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Charges Dropped: Mom Puts Recorder In Child’s Backpack To Catch Bullying, Now Faces Felony Charge

Sugar Cookie

Sugar Cookie

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The mother of a Norfolk student turned to television station WAVY after she was charged by police.

“I tried to be fair, but it’s not fair,” said Sarah Sims. “There is nothing fair about this.”

In late September, Sims says she had enough. She told WAVY her 9-year-old daughter was getting bullied at Ocean View Elementary. She says repeated calls and emails to the school were not returned.

“The thing that bothers me the most is that I am yet to get a response from anyone in the administration,” Sims added.

Sims says she took actions into her own hands. She wanted to prove that nothing was being done to help her 4th-grade daughter. She put a digital recorder into her daughter’s backpack in hopes of catching audio from inside the classroom.

“If I’m not getting an answer from you, what am I left to do?” she asked.

The recorder was found. The 9-year-old was moved to a new classroom and about a month later Sims was charged by police.

“I was mortified,” Sims said. “The next thing I know, I’m a felon. Felony charges and a misdemeanor when I’m trying to look out for my kid. What do you do?”

WAVY contacted Norfolk Schools and we were told because it is a pending investigation no one could comment on what happened. We were told that in elementary schools, no electronic devices are allowed.

“They aren’t making this about that classroom,” said Sims’ attorney Kristin Paulding. “[These] are charges that carry jail time.”

Sims was charged with felony use of device to intercept oral communication and misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The felony charge could carry five years in prison.

“Instead of comforting her she’s going to a magistrate and being handcuffed,” Paulding added.

Paulding calls the two charges a stretch. She believes neither should hold up in court.
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http://wspa.com/2017/11/22/mom-puts...ck-to-catch-bullying-now-faces-felony-charge/

Should mom be prosecuted?
 
The only way to deal with it now is to change schools. That's what families are having to do here, because the schools absolutely will not handle bullying issues. I hate to say this, but it really does appear if the bully is a minority (here, either black or hispanic) the schools are hesitant to approach it. I'm not talking about getting "picked on", but full on physical and sexual assaults right down to curb stomping just being ignored by schools. They get away with it when there are no security cameras to catch the action inside or outside the classroom.

That's just one of the reasons I support my daughter-in-law staying home and teaching them herself. I honestly believe they will receive a better education than they ever would at public school. I'm sure there are some great schools somewhere out there, but not in my area.
 
What are they doing inside that classroom that makes recording it a felony? I'm glad neither of my boys were bullied.

My oldest had problems with a teacher bullying him because he had a hard time climbing stairs and was late to class a few times. He had Osgood-Schlatter's and his left knee stayed swollen most of the time, he was just sitting down into his desk and she grabbed his knee and squeezed it, I hit the roof when I found out. She didn't mess with him after that.
 
Mom should contact the local newspaper (and refuse to leave till they hear her whole story)
The most powerful tool she has is her voice and the school's exposure in the papers.

She should sue the lot of them...win or lose, she'll send them some payback.
 
She is a better more patient woman then me ..
I would have probably went to the source (kids parents) and beat the shit out of them.

Then we would have a valid felony.
 
I happened upon this thread at reddit which explains a lot about why nothing is being done about violent students.

https://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/7eiqtm/teachers_resign_due_to_student_violence/

Here's some excerpts.
My dad taught public school for 37 years and retired in 2007, he's relieved he got out when he did because he sees how upset his former colleagues have become over their inability to deal with classroom issues anymore. When my dad was a principal in the late 80s/early 90s he had to remove a student from a classroom and that student repeatedly kicked him in the shins with cowboy boots, bruised my dad up pretty bad. The student's dad came in and took him home, but didn't think his kid did anything wrong. Kid got a short suspension but that was it.

My brother-in-law went to college to be a teacher, and ended up only spending about 1-2 months in the career before he quit because it's devolved so badly, he was completely surrounded by abusive middle schoolers and had zero support from his administration. Teachers have absolutely zero authority or control over their classrooms, they cannot discipline students at all because the risk is too high. And students know this too. They know a teacher can't lay a hand on them or reprimand them or do anything at all because the parents are relishing the opportunity to slap an abuse allegation against the teacher and tie the district up in a lawsuit.

