Nice job, Fulton county. Glad to know I have such upstanding citizens working for my county.
Women Claim Secret Recording Shows They Were Fired For Being Pregnant – ABC News.
I don’t know what’s more disturbing: the really creepy math problems (consisting of ants nesting in human brains, children choking on marbles and dying…) or the fact that teachers just download their worksheets and lesson plans from random websites. Maybe we can give this guy the benefit of the doubt and hope that perhaps he forgot to read the problems before passing them out to his third graders?
This entire scandal surrounding a teacher playing 2 minutes of “Jackass 2″ is just ridiculous to me. Even more ridiculous are the comments on the Post & Courier’s website, the P&C article itself, and the actions of the Wando High School administration.
I generally just read the Charleston-area news, but sometimes there are stories that I just cannot refrain from commenting on. Years ago I contacted Lucy Beckham, Principal of Wando, through a detailed letter and later a phone conference regarding the high school’s lack of suicide prevention education and the school’s overall poor job of teaching students about bullying, depression, emotional distress, available counseling, and teen suicides. Prior events in the high school (regarding student suicides) had gotten me so worked up that I had to speak up.
This is another story that I just cannot sit by and watch unfold without speaking up. I highly doubt that a phone call or letter to the school would do much at this point (afterall, the administration didn’t change anything for the better years back after I contacted Mrs. Beckham, though I was told that my letter would prompt a change in school protocol…), so my thoughts will just have to be public when it comes to the story of Christopher Poston.
I guess you could say this is my “comment” underneath the P&C article:
I am an alumna of Wando High School, and though I did not have the pleasure of having Mr. Poston as a teacher, I have a sister, as well as many other friends, who did.
Mr. Poston has been described to me as the nicest, most caring teacher at Wando – someone who would take his students to low income schools so they could mentor young kids, someone who taught academic material as well as the value of character and community service. He was described to me as “the kindest person I’ve ever known – Every day I left his classroom wanting to be a better person.” My sister, in college now, says that Mr. Poston is the most influential teacher she has ever had – and that’s even in comparison to her university professors. She said this is because Mr. Poston taught his classes in nontraditional ways that actually got through to students, and he truly cared about the material he was sharing with the high schoolers. He knew everyone’s name, he always checked in with every one of his students, and he genuinely cared about the kids. He helped students who were bullied or having a difficult time, which is MUCH more than I can say about many of the other teachers.
Yes, he made a mistake. Yes, he shouldn’t have been watching “Jackass” on his computer and he shouldn’t have shared it with the class. But you know what? It’s really not that big of a deal. I had plenty of teachers (at Wando and at other schools I attended) who played YouTube videos at the end of class or told jokes that could be considered a bit risqué… and I’m pretty sure that I (and all of my fellow classmates) turned out fine. I’m sorry but these students are going to be going off to college soon and I’m sure they will experience A LOT more than viewing 2 minutes of an inappropriate video filled with sophomoric humor. Sorry, parents… continue plugging your ears and closing your eyes if you want to stay in denial.
The student who felt uncomfortable should not feel bad about telling her parents – she should be commended for speaking up. But the complaint was taken too far. This should not have been something reported to police, and this one small error in judgment does not merit termination from a job. The school should have been notified, disciplinary action should have been taken, and this would be over with. Additionally, I’m disappointed in both Wando and the Post and Courier for making this story into a much bigger deal than it should have been. “Sexually explicit video clips”? Come on. You’d think the guy set up a projector in the auditorium and aired graphic pornographic films to children by the P&C’s verbiage.
And to all the parents who think this one small inappropriate action should result in the firing of Mr. Poston: you truly need to open your eyes. Of all the problems in America’s public school systems, this is not high on the list of priorities. I’d much rather have my tax dollars support teachers such as Mr. Poston as opposed to ineffective, detached teachers that do not make any notable influences on our children. Every student that has known Mr. Poston absolutely adores him. Mr. Poston would never have garnered the incredible amount of support that he has from his students if he wasn’t an outstanding public servant. Everyone makes mistakes. Firing this man was not the proper way to handle this situation.
