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Teacher tells suicidal 8th grader to "carve deeper next time", keeps job

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Tarazet

Member
Gildor said:
Agreed. The teacher was probably just joking around. It was probably bad judgment, but I don't think he should be fired.

And I suppose you don't think those bankers who lost their minds to the tune of several trillion dollars should be fired either.
 

Brobzoid

how do I slip unnoticed out of a gloryhole booth?
Gaf's all out-raged out after the kittenz, hm?

If publicly mocking a suicidal teen isn't enough to get a teacher fired I don't understand what is. Does he need to have a sexual relationship with the boy first?
 
xS1TH L0RDx said:
How do you fuck up killing yourself, and NOT have it be a cry for help?

Good for the teacher, would've said the same thing.

You should never be allowed to teach or be in direct supervision of children. Like never ever.

You even acknowledge its a cry for help but still wouldn't give help in the appropriate fashion. Which is pretty disturbing.
 

JCX

Member
I remember one of my middle school teachers telling was how she couldn't jokingly say "I'm going to kill you" to a student now because of how sensitive people act now.

Funny that gaf is outraged over a kitten considering how many the collective kills each day.
 
xS1TH L0RDx said:
How do you fuck up killing yourself, and NOT have it be a cry for help?

Good for the teacher, would've said the same thing.

It's a cry for help and you think this is a good measure? Good god, man, I hope you're not in any position to provide advice or help to anybody.

Seriously, even if the kid was just a cutter, that's still a very serious problem that the teacher should deal with on a discrete, professional level; to make fun of a kid for either suicide or self-injury is severely fucked up and entirely the wrong response to such issues.

How anybody can defend this teacher is beyond me (unless he's being entirely misrepresented in this article, which I suppose is possible).
 

GaimeGuy

Volunteer Deputy Campaign Director, Obama for America '16
All you people sayinig this was the right thing to do:

If you had a suicidal friend , relative, or child yourself, that you would tell them to kill themselves, too? You honestly think that's the right thing to do, especially when they're not bluffing, as they've already shown they're willing to go through with it, as they've tried to slit their wrists?
 

legend166

Member
Between people defending this teacher, and people defending child porn in that other thread, I think GAF has completely gone over the edge.
 
failing to kill himself and then showing it off in front of the whole class? the kid wanted attention, but the teacher should have ignored him, the other kids would ridicule him enough
 

schick85

Member
myDingling said:
I know you don't know all the context, but this is a school in Ktown in LA. These kids CANNOT afford a therapist. They wouldn't know the first place to go get one. Teachers are some of the few people these kids see everyday that might actually give a damn and help them out when they're in a rut. A bullshit teacher who does the exact opposite deserves what's coming to him. It's not a matter of personal responsibility on behalf of the kid, geez.

Why isn't it his responsibility? 'cause he's depressed? Afterall, weren't you the one that said 14 was the new 18?
Well, I don't know what kind of fairy tale you live in, but where I grew up, you NEVER gave in like that.
 

Heretic

Member
Well, he does go there to learn...

Am i too late? had this tab open since the morning

EDIT: Not too late! didn't check to see if someone beat me to it though =p
 

Gattsu25

Banned
A kindergarten teacher told my brother to jump out of a second story window, back when I used to live in Far Rockaway. She opened the window, too.

She kept her job, and the private school even told my family we were no longer 'welcome' to continue attending. The teacher felt my parent's relationship (black / white) was 'wrong'.
 

Ether_Snake

安安安安安安安安安安安安安安安
Most haters here will never ever have kids.

Haters.

Die miserable and alone, when you're too old to go back and change anything.
 
legend166 said:
Between people defending this teacher, and people defending child porn in that other thread, I think GAF has completely gone over the edge.
No one defended child porn in the other topic.

