This is not just school teacher stupidity to an extreme, this is downright dangerous.

[Twilight Hue]

Heat exhaustion can and does kill. This woman deserves to have her teaching credentials revoked and prosecuted. There is no excuse at all for this insanity to continue with schools as of late, and the absolutely idiotic policies and mentality that it produces and inflicted on peoples children. It's simply got to stop because eventually, a teacher and his/her school is going to cause deaths. This is indescribable cruelty.

Yahoo!

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I would've just flipped the observer off and walked inside the school, whatever happens because of that certainly wouldn't be as drastic as a heat stroke or dehydration.

All of these articles showing teacher ignorance never reveal what the teacher has to say. I'd be interested to know what the principal said in response to angered parents

 

[kashmir]

If one of those was my kid, I would prob be sitting in jail right now for botching slapping a few teachers and the principle.
All involved should loose their teaching license and I hope the parents sue, you can do that stuff to kids.
How do they think they are?

 

[Twilight Hue]

If one of those was my kid, I would prob be sitting in jail right now for botching slapping a few teachers and the principle.
All involved should loose their teaching license and I hope the parents sue, you can do that stuff to kids.
How do they think they are?

Givin the length of time the kids were forced to walk and the temperature it's real lucky none of the kids collapsed. I would definitely seek legal recourse. It's a relief no ones kid died. I can't image the scenario with the school explaining to a parent the reason why their child had died at school involving hours of forced walking in heat without any water over a school uniform policy.

 

[Tarheeler]

It's a shame that when my part of the state is in the news it seems to always be for something equally stupid.

Unfortunately, I doubt much will happen to anyone. The principal will probably see some form of punishment, such as a demotion and reassignment. The teachers, from what I understand, tried to give the kids water and breaks until the principal threatened their jobs, and I doubt they will see anything.

In NC, children are considered wards of the state while at school, and parents have limited rights. I have four children in the Cumberland County School System, and there's always a problem somewhere.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Oh my god! They could have died! Two hours of walking? Oh, the horror!

 

[Thief]

I used to wear collared shirt and tie all day.
(it was a very strict school)

Yeah it was hot.

Old building....no air conditioning.....no mercy from priests that wear black.

But on the other hand.....some teachers lack good sense.
Make 'em sweat is one thing.....
Deny them water is criminal.

 

[The Adept]

Oh my god! They could have died! Two hours of walking? Oh, the horror!

Disappointed?

Fancy a forced march?

 

[Twilight Hue]

Oh my god! They could have died! Two hours of walking? Oh, the horror!

It can happen easily. How many hours passed since the kids had sufficient water prior to being forced to walk? Were there any prior medical concerns? Im sure no one checked or bothered beforehand. She just took em all and enjoyed her dominance.

 

[ChristineES]

How awful!! That principal needs to be fired!

 

[Quintessence]

Eh, I don't think the issue here is stupidity. Most people aren't aware of how heat affects the body and have received no formalized training about heat exhaustion. I only received such training because of some outdoorsy jobs I have done in the past, and even then, I didn't learn a heck of a lot until I bothered to inform myself because I was a supervisor. I never recall being taught anything about heat stress in my K-12 education, nor in college. Combine a lack of education on heat stress with what is probably general ignorance regarding animal physiology, and that's a recipe for people making bad decisions because they're uninformed. Hell, even when they're informed, people will not take the dangers of heat seriously.

The problem to me in this case wasn't the lack of awareness about heat stress, but use of punishment more generally. As an educator, she should be well aware that punishment is ineffectual as a teaching method compared to positive or negative reinforcement, but she did it anyway. I think the OP is being more than a little overdramatic about this particular case, but I'll forgive them for that considering the news piece itself is sensationalist drivel.

 

[dust1n]

Eh, I don't think the issue here is stupidity. Most people aren't aware of how heat affects the body and have received no formalized training about heat exhaustion. I only received such training because of some outdoorsy jobs I have done in the past, and even then, I didn't learn a heck of a lot until I bothered to inform myself because I was a supervisor. I never recall being taught anything about heat stress in my K-12 education, nor in college. Combine a lack of education on heat stress with what is probably general ignorance regarding animal physiology, and that's a recipe for people making bad decisions because they're uninformed. Hell, even when they're informed, people will not take the dangers of heat seriously.

The problem to me in this case wasn't the lack of awareness about heat stress, but use of punishment more generally. As an educator, she should be well aware that punishment is ineffectual as a teaching method compared to positive or negative reinforcement, but she did it anyway. I think the OP is being more than a little overdramatic about this particular case, but I'll forgive them for that considering the news piece itself is sensationalist drivel.

9http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/article_be97b450-50b9-5bc0-bc39-8bb45adf6fc3.html

Which is sad considering that the original article used to write the story is pretty good and standard, clean writing. For some reason though, no one really seems to mine when companies essentially take a story from another source, and then spin it, and then this happens four or five times over.

Sometimes I go through a chain of links for a source, just to find out that the original piece was from an entirely unreliable source.

 

[Quintessence]

9http://www.fayobserver.com/news/local/article_be97b450-50b9-5bc0-bc39-8bb45adf6fc3.html

Which is sad considering that the original article used to write the story is pretty good and standard, clean writing. For some reason though, no one really seems to mine when companies essentially take a story from another source, and then spin it, and then this happens four or five times over.

Sometimes I go through a chain of links for a source, just to find out that the original piece was from an entirely unreliable source.

Awesome that you were able to dig up a more primary source for the information. I confess the internet drives me nuts with the amount of nonsense that passes for news. I generally limit myself to either getting things direct from the proverbial horse's mouth (e.g., the local news outlet where the event actually took place) or reputable national/world news source (e.g., BBC, NPR, New York Times). Any story that looks obviously spun to get knee-jerk emotional "OMFGsWTF" reaction automatically sends up big red flags on my radar. Articles designed to arouse emotional reactivity suspend a person's critical thinking, and that is often not a good thing.

 

[dust1n]

Thanks there. I wish we had more news readers such as yourself, so that the few meaningful facts could be garnished and discussed. Instead, half the time it feels like I'm addressing some (if they even are a) journalist's conjectures about an issue never really looked into.

 

[Tarheeler]

An update:
Cumberland County school officials could meet Tuesday to discuss Manchester Elementary principal controversy - fayobserver.com: Local News

 

[Tarheeler]

And we have a final decision on her punishment: She will have her pay cut to that of an assistant principal.

School board OKs demotion of former Manchester Elementary principal accused of making students walk outside - Fayetteville Observer: Local News

That's it. She's in an administrative position teaching home bound and hospitalized students, and will see a small pay cut.

 

[SkylarHunter]

Discipline is necessary but this is beyond ridiculous. Someone like that shouldn't deal with children or with any other kind of living beings.

 

[Apple Sugar]

I don't expect to see an update that sadist Tammy Holland has been arrested on multiple counts of child endangerment and abuse. She'll get a slap on the wrist and live her life.

If one of these were my kid her face would be on billboards all over the district with a short description to the effect of describing her as a child abuser and sadist. At the very least.

 

[dust1n]

I don't expect to see an update that sadist Tammy Holland has been arrested on multiple counts of child endangerment and abuse. She'll get a slap on the wrist and live her life.

If one of these were my kid her face would be on billboards all over the district with a short description to the effect of describing her as a child abuser and sadist. At the very least.

Then you would likely be sued for libel, malice, or deformation.

 

[jonathan180iq]

Inappropriate punishment for the kids, sure.

Sadistic abuse of children, however, it was not.

If we had real problems in this country, we wouldn't be so outraged over minor things.