“Ignorant, Pathetic, Self-Absorbed”
Video of recent different but similar case.
ABC:
Ignorant. Pathetic. Self-absorbed.
Those are some of the harsh names an Indiana kindergarten teacher called one of her students, and the boy’s parents captured it all on tape.
Five-year-old Gabriel Ross complained over the school year that his teacher, Kristen Woodward, was being mean to him, said his mother Tabitha McMahan and stepfather J.R. Edwards. Gabriel told them other kids didn’t like him because he was “bad and stupid.”
When he began acting out at home, they decided to take action and try to find out what was going on in the classroom. So in mid-April, McMahan and Edwards sent Gabriel to school with a tape recorder in the pocket of his cargo pants.
What they heard over four hours of tape shocked them. Woodward can be heard telling Gabriel that he had “tortured and tormented” her and other teachers all year.
“I’ve been more than nice to you all year long and you’ve been ignorant, selfish, self-absorbed, the whole thing! I’m done!” Woodward says to Gabriel on the tape.
She continues: “Something needs to be done because you are pathetic! If me saying these words to you hurt, I hope it does because you’re hurting everyone else around you.”
Gabriel can be heard crying on the tape.
“You think it’s bad when you see it on paper, but when you are hearing the way she says it to him. I can’t even talk about it,” McMahan told ABC affiliate WHAS, breaking into tears.
Edwards said that the worst part of the tape was when Woodward singled Gabriel out in front of the whole class.
“So you guys think, is that somebody you want to be with?” Woodward asks the class.
In unison, the other students reply, “Noooo.”
“See, your friend doesn’t want to be with you. I don’t know what else to tell you. So you’re not going to have friends because of your actions.”
Teacher Suspended
After 13 years of teaching, Woodward has been suspended indefinitely, according to the Indiana State Teachers Association.
The teachers’ association is defending Woodward, saying that she “lost her cool” that day and hasn’t had a chance to tell her side of the story.
Carol Mooney, a spokeswoman with the Indiana State Teachers Association, told the New Albany News and Tribune newspaper that Woodward is well liked by co-workers, parents and students and that she had trouble with Gabriel all year.
“What do you say to a kid who’s rolling around, punching, biting, kicking? What can a teacher do?” Mooney said to the newspaper.
Woodward did not respond to phone messages from ABC News.
The New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. issued a statement saying, “Privacy issues and policy prohibit school officials from discussing ongoing investigations of employee misconduct.”
Parents Worry About Long-Term Effect
Gabriel’s stepfather, J.R. Edwards, told ABCNEWS.com that all the children in the class are given weekly progress reports and have frequent meetings with the teacher. He said Gabriel’s reports had both “smiley faces” for good behavior and “frown faces,” which indicates the student needs help in a certain area.
Gabriel’s reports said he was sometimes “disruptive” and didn’t keep his hands to himself.
Two weeks into the school year, Edwards said Woodward talked about setting up a “behavioral plan” for Gabriel, but when he approached Woodward to discuss the plan, she allegedly said, “I don’t have time for this.”
Edwards also said that Gabriel’s behavior at home didn’t make them think he was acting up at school.
“He’s not perfect, but he’s not out of control,” Edwards said.
After hearing the tape, Edwards and McMahan pulled Gabriel out of school and are trying to figure out which school to send him to next year.
They are also exploring the possibility of pursuing a civil or criminal action against Woodward and the school district.
But Edwards said they are most concerned about the psychological impact the entire situation has had on Gabriel.
“I hope this doesn’t affect him long-term, in his feelings about school or teachers,” Edwards said. “We’re going to seek some kind of help for him.”
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Projecting her own self-image on small children eh? Fire the bitch. She needs a new profession…and possibly some phychiatric help.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:35 amYou have to expect this kind of crap when the schools keep hiring these pieces of liberal crap as teachers.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:46 amOr…maybe the kid was a little M-F’r and the teacher finally had it.
Shitty parenting reflected in the kid’s behavior in class?
Parent’s blaming it on the teacher instead of themselves. Let someone else fix my probelm? No personal responsibility? Sounds like a little democrat in the making…
I bet there is no follow on report about the kid’s behavior from his new school either.
Granted, the teacher probably could have handled it better, but we only have one side of the story.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:47 amIf a kid is a real problem in class, a teachers should come to the parents long before before calling the kid out like that. Giving a kid a verbal reality check like that is for a high school student who is expected to be a grown up “by then”, not a kindergartner. Please.
June 1st, 2008 at 11:59 amI smell a liberal rush-to-judgment in the air…let’s wait and see what the teacher has to say, then….string her up. LOL.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:04 pmTo a 5 year old, Jesus fire that bitch. But give her a swift kick in the ass in front of the whole class. Fucking Bitch
June 1st, 2008 at 12:12 pmA very conservative point of view:
June 1st, 2008 at 1:21 pmNo matter how bad the kid was or is, the teacher should never have said anything closely related to her words. Even if it is shitty parenting, no excuse to talk to the child in that manner. Even if the teacher is a liberal twat, no excuse to talk to the child like that. Even if the child is a little orick, still no excuse to talk to him in that manner.
Kids are born ignorant, selfish, and self absorbed, it’s our job to make them think and act differently. Not by telling them what they really are but demonstrating what is possible when you do things the right way. That teacher is destroying that kid by saying those things to him.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:45 pmThat teacher should be fired and civil action should leave her and her family on the streets homeless.
You don’t abuse Kids anywhere or anytime.
The entire educational system needs to be gutted and replaced by something other than pedophiles and liberal nut jobs.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pmit is just not teachers… i had a little league team yrs ago.. the director called me and asked if i had room for another 12yro boy… i said sure… then she said ” good, no other dads/coaches will take him, i knew u would”.. how can people deny a 12 yr old a chance to play little league??? the kid was a problem child with a problem dad and i knew it,,but he is still just a kid…
June 1st, 2008 at 2:14 pmMaybe Ms Woodward can find a job as a stripper I hear the tips can be good.
June 1st, 2008 at 2:26 pmI was at a friends house over Memorial Day and one of his neighbors was there with her 8 yr old son. She lit up a cigarette and he went into tantrums about it including hitting her and she didnt do a thing but give in to him and put out the cigarette.His ass would have been so red that sitting would not have been an option if he was mine. Now put this kid in a classroom.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:46 pmGranted what this teacher did was wrong but how do you control and out of control child when spanking is not an option? Especially when the child knows he can control because his parents have taught him/her that.
dad3-7
June 1st, 2008 at 4:30 pmThanks for being the adult, I am sure you did that boy some good.