Additionally, many parents act appalled that a substitute teacher was not teaching the class or studying about education. I’m pretty sure the Mount Pleasant school district doesn’t have random Latin or German teachers sitting around just waiting to be called in to sub for an hour and a half. And I’m also sure that if you look at any other classroom with a substitute teacher, they aren’t doing much of anything at their desks either. Just saying…
And just to clear up a few things:
1. There is no comparison between this story and the Skip ReVille “pedophile” story. At this point you are just grasping at straws and trying to find a reason to bash this man.
2. This is not “x-rated” material, as some readers described it as. If this is considered “x-rated” in your book, maybe you shouldn’t open up any magazines or turn on the 5 o’clock news from now on… you may be exposed to something that isn’t quite “PG” rated.
3. For those of you calling Mr. Poston an “idiot,” “sexual predator,” and so forth: you do not know this man and you are publically dragging his name through the mud. Some of these comments are absolutely appalling. You would think from reading them that no one on this site has EVER made a mistake & feels entitled to judge anyone and everyone after reading ONE article.
I truly hope that this doesn’t drag on for longer than it needs to & that readers will take the time to realize what a small story this is in comparison to everything else going on in the world. The man made a mistake. But one error in judgment cannot overshadow the amazing things that he’s done for this community. Think about it: have YOU positively influenced as many lives as this man has? I doubt it.
Update:
Wando High teacher fired for showing R-rated movie in class
By Diette Courrégé
MOUNT PLEASANT — The Wando High School teacher who showed a class vulgar scenes from an R-rated movie lost his job Wednesday.
Sociology teacher Christopher Poston had been on paid administrative leave since Feb. 15 after a student told her mother she felt uncomfortable about Poston showing clips from “Jackass Number Two.” The parent informed school officials, who contacted police.
School officials released a statement Wednesday that Poston no longer worked for the district and they don’t disclose the details of personnel matters.
“We have very clear-cut policies and practices in place to ensure a standard of excellence in every school and classroom,” wrote Elliot Smalley, the district’s deputy of strategic planning and communications, in the statement.
Some of Poston’s supporters had started an online petition Monday afternoon that said he didn’t deserve to lose his job or reputation. By Wednesday, more than 1,500 people had signed it.
This story comes out of the high school I graduated from –
Students rally around teacher put on leave for showing ‘Jackass 2′
By Cameron Easley MT. PLEASANT, SC (WCSC) -
Students, former students, and others are rallying around a Wando High School teacher recently placed on administrative leave after reportedly showing scenes from the move “Jackass Number 2″ to some students in Latin class.
Many of 36-year-old Christopher Derek Poston’s supporters say he is one of the best teachers that Wando High School employs. One senior, Rebecca Powell, was so moved that she went to the website change.org on Monday night and filed a petition defending the teacher.
Rebecca writes, “Poston has changed hundreds of lives. However, the media and certain people have begun to tarnish his name and character. He does not deserve to have his job taken from him or his name ruined.”
The high-schooler woke up Tuesday morning to find that the petition had already been signed over 1,000 times. The petition holds more than 1,100 signatures.
“There’s teachers here that are like, we don’t get anything out of, but Poston actually is the only teacher that we’ve actually learned something for like later in life,” Powell said.
Powell says she started the online petition to bring Poston back to school.
“He admitted that he did wrong, but it should be a slap on the wrist and allow him to come back because he’s probably one of the most inspirational teachers here at Wando,” Powell said.
Powell doesn’t think it is fair that Poston’s in trouble for showing a video most high schoolers could find on the Internet.
“I think just about everyone I know has seen the movie,” said student Alex Myers. “I don’t know anyone that’s really offended by it.”