Anyways, I think there's a difference between literally severing off a kitten's hind foot and a kid who was verbally harassed by his teacher for being suicidal. This teacher did have a poor choice of words but the reaction here is not surprising until, and I mean only until, there's a news story that the kid killed himself because of this. Only then will the reaction ubiquitously change in favor of all of us wanting this teacher's blood.
 

whitehawk

Banned
..pakbeka.. said:
failing to kill himself and then showing it off in front of the whole class? the kid wanted attention, but the teacher should have ignored him, the other kids would ridicule him enough
For the love of god, please never have children. Don't even babysit.
 

GriffD17

Member
Basch said:
I just stopped my brother's third suicide attempt this morning. This just made my day worse. :(
Sorry to hear about that man. Good luck with getting your brother some help. I'm as outraged as you at this piece of shit teacher.
 

Kogepan

Member
eznark said:
The guy was just inspiring and educating. What is the problem here?

The kid was begging for attention and the teacher gave it to him.

yeh, thats what teachers are for. To be a smartass so the the rest of the cool kids have something to laugh about.
 

SapientWolf

Trucker Sexologist
jett said:
If that's your idea of kidding around then you too are probably fucked in the head.
You probably have to be a little fucked in the head to deal with that kind of stuff on a daily basis. Nurse/doctor/soldier humor is almost as bad. You either get a callous or you end up with emotional scars.
 

bumpkin

Member
Okay, for the record, I'm not condoning suicide. But if you think your life sucks that bad and think death is your only answer, then whatever, do what you will. My older sister tried to commit suicide when I was in eighth grade; she was 18 and I was 13. I did not know what to make of it. I even blamed myself for it even happening. My mother tells me that I said to her, "if only I had stayed up and paid closer attention to what she was doing." I basically woke up for school to find my mother and sister weren't home, thought nothing of it, went to school, and then halfway through the day I got called down to the guidance counselor's office where my parents were waiting and told me what happened.

My sister survived, thankfully, but she has done nothing but use suicide threats as leverage with my parents ever since. My parents basically have been her prisoner -- in a manner of speaking -- ever since. My sister will never move out, she will never get her life together, and she'll probably be a burden on my parents until the day they die.

But... Here's the thing; people like this kid use suicide as a tool to get attention. They don't think of how it hurts the people who love them. Typically all they think about is how sorry they feel for themselves and that the world should throw pity at 'em. So I'm not at all sympathetic to the people who think the teacher was wrong. It sounds like sound advice to me.
 

Basch

Member
GriffD17 said:
Sorry to hear about that man. Good luck with getting your brother some help. I'm as outraged as you at this piece of shit teacher.

We have... twice. We're trying one-on-one therapy this time. He hates being institutionalized and group therapy. I'm basically his suicide watch for the remainder of the summer.

I'm not as much outraged as I am scared. My brother is pretty fragile right now. He gets super depressed lately and one careless comment such as the above ("carve deeper next time") could send him over the edge. At the same time, I understand I can't protect him from everything. So I'm mostly just scared. I try, but that's all I can do. Hopefully, this doesn't happen again.

Anybody know for sure if this was a plea for attention from the kid? In the case of my brother, he wanted to read us his suicide notes, visit the site he was to take his life, and return the gun he had bought from a pawn shop to prove that it was over (on his own free will... didn't quite happen that way). He didn't want to keep anymore secrets from us: keep everything to himself. This may be a similar situation, minus the resolution (poor kid).
 

Tim-E

Member
xS1TH L0RDx said:
How do you fuck up killing yourself, and NOT have it be a cry for help?

Good for the teacher, would've said the same thing.

I really fucking hope you don't have children.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Time to spike his water with lithium: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8025454.stm

Joking aside, though, this teacher's an asshole. Totally out of line and unprofessional. That he isn't fired is a sad indicator that those involved are more concerned with their own job security than the welfare of the children they're paid to educate and protect.
 

Aske

Member
bumpkin said:
But... Here's the thing; people like this kid use suicide as a tool to get attention. They don't think of how it hurts the people who love them. Typically all they think about is how sorry they feel for themselves and that the world should throw pity at 'em. So I'm not at all sympathetic to the people who think the teacher was wrong. It sounds like sound advice to me.

