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$50,000 Claim Filed Over Girl's Time-out In School

Posted by samzenpus on from the precious-little-snowflake dept.

A $50,000 lawsuit alleges that Greenfield Middle School teachers falsely imprisoned a girl when she was put in a time-out room, and that the experience caused the girl to hyperventilate, feel nauseous, and understand that some actions are unacceptable. Greenfield Superintendent Conrad Farner said he could not respond specifically to the allegations, in order to protect the privacy of the student, but said,"I'm confident that the district has acted in an appropriate manner and will continue to do so."

11 comments

  1. For the love of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Can we stop suing the damn schools?

    Maybe get a law passed that protects schools from doing what is necessary to make the kid shut the hell up for everyone else?

    There's just too much of this bullshit now. Too goddamn much.

    1. Re:For the love of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree that "There's just too much of this bullshit now. Too goddamn much." but protecting schools from litigation wouldn't be advisable.

      First, who would decide what's necessary to make the kids shut up, sit down and behave? Leg irons? Duct tape? (I know for a fact that teachers have used duct tape to keep kids in their seats).

      Maybe the state legislatures could draft such laws -- not.

      Or maybe Congress could stick its nose into another local issue -- not.

      In many ways, civil litigation serves as a check on the system that fills a niche that written law really can't, and despite the abuse of the system by a growing number of people, that option needs to be there.

      Also, keep in mind that the only thing in law easier than indicting a ham sandwich is suing one.

      But that doesn't mean you'll win your stupid lawsuit.

    2. Re:For the love of... by rengav · · Score: 1

      We've hit the point where we need to have a separate court for educational issues, just as we have courts to deal with family issues, etc.

      Judges that are well versed in the education code would make it so that many of these lawsuits could just be thrown out as frivolous.

    3. Re:For the love of... by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Jesus Christ no.

      Family courts are the most corrupt and least concerned with justice.

  2. oh ho... he's going to anger 90% of parents by powerspike · · Score: 1

    and understand that some actions are unacceptable

    omg, someone else took responbility for the learning of his child, and he's sueing for it. That seems to be most parents dreams these days, and he's going to piss all of them off!

    1. Re:oh ho... he's going to anger 90% of parents by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Most parents' dreams these days is to get money off of their brood.

      If that's from gubmint money for spawning them in litters every 11 months like a raccoon, so be it.
      If that's by cashing in on a bullshit lawsuit, so be it.
      If that's by raising an intelligent, responsible child who becomes a success...fuck it.

  3. "imprisoned, student, time out room!?!?! by LoganDzwon · · Score: 1

    "imprisoned a student when they put her in a time-out room," Um, why does the school have a time-out room? If I locked my kids in the closet when they were bad I'd goto a time-out room. Except they would it call it solitary confinement, at a place called jail. The school does it and it's ok? If they kid is so bad she needed to be locked shouldn't the school resource officer have gotten involved? I think so.

    1. Re: "imprisoned, student, time out room!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obviously you have never dealt with an entire class of children.

      When one of them is being rowdy, simply putting them in the corner isn't going to stop them from disrupting the rest of the class.
      The article specifically said time-out ROOM not closet. There is quite a bit of difference.

      This is just another case of a bad parent trying to get a free ride from the taxpayers.

    2. Re: "imprisoned, student, time out room!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I really hope you're kidding. "Imprisoned" is the term used by the lawsuit. It's the word irresponsible people use to call discipline.

    3. Re: "imprisoned, student, time out room!?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's much like being "imprisoned" in the detention room/hall

  4. "Time out room" is iffy by SpuriousLogic · · Score: 1

    Giving a kid a "time-out" is totally acceptable. However, the use of the "time-out room" raises some concerns. There is not enough info in the news story, but some schools have a time-out room that would be appropriate only in a setting like a supermax prison. Here is a CNN article on what some of these rooms can be like: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/12/17/seclusion.rooms/index.html. Now I am not saying that is what this kid was in, but there is not enough info in the story to say one way or another. If MY kid was put into a cell like the one in the CNN story, I not only would sue in civil court, but I would also pursue criminal charges. However, if my kid was told to stand in a corner for a time-out, I would have NO issue with it.