crisis, that's one thing. Most of the time they were partying and didn't study. You can see their horror when they realize they're not getting a "get out of jail free" card. Dumbasses :roll:

I agree, reversed psychology she may well learn to do her homework in the future.

BinauralJam

guess it was too much for the teacher to e-mail the mom and explain there was a problem
humilate the 8 year old instead
good job teach

81

BinauralJam wrote:

guess it was too much for the teacher to e-mail the mom and explain there was a problem
humilate the 8 year old instead
good job teach

i'd be curious to hear the full story and see if the teacher tried to contact the parents or if there was any discussion at a parent teacher confrence earlier in the year. :corn:

Chief Broom

The kid was embarrassed if front of their class...Mom doesn't like it...So she goes public with it.
I'm sure the child feels better about it now. Good job mom. Makes a lot of sense.

rick1zoo2

haha, the mother should get the "stupid Parent" award for not making sure the daughter was doing her homework and have that presented somewhere that all the other parents could laugh at her.

disgraceful.

drivingrl

That's brilliant. If I ever teach again, I will use that.

At least the teacher's actions got her mom involved. Clearly her mother hasn't been involved up until this point. This is the problem educators are facing today: the parents will not hold their children accountable for their actions.

It used to be a three-tiered support system for students: Teachers, Parents, and School Admin. Parents have become so unresponsive that some schools have decided they should not count on parents anymore and take them out of the equation. Schools are now working on how to establish accountability amongst students knowing that the parents will not do their part. And listen, if giving the child an embarrassing "award" gets the child to understand what he/she is doing wrong, I'm all for it.

I'd be mortified if I were that child's mother - mortified that I hadn't taken action earlier.

Good for that teacher. Bravo!

pandora

Lizard wrote:

that was mean

exactly

comebackgirl

Chief Broom wrote:

The kid was embarrassed if front of their class...Mom doesn't like it...So she goes public with it.
I'm sure the child feels better about it now. Good job mom. Makes a lot of sense.

So true.

My guess is that there were maybe a number of "joke awards" given out. This one may have had some truth in it and hit too close to home. I don't think that's uncommon in clubs, classes etc. We did this in one of my grad classes one year. Granted, we were not 8 years old, but I don't remember anyone being offended.

Chief Broom

Sounds like "Mock" elections to me. I'm pretty sure I have a progress report from when I was a kid that says, "If Colin listened as well as he talked, he'd be much farther along". Or something to that effect.
This same mom probably didn't attend parent/teacher conferences (or else she would have known about the lack of homework being turned in).
I HIGHLY doubt the teacher was "picking" on the kid. Get over it! What a thankless profession.

I feel like I missed this coddling by a couple years. It really seems like it's across the board now.
If I had come home with that award my parents woulda been pissed too!
AT ME!

pandora

I remember some really mean thoughtless teachers from back in the day.
No one wanted them.
So bummed out when we would go check the roster the Friday before school was to start
and some would find that they had the mean ones :shock: .

Some teachers would have a frig in their room with snacks.
Go on super cool field trips. Be kind really kind to everyone. Make learning fun.

Then the bummer teachers would give tons of homework over the weekend.
Never a treat a kid could even bring in to share.
Boring they were ... :(

but cruel is another category altogether ...

they spot out kids and embarrass them like this teacher :twisted:
what a heartless thing to do to an 8 year old child in front of their peers.

and the title of the award goes to... the teacher!

Chief Broom

As a product of two teachers, I can tell you the problem is not with the teachers most of the time. The problem is with the system, and the parents. School is not daycare! Most parents use it as such. The "system" does not reward good teachers for being so. Pay is determined by number of years teaching, not quality of teaching.
For example: A math teacher and an English teacher, that have both been at a school for fifteen years, probably make the exact same amount. That math teacher can read through their book and mark all the math problems right or wrong. The English teacher goes home with 150 essays that have to be graded for content, grammar, punctuation, etc. Essentially one teacher has a 70+ hour work week, the other...done when the bell rings.

By the way...Kids can be assholes too! Throw a videotape in every classroom and see what teachers deal with on a day-to-day basis. Like I said before, thankless job. Would this (expletive) have gone public if her child was given the "most likely to succeed" award? I somehow doubt it.

norm

81 wrote:

she was not aware her daughter had a problem with homework

failing as a parent completely...but go ahead honey, blame the teacher :fp:


society is so royally fucked there's not much point to having it anymore

rick1zoo2

ok, I normally never do it, but I clicked on the article, it had a video that tried to play and it locked up my browser. I blame the parents

Carey

pandora wrote:

Lizard wrote:

that was mean

exactly

I agree, she was only 8, after all. The parent should be over-seeing homework at that age!

When I was 12 and running cross-country, a teacher/coach made me wear a dried up little corn cob on a string around my neck the day after a race when I did not break the course record (it was windy, and I won, but did not beat the record). My "punishment" was humilitaion, because I had to answer each time someone asked me why I was wearing the corn cob by telling them I didn't run like I was supposed to. What an F'ing bitch. Can't stand her to this day.

Chief Broom

Carey wrote:

The parent should be over-seeing homework at that age!

I agree!

comebackgirl

Chief Broom wrote:

Sounds like "Mock" elections to me. I'm pretty sure I have a progress report from when I was a kid that says, "If Colin listened as well as he talked, he'd be much farther along". Or something to that effect.
This same mom probably didn't attend parent/teacher conferences (or else she would have known about the lack of homework being turned in).
I HIGHLY doubt the teacher was "picking" on the kid. Get over it! What a thankless profession.

I feel like I missed this coddling by a couple years. It really seems like it's across the board now.
If I had come home with that award my parents woulda been pissed too!
AT ME!

yeah I doubt the kid was singled out. I could be wrong, but my guess is there's more to the story and it wasn't done in a cruel manner...probably a number of these sorts of awards given out. Funny how these things get sensationalized.

helicopter parents seem to abound these days. If I have one more parent asking me if I can wake their college student up to make sure they go to class I'm gonna lose my fucking mind. Your kid is an adult, but if they aren't treated like one they'll never rise to the challenge. I was probably a bit of an anomaly, but even at 8 I didn't need to be reminded to do my homework...always did it first and then I went out to play because my parents taught me that was my job. My mom thought I was a freak I probably am, but I didn't get any catastrophe awards or need a wake up call to go to class in college either.

BinauralJam

The adult in this situation sat on their hand for an entire school year(the teacher) and accepted this behavior and then wants to go and one up the kid as if in a competition, sad bullying bullshit.

Congrats Teach, you made a funny.

comebackgirl

BinauralJam wrote:

The adult in this situation sat on their hand for an entire school year(the teacher) and accepted this behavior and then wants to go and one up the kid as if in a competition, sad bullying bullshit.

Congrats Teach, you made a funny.

eh we don't know that. I mean kids often have assignment books to be signed by the parent, there's parent-teacher conferences, report cards and progress reports. Just cause mom says she didn't know there was an issue doesn't make it true. All I know is this kid better do her homework next year

perfectlefts14

Chief Broom wrote:

The kid was embarrassed if front of their class...Mom doesn't like it...So she goes public with it.
I'm sure the child feels better about it now. Good job mom. Makes a lot of sense.

Exactly...... That's some steller parenting right there. :fp: