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School is
Not Survivor
Friday,
May 30, 2008
Think back
to your years in school. Imagine your teacher brings you in
front of the class and lets everyone say everything bad about
you that they can. Now imagine that the teacher tells your
classmates to vote on whether you get to stay in class, or
whether you will be kicked out. Imagine that your class mates
vote overwhelmingly that you must leave, and you are sent to the
nurse’s office for the rest of the day.
Now imagine you are only five years old and in kindergarten, you
have autism, and interacting with others is very difficult for
you.
This could never happen in
America today, right? Wrong.
This is no figment of the imagination. It happened last week
in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
The full story can be read on The Arc of Indiana’s web site: http://www.arcind.org/national_and_state_news.htm
School is not Survivor. There is no voting off the
island because the group does not like you. This is public
school, where students should be learning the importance of
accepting differences in others, and learning how to get along
with people from all walks of life – including those with
disabilities.
Can there be any positive that comes from such a story?
Perhaps. This is not about one child, one teacher, one
classroom. It is about all of our kids. If this serves as a
wake up call to parents, educators, and children that all need
to work together to respect and support all kids, perhaps some
good can come from such a sad story.
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