So people are either genuinely suicidal and Darwin will take care of them; or they're attention seeking, manipulative narcissists who don't care who they hurt as long as they win attention?

Those two extremes do not cover the broad spectrum of mental heath issues that can result in a suicide attempt.

Let's say the kid does just want attention. It's impossible to know whether this is because he's been or being abused, depressed and having fun fucking with people, depressed and genuinely seeking an emotional outlet, a spoilt brat hungry for empty validation, suffering from an unidentified mental health disorder, simply confused, or sincere in his desire to die but checked by the innate instinct of self preservation; just to name a few possibilities.

Is it reasonable to treat every self-harming, attention-seeking kid with callous disregard just because a percentage of them are brats?

As for your sister, she might have become spoilt by your parents, but that doesn't negate what might be a genuine mental health disorder that set the whole thing in motion and still affects her to this day. Perhaps she could be treated to the point at which she can live a normal life if your parents took her to the right professionals, and if they stopped enabling her behaviour. Perhaps not. They might believe her continued existence outweighs the financial burden of keeping her, and it's reasonable of them to choose not to gamble with her life if that's the way they feel - in spite of how bratty she's become.
 
Sounds like the TA was out to get the teacher.

If the teacher was joking around no biggie. Back in high school we loved the teachers that would actually joke around every now and then. On paper the story sounds horrible, but we don't know what his class' atmospheres are like, nor how much he might joke around with the students and vice versa.

We don't know anything else about this teacher -- yet you guys want him fired? Fuck off.
 

Zhuk

Banned
The Teacher was using sarcasm and having a joke, he shouldnt be fired or reprimanded, i'm tired of all the politically correct bullshit that's running our lives these days
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
Zhuk said:
The Teacher was using sarcasm and having a joke, he shouldnt be fired or reprimanded, i'm tired of all the politically correct bullshit that's running our lives these days

Yeah, let's joke around by kicking a kid that's obviously already down. Haha. What a hero. I wish more people were like him.
 

KevinCow

Banned
Mockingbird said:
Sounds like the TA was out to get the teacher.

If the teacher was joking around no biggie. Back in high school we loved the teachers that would actually joke around every now and then. On paper the story sounds horrible, but we don't know what his class' atmospheres are like, nor how much he might joke around with the students and vice versa.

We don't know anything else about this teacher -- yet you guys want him fired? Fuck off.
A teacher who likes to joke around is great, but he should know the line. Making fun of a kid who's just tried to kill himself, especially in front of other people, is just unacceptable, regardless of the situation.
 

SnakeXs

about the same metal capacity as a cucumber
neorej said:
Yeah, let's joke around by kicking a kid that's obviously already down. Haha. What a hero. I wish more people were like him.

Uh, what's the worst that could happen? He try again? Either he's chronically depressed and will be watched and drugged up for a good while, or he gets over it and in the mean time in watched anywho.
 

neorej

ERMYGERD!
SnakeXs said:
Uh, what's the worst that could happen? He try again? Either he's chronically depressed and will be watched and drugged up for a good while, or he gets over it and in the mean time in watched anywho.

How about a little respect? You don't go offer an alcoholic a drink to celebrate to got out of rehab. I could imagine this kind of behavior from schoolpeers, but a teacher should know fucking better. Unless it's the kind of guy that was picked on when he was in school, tries to be "the cool teacher" now, and a saw a clean shot to get his rep up.

They shouldn't fire the teacher, they should drag his ass down a 100-steps stairs with a dragracingcar.

Teachers should look out for the welbeing of the pupils they are entrusted with, not kick a kid when he/she is already down.
 

Dead Man

Member
SnakeXs said:
Uh, what's the worst that could happen? He try again? Either he's chronically depressed and will be watched and drugged up for a good while, or he gets over it and in the mean time in watched anywho.
What the fuck? What do you think is the worst that could happen? You fucking dolt!
 