It's like being a teacher in 2017 means losing your personhood, you have no rights just because you're dealing with individuals who are younger and/or smaller.
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I recently quit at the school I was working at in South Central. I had a kid hit me and his punishment was to have in school suspension with his advisory teacher all day. The best part? I was his advisory teacher. Not only did I have the same kid who assaulted me in my class all day, but I was also trying to teach my classes while he disrupted every 10 minutes. It was a nightmare.
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At our school if a student hits a teacher he/she gets 1-2 days suspension. That is all. Second offense, same thing, third offense, same. And on and on it goes. If a teacher even touches a student, fired, charges, jail time. We didn't go to college for all those year to become a punching bag for some unruly kid. We have teachers that were still in the hospital when the kids suspension was over and he was back in school. If there are no consequences expect no change.
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The culture of public school acts in constant fear of lawsuit and evaluation. Yet, we wonder why we can't get these kids to make any progress.

I ran the suspension room at a high school for a few years at a rural/suburban school. I took the job to get my foot in the door for a full-time teaching position. It was a mistake. They would not hire me for any of the positions that opened up in my subject area each year because I was simply too good at dealing with their troubled kids.

I didn't take any of their shit. I didn't show them any fear over the threat of violence and guaranteed them that they'd be sorry if they got violent (Nobody called my bluff, thank god). I never talked down to them or like I was superior in any way. We would always start the day by discussing what got them suspended in the first place and how it could have been handled differently. By the time I left that job, there were a handful of the most troublesome students that would only follow my redirection and would only do their school work for me.
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It's even worse than this. My wife teaches 9th and 12th grade civics at a marginal high school, and these kids who, in my day, would have been just called criminals, are now designated as some sort of special needs/untouchable status (they have emotional troubles etc) and as a result it is forbidden to suspend them or to even punish them.

This gives an already out of control kid a green light to be a complete terrorist. No repercussions. Zero
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The problem is that a bunch of social justice people noticed that more kids in rougher schools and lower level classes, predominately non-white and non-wealthy, were getting suspended more often than white kids in better schools/classes and immediately cried "racism," turning number of suspensions into a number used to evaluate schools/administrators.

The result has been that they reserve those punishments for the most egregious offenses, and even then they cut the duration.

I taught at a "good school," but there was still a massive difference in behavior between upper level kids, whose parents wanted them to go to college, and lower level classes where the parents (if they were in the picture) just wanted them to not be in the house for 6 hours a day. One kid, a constant problem whose mom was utterly worthless, screamed at a teacher "FUCK YOU!! GO SUCK A DICK AND DIE!!" Kid got ONE DAY SUSPENSION. After that he knew he was pretty much untouchable. He faced no consequences at home and knew that being a cunt got him a free day off.

I hate the movement that focuses so much on not being to harsh on the perpetrators that it forgets the victims - the other kids in class who do want to learn and who comment on how much better class is every time one of the asshole kids is out.
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Anecdotal, but my wife had to leave a school mid-year because the school wouldn't (as opposed to couldn't) do anything about problem kids. Essentially the school doesn't get money for a kid if they aren't there, including if the kid is suspended for fighting so the school is financially motivated to minimize punishments to the point where passing notes and punching throats receives the same punishment.

In addition administrators have an interest in making their own record look better to allow them to obtain more prestigious and better paying positions. By refusing to suspend or report violence they can say "Under my leadership suspensions were down 20% and we never had to call the police about problem children" which enables them to move up the ladder every 2-3 years.

The last straw was when my wife got tackled by a kid when she was trying to call the office for assistance and the kid was back in her classroom by the end of the day talking about how he "beat up Ms. Domeil and got away with it." But when another kid kicked the assistant principle in the shin the following week the second kid was suspended for a week.
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School culture is way different now. If a teacher so much as saw our cellphone when I was a student (and not every student even had a cellphone) they could take it away for however long they pleased. When we got home, our parents would say "too bad." This year, we were given explicit guidance by our AP not to touch or collect cellphones. We just have to hope the students abide by our rules. The logic is that admin is so afraid that damage may come to the phone (or the phone may already be damaged, have you seen a teenager's phone these days?) that the parents will immediately blame the school. Admin figures if they have a strict policy of not taking cell phones, it's the teacher's fault for taking the phone to begin with and breaking school rules.