Along with the signatures, many supporters left messages expressing their gratitude for having learned from Poston. One woman, Carly Sparano, writes, “He is the best teacher I’ve had and has impacted the students more than any other teacher has or will at Wando.”
Poston was placed on leave after a parent told school administrators that her daughter was uncomfortable about an incident that happened in her Latin class where Poston, a full-time teacher at Wando, was covering for another teacher.
According to the parent, Poston was watching inappropriate videos on the Internet and put them on the Smart Board for the entire class to see.
On Feb. 15, Poston wrote a statement in reference to the incident and confirmed the allegations made. He stated that his actions were unexcusable.
Poston said that while the students were working, he began watching “Jackass 2″ from the computer. Poston said that when the students heard the noise, they asked Poston what he was watching.
According to Poston’s statement, he told them what he was watching and then placed the video on the Smart Board. Poston said when he saw how inappropriate it was becoming, he quickly turned it off.
He said he showed about 2 to 3 minutes of movie footage. According to Poston, he then opened up a PowerPoint called the “People of Walmart.” He said it showed people in Walmart in various forms and used it to express what society expects of people and how people break norms.
When school officials questioned Poston about the incident, Poston said that “Jackass 2″ got on the Charleston County computer laptop through his Amazon.com account.
This seems pretty ridiculous that pretty much every student is sticking up for this teacher, saying that he is one of the best teachers they’ve ever had, but one silly mistake puts him in hot water… and now he may lose his job??
I’m sorry, but these “kids” in his class are going to be going on to college shortly… I’m pretty sure they can handle an inappropriate video or two. Yes, he shouldn’t have been watching “Jackass 2″ while acting as a substitute teacher, but he turned it off after he realized how vulgar it was and he apologized for his mistake. I’m also pretty sure that every one of those students has watched this movie in the past or has access to this movie outside of school. They aren’t in elementary school anymore (gasp!).
Also, I had teachers (at this high school, even) who would show YouTube videos for fun at the end of class… and I can guarantee you that some of them were not G rated. They weren’t vulgar, but they weren’t exactly Disney clips either. And I’ve had teachers that told jokes that were a tad inappropriate… and I turned out just fine, thank you.
This teacher, Mr. Poston, made a mistake, but clearly he is a postive influence on all of his students, a very influential teacher, and a great asset to the high school. I had my fair share of terrible teachers (even at Wando) who were ineffective teachers who didn’t seem to care at all about their students outside of the classroom. Mr. Poston seems to be one of the few teachers that truly makes a lifelong impact on the teens he teaches, and Wando High School would be truly foolish to let him go.
One of his students has created a petition site to show support for Mr. Poston — click here to sign!
Assistant basketball coach for Syracuse, Bernie Fine, has been fired after new developments seem to indicate that he did, in fact, sexually abuse as many as three children. He was fired last night after a third man came forward and accused Fine of abusing him. Fine had been with the University for 36 years.
But this third victim coming forward is not the only new development in this case. This past weekend, ESPN released a phone recording between one of the alleged victims, Bobby Davis, and Bernie Fine’s wife Laurie. The recording seems to indicate that Laurie Fine knew about the child molestation.
According to CBS News:
“Bobby Davis, now 39, told ESPN that Fine molested him beginning in 1984 and that the sexual contact continued until he was around 27. A ball boy for six years, Davis told ESPN that the abuse occurred at Fine’s home, at Syracuse basketball facilities and on team road trips, including the 1987 Final Four.
“”Davis’ stepbrother, Mike Lang, 45, who also was a ball boy, told ESPN that Fine began molesting him while he was in fifth or sixth grade.
On Sunday, ESPN played an audiotape, obtained and recorded by Davis, of an October 2002 telephone conversation between him and Laurie Fine.
“Davis told ESPN he made the recording, which also has been given to Syracuse police, without her knowledge because he knew he needed proof for the police to believe his accusations. ESPN said it hired a voice recognition expert to verify the voice on the tape and the network said it was determined to be that of Laurie Fine.”
In the phone conversation, Laurie Fine says that she knew “everything that went on” and talks about how her husband should just “go to a place where there’s gay boys [...] and have it be over with.”
If this is the case, and Laurie Fine knew what her husband was doing, she deserves to be locked up as well. What kind of sick, disfunctional relationship was this??
This whole Penn State debacle is absolutely devastating and the decisions that have to be made after these allegations have come to light are not going to be easy. As much as I would love to say, “Joe Paterno made this university what it is today. More than 50 years at PSU shows that he is devoted and hard-working and a true inspiration. He is the face of Penn State football and should remain with the team for the rest of the season” … I just can’t. No matter how much love or respect I have for the man, I cannot forgive the fact that he did not step in and protect children against a sexual predator.
I don’t think anyone in their right mind should put Paterno (a symbol of the university, an integral part of the institution) ahead of the lives and innocence of at least 8 little boys. These boys are the victims — not Joe Paterno. In my mind he dug his own grave. It’s sad and it’s unfortunate and I don’t want the “JoePa era” to end this way, but he should have handled this situation differently.
This is why, as much as I feel for the PSU students, I am angered over their reaction to Paterno being fired. I understand that you love him and support him — but personal responsibility and moral obligations should still be a priority, no matter how famous and popular you are. I don’t care how many great things Paterno did for the university… his time is up. He should not be on the football field anymore. His reputation is tarnished. No one will be able to look at him the same.
What message are you sending if you allow Paterno to continue coaching? “Yes, Paterno knew that Sandusky was raping little boys, but he’s a great figure at PSU and we are loyal followers.” If that’s not idolatry then I don’t know what is.
Students destroying parts of campus and flipping over news vans is ridiculous. These kids need to sit down and straighten out their priorities. Football …or protecting children from sexual abuse and rape?
Additionally, I want to say one more thing. Everyone that has been fired from the university has deserved it, in my opinion. Paterno, the University President Graham Spanier, Athletic Director Timothy Curley, Vice President Gary Schultz — they all deserved to go. But another person needs to be fired: Mike McQueary. He is the graduate assistant who walked in on Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy. Yes, he told Paterno. But that’s IT?
How can you walk in on something like that and not try to stop it? If you walked in on Sandusky beating up a child, wouldn’t you intervene? If you came across someone raping a woman, would you not try to help? I don’t care if McQueary “reported” this incident to someone… he didn’t do enough.
How can you walk in on THIS…
According to a grand jury report, the graduate student entered a locker room on a Friday night in 2002 to stow away some sneakers.
“As the graduate student entered the locker room doors, he was surprised to find the lights and showers on,” the grand jury report stated. “He then heard rhythmic, slapping sounds.”
The assistant looked into the shower and “saw a naked boy … whose age he estimated to be 10 years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky,” the grand jury report stated.
…and not do anything??? It should also be noted that McQueary, after basically doing nothing asfter witnessing child rape, was then promoted and now holds a prominent coaching position at PSU. This Bleach Report article is 100% correct, in my opinion:
A lot of blame has been placed on Paterno [...] But McQueary deserves just as much blame.
This was essentially a cover-up by everyone involved that knew of Sandusky’s alleged wrongdoings. Sure, Paterno didn’t alert police of the matter after administration swept it under the rug. But McQueary also stood idly by when Sandusky continued to roam the campus.
If anything, McQueary was even more to blame than Paterno because he allegedly saw it first-hand, and Paterno only received the story from McQueary.
It all comes down to the fact that everyone knew something was up, but didn’t want to be the first to disgrace Penn State’s “clean” record or lose their jobs. In reality, they were disgraces themselves for allowing such unfathomable things to happen right in front of them.
I’m hoping we see McQueary ousted in the next day or two.
For now, let’s just pray for the true victims — the little boys who no one at PSU stood up for, whose innocence was stolen.
