Complaint filed against teacher who marked students' faces
DECLO, Idaho (AP) - A southern Idaho teacher whose students used a permanent marker on the faces of classmates who fell short of reading goals is the subject of a formal complaint.
Cassia County School District officials said Monday that they filed the complaint against Declo Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Summer Larsen. The Idaho State Department of Education's Professional Standards Commission, which has the power to suspend or revoke teaching licenses, will examine the case, the Twin Falls Times-News reported.
Some parents and administrators said the face-marking punishments given to six students in Larsen's class were inappropriate and left the children feeling shamed.
One 10-year-old came home in tears after his entire face, including his eyelids, had been scribbled on with green, red and purple markers.
The students were allowed to choose their own incentive to meet the reading goal. But instead of a reward, the class chose a punishment: Students who failed to meet the goal could either stay inside at recess until it was met, or have their faces written on by classmates who met the goals.
Nine students didn't meet the goals, the paper reported Friday. Three chose to forgo recess, and the other six opted to have their faces marked on.
The ink was difficult to wash off, and some of the children said they felt humiliated - especially when they had to ride the bus home.
"The investigation on this is also ongoing in the district," said Cassia County School District Superintendent Galen Smyer, declining to give specifics on the complaint other than to say it's a "personnel issue."
He said Larsen remains employed with the district but he wouldn't confirm whether she was placed on administrative leave.
Efforts to contact Larsen were unsuccessful.
Cassia County School District officials said Monday that they filed the complaint against Declo Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Summer Larsen. The Idaho State Department of Education's Professional Standards Commission, which has the power to suspend or revoke teaching licenses, will examine the case, the Twin Falls Times-News reported.
Some parents and administrators said the face-marking punishments given to six students in Larsen's class were inappropriate and left the children feeling shamed.
One 10-year-old came home in tears after his entire face, including his eyelids, had been scribbled on with green, red and purple markers.
The students were allowed to choose their own incentive to meet the reading goal. But instead of a reward, the class chose a punishment: Students who failed to meet the goal could either stay inside at recess until it was met, or have their faces written on by classmates who met the goals.
Nine students didn't meet the goals, the paper reported Friday. Three chose to forgo recess, and the other six opted to have their faces marked on.
The ink was difficult to wash off, and some of the children said they felt humiliated - especially when they had to ride the bus home.
"The investigation on this is also ongoing in the district," said Cassia County School District Superintendent Galen Smyer, declining to give specifics on the complaint other than to say it's a "personnel issue."
He said Larsen remains employed with the district but he wouldn't confirm whether she was placed on administrative leave.
Efforts to contact Larsen were unsuccessful.
The students were ALLOWED to CHOOSE by the teacher. I personally see nothing wrong with it. She gave the kids a chance to choose whether they were going to TRY or FAIL. The only ones whining here are the ones who didn't apply themselves, and rather than forgo recess, OPTED for humility. I think this teaches MANY things. You either win or lose. You either try and succeed, or you don't and you fail. Of course in our newly formed "society of entitlement," EVERYONE gets a trophy just for TRYING, rather than EARNING. Suck it up kids. You chose, you lost, and you paid. Welcome to life.
gone are the good old days where the teacher sent your ass to the principal for a whoopin. Now we just draw on their faces.Â
i'm sure the teachers' union will chime in soon at her defense.....
Teacher must have thought: Let's mark the faces of all the students I failed.
I don't understand how a teacher can think punishment is the right choice in this case. The fact that these children did not reach goals means they need more help with their reading. Perhaps she could enlist the help of tutoring volunteers and encourage these children instead of making them feel bad. If you tell a child long enough that they don't measure up or they are stupid your profacy will enevitably come true one way or another. They need all the encouragement they can get when they are having problems.
 @Jatok As my father-in-law would say, "If the student hasn't learned, the teacher HASN'T TAUGHT!"
 @JLS1950  @Jatok Not always true. As my grandfather would have said, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."
@anon4444 @JLS1950 Some of these kids need more instruction/one on one. If they were horses it wouldn't matter if they could read or not, but they aren't.
 @anon4444 Every horse will drink when it gets thirsty. The only limit on making the horse drink is IMPATIENCE.
I'm glad to see an official complaint has been made. I think the teacher made an extremely poor choice in allowing punishment to even be an option. I do think using the term 'bullying' is a bit much in this case.
"He said Larsen remains employed with the district..."
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Well, THAT's the problem right there!
@JLS1950: Chill a little JLS. Think due process. In this country we are innocent until proven guilty. Once the investigations and hearings are over she can be punished or reprimanded or whatever is decided.
 @usnrbb Meantime, handcuffs, a mug shot and BAIL would not be out of order!
 @anon4444 Several counts of felony assault on a child, and many more counts of conspiracy to commit such assault and of contributing to the delinquency of a minor child (a whole classroom full of such children!) A parent I know was charged and convicted of assault simply for hosing his child off outdoors on a spring day after the child pooped his pants. Taking a permanent marker to a child's face - given all the carcinogenic VOCs that the average permanent marker contains and the inability to wash off the stains anyway - surely counts as more serious than hosing a child down gently with an open garden hose!
 @JLS1950  Um....on what charges, exactly?Â
Good God! What is it with all the idiot bully teachers out there who think this kind of behavior is okay? If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem!
Here's a question....how would you handle it if you were at work and if your boss didn't like the way you did something, had your coworkers write all over your face with a permanent marker and make a point of allowing everyone to humilate you?
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What about this one, what if your spouse felt like you didn't perform a task the way they wanted it done. Would it be ok for him/her to write all over your face with a permanent marker and parade you around the neighborhood and let your neighbors taunt you?
 @The WA Mama Bear in mind the students *chose* this option. They also had the option to lose a recess. They chose...they didn't like their choice.
@The WA Mama now people want to say this not right..? My wife's been doing that to me for years now...wait till I get home...
 @The WA Mama What it really sounds to me is like a democracy lesson gone horribly wrong. Dont get me wrong...........bad judgement, very bad, and I do believe she should be looking at a new career path. But I can see how this began, I just cant believe the teacher didnt provide the guidance to direct it.Â
 @The WA Mama I might as well tattoo my entire face as a preemptive measureÂ
It will be interesting to hear what the "Â Idaho State Department of Education's Professional Standards Commission" rules. I do hope there will be a follow up story.
 @barkingmad probably to use non-permanent markers from now on
@Komo Dragon @barkingmad The ones that smell like grapes and cherries!
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So who is the adult in that class? That teacher is wrong in so many ways.
waaaaaaaaa
GOOD! A formal complaint SHOULD be made against this bullying teacher. I hope she loses her job. When I first read this story, it infuriated me. These children are only in 4th grade. To be humiliated over not meeting their reading goals is just horrible. Maybe the teacher should notice that if 9 children in her class aren't making their reading goals then she's a sucky teacher!
Geeze, guess majority rule democracy is frowned upon in Idaho...
@Windowseat -- Wrong. Bullying is frowned upon, as it should be. Do you think it OK to punish children for not meeting reading goals? Would it make a difference if these nine children have learning disabilities? Maybe they are dyslexic. This teachers needs to be removed from the classroom and her license revoked. I wouldn't want her teaching my children.Â
She should get the same treatment... permanent marker used on her face, by those students... That is the only thing wrong with what was done..Â
The kids had a choice.. they chose the markers, and the teacher let them use permanent ones... bad choice..
 @Mr. H The teacher should have vetoed it and chosen something different. A punishment should never be administered by the other kids in the class, even with the teacher supervising. That's not appropriate. It was also unfair for the punishment to be one that involved public humiliation. The kids wouldn't necessarily have understood that it would be so embarrassing and painful until it happened, and when a kid is struggling with one area of their schoolwork, the worst thing an adult can do is publicly humiliate them for failing and make them a subject of ridicule for it, because it can make it harder for them to do well in that subject later on. I went through the same thing with mathematics, and suffice to say being humiliated about being bad at math only made me STAY bad at math for a long time.
 @spacegoddess  @Mr. H It sounds like you've overcome whatever blocked your path, since you refer to it in the past tense. Kudos for getting through it despite the idiots who made it worse instead of better.Â
Kids need a lot more people like you in their lives, adults who have been there and survived it. If your schedule allows it now or in the future, you might consider volunteering in the local schools.
(Yes, I understand that may not be practical for a few thousand reasons, just throwing it out there for if you ever do have time and room for it. :^D )