Teacher confiscated AKA shirt from girl at school

[Phrozen Sands]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

If it was my kid, what would make news are my actions when I went into the school to confront the teacher and principal. THAT’S what would make news! By the time I got done clowning in that school, the removal of the shirt wouldn’t even be the topic anymore. The topic would be the removal of ME out of the school premises/grounds by the police. That’s what would happen.

Lol!!!! Wow!

[lake]

Good points!

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge

I think it is important to consider several issues of a larger order here.

First, why is this news? How did it become news? What are the cultural and intercultural issues at play here which make it newsworthy? My impression was that it was because it involved a young child.

Why did the parent feel that her child's anonymity was less important than bringing this to a news outlet? This is a very good point! Usually parents are screaming that their child's privacy was violated.

Would a Black family have had more awareness of the taboo of wearing Greek symbols and signs? I don't know.

Why is the taboo around this seemingly de-emphasized? I think because it's just a shirt (yes, it's just a shirt) and it involved a child.

What role do the norms around predominantly white GLOs play in our own opinions about this? Example: Your "new members" can usually wear letters, but ours cannot. I don't know.

I am not saying that the teacher was correct in her execution of this, but she's entitled to be offended by something that is important to her. A note home without the wardrobe change might have sufficed. Very good points. I think the note home would have more than sufficed.

My opinion is that a lower class white woman was offended by an upper-class Black woman exerting power over her in a fairly embarrassing way*, and decided to go full throttle on the retaliation by involving the media. I don't know.

This should not have been news. I used to work in print and broadcast media. Quite honestly it was probably a slow news day.

*and this has happened so often over the years on this very website, I know exactly how this conversation will turn out lol

[lake]

Originally Posted by carnation

I have taught for 50 years and I guarantee y'all that if any teacher took any shirt from any child here, it would make the news.

Wow...50 years! How do you still have an intact mind!? I bet nothing scares you!

[lake]

Originally Posted by PrettyBoy

If it was my kid, what would make news are my actions when I went into the school to confront the teacher and principal. THAT’S what would make news! By the time I got done clowning in that school, the removal of the shirt wouldn’t even be the topic anymore. The topic would be the removal of ME out of the school premises/grounds by the police. That’s what would happen.

I would love to just sit down and drink beer with you and talk $#!+. Good times!

[carnation]

Originally Posted by lake

Wow...50 years! How do you still have an intact mind!? I bet nothing scares you!

Also, I have 13 children and 18 grandchildren. I have no tolerance for drama or crap. I wanna just teach, period.

[*winter*]

Originally Posted by carnation

Also, I have 13 children and 18 grandchildren. I have no tolerance for drama or crap. I wanna just teach, period.

Is that even an option anymore?

[carnation]

Teaching without drama and crap? Well, there's a huge number of teachers at school who are over 50 (and even 60) and we have reputations for having low tolerance of screwing around. I mean, we have fun in our classes but we don't put up with disruptions.

[Phrozen Sands]

Originally Posted by carnation

Also, I have 13 children and 18 grandchildren. I have no tolerance for drama or crap. I wanna just teach, period.

That’s awesome, carnation! I’ll bet you still keep your kids and grandkids in check too! They still know who’s boss. That never goes away Lol.

[jolene]

Originally Posted by carnation

Teaching without drama and crap? Well, there's a huge number of teachers at school who are over 50 (and even 60) and we have reputations for having low tolerance of screwing around. I mean, we have fun in our classes but we don't put up with disruptions.

You are the sort of teacher I would have loved and my now college freshman gal would have loved. We both have BS meters and like to get down to brass tax.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by Sen's Revenge

I think it is important to consider several issues of a larger order here.

First, why is this news? How did it become news? What are the cultural and intercultural issues at play here which make it newsworthy?

Why did the parent feel that her child's anonymity was less important than bringing this to a news outlet?

Would a Black family have had more awareness of the taboo of wearing Greek symbols and signs?

Why is the taboo around this seemingly de-emphasized?

What role do the norms around predominantly white GLOs play in our own opinions about this? Example: Your "new members" can usually wear letters, but ours cannot.

I am not saying that the teacher was correct in her execution of this, but she's entitled to be offended by something that is important to her. A note home without the wardrobe change might have sufficed.

My opinion is that a lower class white woman was offended by an upper-class Black woman exerting power over her in a fairly embarrassing way*, and decided to go full throttle on the retaliation by involving the media.

This should not have been news.

*and this has happened so often over the years on this very website, I know exactly how this conversation will turn out lol

Nashville area native, and most upper/middle class families send their kids to private schools or the public magnet schools. Most Metro Nashville public schools are rough. The particular school in question is in an area of lower socioeconomic citizens. As a former teacher, these are the schools I preferred working in. So many good things come out of these schools; it just never makes the news. I say that because your assumption about lower class white resentment of more upper class and educated black teacher is most likely on point.

This did not need to make the news. Did the teacher handle things the best way? Probably not, but this is just the local news catering to the lowest common denominator for clicks/views. Teachers confiscate stuff all the time from students. Had it been me, I probably would have bought the child a new sparkly pretty shirt and called the mom to explain the importance of the letters and asked her not to wear it anymore. (And yes, I bought students new clothes all the time with my own money when I saw a need.)

[PrettyBoy]

Originally Posted by lake

I would love to just sit down and drink beer with you and talk $#!+. Good times!

::Fist Bump:: (Like Button) 👍🏽

[MTSUGURL]

Originally Posted by carnation

Teaching without drama and crap? Well, there's a huge number of teachers at school who are over 50 (and even 60) and we have reputations for having low tolerance of screwing around. I mean, we have fun in our classes but we don't put up with disruptions.

I wish even more now you were someone I knew in real life.

[TLLK]

Originally Posted by carnation

Teaching without drama and crap? Well, there's a huge number of teachers at school who are over 50 (and even 60) and we have reputations for having low tolerance of screwing around. I mean, we have fun in our classes but we don't put up with disruptions.

I want you to work at your school carnation!! During my eleven years of Catholic school education, we had fun but our teachers and administration did not put up with disruptions either. During my 12 years of full time teaching as an elementary school teacher, I was fortunate to have administrators who had a similar philosophy.

[Cookiez17]

Yeah I've sadly heard tons of stories of how hard teaching has become, and it's a mix of student behavior, admin not having the backs of teachers when a student is causing a genuine issue, and parents checking out. My mom as a volunteer religion teacher for almost 20 years has noticed the increases in terrible behavior, but she keeps a tight ship in her class luckily.

[Kevin]

I routinely see local lawn crews in our area wearing letters. In fact, there's an older hispanic woman who was working a local lawn crew last year who I saw on multiple occasions wearing a Kappa Sigma sweatshirt.

It's statistically unlikely that she has a child in Kappa Sigma (as I believe most of our local Kappa Sigma chapters have closed) or that she is a Kappa Sigma sweetheart.

I haven't felt the urge to alert their nationals or something along those lines. This was probably a young teacher who had likely been told who could wear letters and who couldn't and believed she had every right to do what she did.

Mistakes happen. I'm with Sen. This shouldn't be news. It is, I think, only news because racial shit stirring gets clicks and views.