Interesting article on CNN.com. It’s about women & swearing in the workplace, a hot topic because of the recent over-email-firing of Yahoo’s CEO, Carol Bartz. She was infamous for her cursing and strong personality.
So what if a woman in power has a foul mouth and doesn’t hold back? More power to her. You don’t like it? Too f—ing bad. This chick is a bad*ss b*tch.
I bolded some of the best links from the article. You’re welcome.
Women, swearing and the workplace
(CNN) — It’s not every day you read about one top-level executive asking another where his balls are. But in the end, former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz lived up to her reputation for “salty language” and candid management style.
Since Bartz’s very public departure from Yahoo last week, her penchant for blunt, profane language have become recurring themes in discussions of her career, driving conversation about what women can and can’t be in the workplace.
“It stands out because it’s not expected,” said Deborah Tannen, a linguistics professor at Georgetown University and author of “You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation.”
“We always take notice of what’s unexpected and women are still not expected to curse, so when they do, its noticed more.”
Bartz got the ball rolling when she called the board members that fired her a bunch of “doofuses” who “f—– me over” in her first public comments after the now infamous firing-by-phone. Those statements came two days after Yahoo chairman Roy Bostock called her on her cell phone last Tuesday to deliver the news. In response, she sent an e-mail to Yahoo’s 14,000 colleagues telling them “I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s chairman of the board,” and wishing them the best.
Since then, tales of her “characteristically salty language” and perceived abrasiveness have peppered the post-mortems on her two-year tenure, which many seem to agree ended due to her failure to boost revenue and lack of long-term vision. Even The Wall Street Journal published an amusing compilation of “Carol Bartz’s Best Quotes,” a testament to how her “crude honesty” and “blue language” became part of her brand.
“What do I look for when hiring? Well, let’s get past the assumption that they can do the job. There has to be a no-a—— rule,” she said in a 2010 interview with Esquire titled, “Hi, I’m Carol Bartz… Are You an A——?“
The attention devoted to Bartz’s candor, profane or otherwise, reflects the double-bind faced by women in the business world, especially those in high positions, Tannen said.
“If women talk in ways expected of them or project a feminine demeanor, its seen as weak. But if they talk in ways associated with men or bosses, then they’re seen as too aggressive,” she said. “Whatever they do violates one or the other expectation, either you’re not talking as you should as a women or as boss.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, if you believe women are treated differently than men, Tannen and others think that a dirty-mouthed man would not receive as much attention for his blue language as Bartz has.
“For people to call it ‘salty language’ shows how we’re uncomfortable talking about women who swear. I don’t think anyone would describe a rapper’s language as being salty,” said former Nickelodeon executive Anne Kreamer, whose book, “It’s Always Personal: Emotions in the New Workplace,” came out this year.
The fact that Bartz was known for swearing, crying and confrontations also reflects the tight-lipped, button-upped culture pervading corporate America, Kreamer said. In researching her book, “Emotions in the Workplace,” Kreamer said she found that 60% of employees reported never seeing their bosses get angry or display any kind of unpleasant emotion.
“People are barely keeping it together and that’s why this becomes a conversation point because everyone wants to be able to publicly flip off the boss one way or another. But you swallow it because you don’t want to lose your job,” she said.
Not everyone considers swearing in the workplace appropriate, said Charles Conine, who runs Consilium, an employee and labor relations consulting service. But standards vary depending on whether the workplace is a corporate office in Silicon Valley or a battlefield in Afghanistan.
Yahoo isn’t known for its culture of confrontation, which could be why Bartz’s actions — while at Yahoo and in her public flipping-off of its board — still has power to shock the public, Kreamer said.
“We go through these Kabuki-like dances of ways to save face in corporate America,” Kreamer said.
“The way she simply said, ‘I’ve been fired’ was brilliantly refreshing. She said it as blunt as she did because she was pissed off, and we rarely see that.”
