One more warning story.
An instructor/friend who was well-loved by his students was teaching karate after school one day at an elementary school. A group of former students (older girls who had moved on to the middle school) were on campus for an event. They saw him teaching and ran into the classroom, where they gave him a big group hug.
By chance, a school administrator was walking past the classroom around the same time and noticed what was happening. She continued on but passed by again on her way back to her office a few minutes later. The girls were still hugging the instructor, as sort of a joke. But the administrator felt it had gone on too long and the instructor was soon fired. He tried to appeal the firing but was unsuccessful. The school’s position was it had raised a question mark about him in school administrators’ minds and they had no choice but to do whatever was necessary to make sure their students were not at risk.
This is what scientists call a Type I Error.
There are two types of errors one can make in this type of situation, Type I and Type II. A Type I Error is where an innocent person is erroneously determined to be guilty and sent to prison. A Type II Error is where a guilty person is erroneously determined to be innocent and set free.
Our society has determined that they would rather run the risk that a guilty person be set free (Type II Error) than an innocent person be sent to prison. So our criminal justice system is structured in such a manner as to better prevent Type I Errors than Type II. (It doesn’t always work. Innocent people are convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. But we likely let far more guilty people walk than lock up innocent ones. And that is the intentional bias of the system.)
When it comes to the protection of our children, however, schools, parents, and people in general almost always lean heavily towards preventing Type II Errors (that a guilty person will be allowed to walk free) – believing it’s better to send away an occasional innocent person than run the risk a guilty one will be allowed access to our children. This is the exact opposite slant of our criminal justice system.
This was what school administrators applied in the case mentioned above. And it will likely be what will be the case in most similar situations you encounter. When in doubt, no matter how slight, they will let you go, pull their children out of your program, or file charges.
I have become very careful about physical contact with students. I don’t hug students unless 1) I know them and their families very well, 2) it’s appropriate, 3) not done often, and 4) in a public setting, where other people are there. When students hug me, I make sure I keep it brief. I will say something comforting or funny to them and step back, separating us. Many children today need affection, as they may not be getting it at home. So I never want to hurt their feelings or do anything to make them feel even worse. But we need to protect ourselves.
A classroom teacher once told me she never initiates a hug with a student. She only returns them when a student hugs her, as children do on occasion. This is good advice for all of us.
I’ll stop for now but have another couple of issues to discuss before we move on to other more positive matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment