What good does it do to shame a student anyway? I don't care how young or old, what good is it to publicly shame one's self esteem?
I wonder if the teacher even bothered to care if the student was sensitive or not? Did they take that into account? How about the after-effects this would have on the student? Or what kind of life they live outside of school? I didn't see the original question, so pardon me if these bases were touched already.
I certainly hope the student is laughing at all this. I'd rather it be that than crying in depression from the ridicule.
PUBLIC OPINION > The 'Catastrophe Award' Was Kind of Mean
SodaHead News
2012/06/01 22:00:00
An 8-year-old girl made the news this week when her mother complained about a "Catastrophe Award" the girl received at school. The "award" read, "You're tops! Awarded ... for most excuses for not having homework. :)" Apparently the entire class laughed at her, and the mother was furious. Some think the teacher who handed it out was being cruel; others think it was relatively harmless. We asked the public.
Reactions were pretty mixed on this one. Though a small majority agreed it was mean to call the girl out on her missing homework in front of her peers, some still felt it was an acceptable way of addressing the problem. Although, one young respondent wrote, "Hell, if one of my teachers gave me that I'd frame it and put it on my wall!" So maybe it wouldn't effective for everyone.
Females Feel Bad
There was a huge difference between how men and women responded. Women were much more likely to sympathize with the student and show concern from how it affected her. Men, on the other hand, were more willing to accept it as a form of tough love. Many of them even thought it was funny, suggesting the kids shouldn't have taken it so seriously.
Old School
We expected older voters to be more accepting of the teacher's method, as punishment in school seems to be more controversial now than it once was, but the shift didn't happen until the uppermost bracket. Only respondents over the age of 65 voted much different than the rest of the age groups. "Back in my day..."
Liberals Don't Like It
Probably for the same reasons behind the age difference, conservative respondents were more likely to green light the Catastrophe Award. They tend to appreciate tradition, and traditionally teachers have more license to crack down in schools when kids need to shape up. Considering some of the things they used to do, this was pretty harmless.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about the Catastrophe Award. We'd love to hear from you!
Top Opinion
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Depsycho 2012/06/01 22:26:50
The homework problem should, of course, be addressed. However, using public humiliation as a communication tool offers a disturbing view of this teacher's competence level. Unless you've seen a beautiful child laid to rest as a direct result of bullying, it may be easy to say suck it up. Never again will I hold a such a flippant attitude towards these type of mean spirited actions towards others.
Sorry to be so preachy but this story hits close to the heart for me.
Let me tell you, when I was in the 7th grade, I lost my math homework and I got swats from the teacher...during class, in front of the class...as embarrassed as I was that day, I ended up with an A in that class because I didn't want to get my butt spanked again!
BTW, when I got home from school that day I got it again from my dad.
I didn't go hang myself, lose my self respect, or show up at school with a shotgun because of it. I learned from it (as this child and ALL children should) and I did better.
wonder how long the lion tamer would last with negitive reinforcement as his training method ????
to entertain the audience... the lion " tamer " gets lions to jump thru a fire hoop by rewarding the cat ...
it is by awards the cat will jump thru hoops..
sorta like if you reward people to get on welfare , they will get on and stay on as long as you reward them for that action...