Luckily, I'm in a great school right now. But at my old school, the rules were so screwed up that I was miserable as a teacher. I was an AP science teacher. There was no attendance policy. No such thing as class prerequisites. No such thing as a grade below a 60 for anything handed in, 40 for anything not handed in. My class was filled with students who were completely unprepared to take my class, it was a wonder as many passed the end of year exam as they did. When I complained to admin and counselors about the types of students I was getting, I was told I wasn't trying hard enough to get them to pass.

If a student misbehaved, admin didn't have my back at all. They were so scared of backlash from the community that they figured they'd rather have teachers quit than have the community badmouth them. When I told other teachers I was quitting from that school, they started saying things like "good for you, getting out while you still can" and "wish I could leave. I don't really have anywhere to go."

There is so much broken with our education system here in the US, and our government consistently ignores teachers when trying to figure out how to fix our system. It's a shame, but most people, whenever the conversations begin, just tell us that we knew what we were signing up for when we took on the position.
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A good friend of mine is a retired history teacher.
He took early retirement after being burtally assaulted in his classroom by a student.
The school and school board gave him instructions he was not to pursue charges.
His union did zero for him.
He took retirement the following year after giving his best years and being recognized as an outstanding educator.

Schools have become mob rule.
Many students are now just felons and brutish thugs.
There should be no special protections for young people committing adult crimes.

In this case on DD the mom did her level headed best to gather evidence in a bid to get justice and protect her 9 year old.
She should never have been charged.
 
cubby said:
What are they doing inside that classroom that makes recording it a felony? I'm glad neither of my boys were bullied.

My oldest had problems with a teacher bullying him because he had a hard time climbing stairs and was late to class a few times. He had Osgood-Schlatter's and his left knee stayed swollen most of the time, he was just sitting down into his desk and she grabbed his knee and squeezed it, I hit the roof when I found out. She didn't mess with him after that.
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Oh no ma'am. I would have fucked a bitch up. I hope your son is doing good!
 
Oh yeah, he's good, he's 37 now, working everyday as Utility Technician Supervisor with underground electrical cables. His knees still hurt and swell, but he never stops. He recently baked a cake for his wife for her birthday, it was wonderful and a mess all at the same time. :D
 
My 17 year old has issues that we have always tried to stay on top of.A lot of them stem from him being bullied.One time he snapped badly because a kid had tormented him all year then trashed his plant he was trying to grow in Ag class.The kid wasn't even hurt badly but my kid got expelled for a third of the year and had criminal charges against him.
 
I need more info about this law she violated. I dont understand how this is illegal? Feels like a very bizarre law. You can be arrested for recording someone? Would it matter if the people were aware they were being recorded? If so, then perhaps she should simply let the school know that from here on out, they will be recorded every single day their daughter is in their presence.
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Salepo said:
My 17 year old has issues that we have always tried to stay on top of.A lot of them stem from him being bullied.One time he snapped badly because a kid had tormented him all year then trashed his plant he was trying to grow in Ag class.The kid wasn't even hurt badly but my kid got expelled for a third of the year and had criminal charges against him.
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He sounds like a real thug
 
Send all unruly, rude, loudmouthed kids to....to..to.... CATHOLIC SCHOOL!. (even if they're Jewish)*
I was in St Joseph's Prison for teenaged girls, FOUR years of my life I can't get back....big biker nuns sure jerked a knot in my tail.

At least I was spared being taught by J.. J.. JESUITS. Jesuits were the "witch finders" in the "burning times" (middle ages). They're still pouting and looking for Satan's minions.
 
Its funny..The Police, Government and Schools can run a camera or sound recorder all they want and turn it off and on at will. If a citizen wants to record them it's against the law.
 
Teachers should get paid more
Teachers should have more power over unruly students
Remember bad attitude starts at home.
The fucking lottery was suppose to help with rsise s and better education.
Nope it hasn't
You have to trust teachers 6 hours a day with your children ...
You get bad kids send them off to other schools
No child should restort to hitting another child ..
Disciplinary actions should be In place
For bad kids ...
I blame a lot of that bad attitude on the parents and their lack of proper discipline
On their children

Its not worth being a teacher in this day especially in poor city's
 
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When our spawn were starting school, I signed up to be a "volunteer" teacher....I had a degree and offered to be a substitute. After ONE day in a 3rd grade classroom I was crazed and almost incoherent. I whimpered and begged God to pleeze tell me what I had done to deserve this.

Teachers everywhere...YOU ARE THE BRAVEST PEOPLE ALIVE!
 
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