If they can't control our kids under normal means, then do what it takes! It states he is scared to act up in her class again- sounds like mission accomplished!

Parent outraged over teacher using rope as ‘leash’

By Curt Yeomans

cyeomans@news-daily.com



Julie Kennedy was shocked by her 10-year old son’s confession that his teacher at B.C. Haynie Elementary School in Morrow “tied him up like an animal” on an Oct. 26 field trip to the Atlanta History Center.

Her son’s fourth grade class was warned by their teacher before the trip that she would tie the children up with a jump rope if they misbehaved.

The children didn’t take her seriously, but she made good on her threat, according to Kennedy, when Kennedy’s son walked over to another boy in his class at the beginning of the tour and struck up a conversation.

Kennedy’s son was one of five children in the class, who had the jump rope tied around their wrists and were led around the museum by the teacher.

Kennedy, who withheld her son’s name, said he kept the incident to himself until he was having a conversation with his older sister Monday night, and decided to finally admit what had happened. While her son was not injured in the incident, he told his mother that the teacher finally released the children when one boy’s wrists were hurt by the restraint, because he couldn’t keep up with the others.

“I can’t imagine what my son has gone through since this happened,” Kennedy said. “He told me he’s been scared to act up in this particular teacher’s class, because he didn’t want to be tied up again. As a parent, I’m very disturbed by this happening, not just to my son, but other students as well.”

Clayton County Public Schools spokesman Charles White said officials are currently investigating the incident, and will decide what to do when they have reviewed all of the evidence. The investigation will involve interviewing the teacher, Kennedy, her son and other students and teachers who may have been involved, or witnessed the incident.

White said the school system does not intend to release the name of the teacher involved, but he acknowledged she “took action not in keeping with the standard discipline code of B.C. Haynie Elementary School or Clayton County Public Schools.”

White also said it was determined through a preliminary investigation that the teacher did not intend to hurt any of the students. He said she asked the students if she had tied the rope too tightly, and loosened it if they said she had. “It’s my understanding that the rope was tied pretty loosely, anyway,” he said.

Kennedy said she met with officials from the school and the teacher Tuesday to discuss the incident. She said the teacher admitted to tying the children with the rope.

“She stated she meant no malicious harm and that she wasn’t looking to embarrass the students,” Kennedy said. “So I asked how she would feel if I tied her up by her wrist and paraded her around the school in front of her peers.”

Kennedy said she talked to Kate Whitman, senior manager of public programs for the Atlanta History Center, Tuesday morning to inquire about the incident and found out that the tour guide for the group had reported the incident to Whitman the day it happened. Whitman could not be reached for comment later Tuesday, but AHC spokesperson, Hillary Hardwick, confirmed that Whitman had talked to Kennedy.

Hardwick added that teachers, who bring their classes to the museum, sign a contract saying they are responsible for the behavior and discipline of their students. While there are security guards at the museum, they only get involved if they see “radically different behavior,” according to Hardwick.

“Every teacher handles their class differently and it’s not our place to tell them how to do that,” Hardwick said. “There were other parents and teachers with that group that day. If one of them had come up to someone from the museum and said that what the teacher was doing was not normal for that school or for the school system, then we would have gotten involved.”

Kennedy also met with Morrow Police Department officials to file a report. Morrow police, however, wouldn’t have jurisdiction in the case, because the incident took place in Atlanta.

Meanwhile, Kennedy had a message for other parents: “I’m going to do everything legally in my power to prevent this from ever happening to a student in Clayton County again.”