Monocle

Member
Threads like this one often seem to compel Callous Nutjob-Age to come crawling out of the woodwork. Let's be real, people. An educator has no business talking to one of his wards in such a way. Nor does any decent human being to any other. When a person comes to you with a serious problem, the correct thing to do is offer aid in whatever way you can, not intentionally worsen their situation and try to dismiss your sadism with obscene blame-the-victim sophistry. The fact that this has to be spelled out for some of you is worrying.
 

Monocle

Member
evil solrac v3.0 said:
GAF needs to stop with the fake indifference and with the fake indignation at the indifferent posters, threads are becoming a bore to read....
You're saying that GAF has failed its one and only function: to entertain you? Oh noes!
 

legend166

Member
Witchfinder General said:
Fuck, an eight-year-old child shouldn't even know what suicide is let alone know which actions to take to end his own life.


8th grader. The kid was probably 13 or 14.
 

Calcaneus

Member
The teacher is totally wrong here. Sure, I like teachers that joke around like everyone else, but my best teachers in middle-high school knew where the line was. Its fun to joke with a class clown or a nerd that is willing to take it and joke back with you, but if a kid comes to you with visible scars telling you he tried to commit suicide? How dumb do you have to be to see that as a good time to tease the kid about it in front of all his asshole classmates?
 
Ninja99 said:
Threads like this one often seem to compel Callous Nutjob-Age to come crawling out of the woodwork. Let's be real, people. An educator has no business talking to one of his wards in such a way. Nor does any decent human being to any other. When a person comes to you with a serious problem, the correct thing to do is offer aid in whatever way you can, not intentionally worsen their situation and try to dismiss your sadism with obscene blame-the-victim sophistry. The fact that this has to be spelled out for some of you is worrying.

whysoseriousbanner03sec.gif
 

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Calcaneus said:
The teacher is totally wrong here. Sure, I like teachers that joke around like everyone else, but my best teachers in middle-high school knew where the line was. Its fun to joke with a class clown or a nerd that is willing to take it and joke back with you, but if a kid comes to you with visible scars telling you he tried to commit suicide? How dumb do you have to be to see that as a good time to tease the kid about it in front of all his asshole classmates?

Thanks.

Anyone who commends this teacher for this or finds it witty has likely never had to deal with someone dear to them who was in such a situation, or is incredibly 'for-the-lulz'-style immature.
 

Walshicus

Member
whitehawk said:
Dude. Kick yourself right now because you are an inconsiderate douche bag.
No, thankyou. Why should I be considerate to some guy I don't know? Right to life - right to death. Enough people live and keep going *every day* in situations far worse than that kid will ever experience. Enough people die against their wishes in hellish circumstances... that expecting sympathy from some brat too stupid to see how damned lucky he is to be growing up in paradise is, frankly, pushing it.
 

Calcaneus

Member
Sir Fragula said:
No, thankyou. Why should I be considerate to some guy I don't know? Right to life - right to death. Enough people live and keep going *every day* in situations far worse than that kid will ever experience. Enough people die against their wishes in hellish circumstances... that expecting sympathy from some brat too stupid to see how damned lucky he is to be growing up in paradise is, frankly, pushing it.
The kid probably has mental problems, and hearing those things from his teacher would probably fuck him up.

Why does everyone on the internet automatically assume that every suicidal teen is an attention seeking brat?
 

eznark

Banned
Calcaneus said:
The kid probably has mental problems, and hearing those things from his teacher would probably fuck him up.

Why does everyone on the internet automatically assume that every suicidal teen is an attention seeking brat?

I assume he is an attention seeking brat because he showed his class his scars and bragged about trying to kill himself.
 

Walshicus

Member
Calcaneus said:
The kid probably has mental problems, and hearing those things from his teacher would probably fuck him up.

Why does everyone on the internet automatically assume that every suicidal teen is an attention seeking brat?
I'm sorry, it's going to take an awful lot to convince me that half the people who claim to have 'mental problems' actually do.
 
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