Out of control, bullying public school officials continue their deplorable acts of violation against young children over incidents that puzzlingly seem to typically originate in the school lunchroom.
Recall the recent story of a boy who was suspended from school for five days after being interrogated in the Vice Principal’s office for hours on end, told he was carrying an “illegal” substance, threatened with transfer to another school and warned that he would be enrolled in a teen alcoholics support group after being called out by the lunch police for bringing a simple bottle of kombucha in his lunchbox packed by his own Mother!
Then there was the story earlier this year of a preschooler at West Hoke Elementary in North Carolina who was given a highly processed, cafeteria lunch containing pink slime chicken nuggets because the lunch police inspecting her lunchbox decided that the turkey and cheese sandwich, banana, potato chips, and apple juice her mother packed were not nutritious enough.
Apparently, North Carolina school officials did not learn their lesson from the huge negative publicity and backlash from that stunt because an even worse lunchroom incident has been revealed in a recent lawsuit by The Rutherford Institute.
According to the complaint Cox v the Sampson County Board of Education filed on December 6, 2012, Union Elementary School Assistant Principal Teresa Holmes allegedly strip searched 10 year old J.C. Cox as a result of the chivalrous act of helping a classmate retrieve her dropped coins from under the lunchroom table.
A press release by The Rutherford Institute on the matter describes in detail how the lunchroom incident went down all without a parent or guardian present at any time:
… on Friday, June 12, 2012, J.C. Cox, a fifth-grader attending Union Elementary School in Clinton, N.C., was in the school cafeteria eating lunch when a female classmate dropped money onto the floor.
J.C. went under the table, retrieved the coins and returned them to the girl. Upon approaching J.C.’s table, Assistant Principal Teresa Holmes, who was also in the cafeteria at the time, was informed that someone had dropped $20 on the floor, that the money was missing, and that J.C. had gone under the table in search of the missing money.
Holmes asked J.C. if he had the money and told him that unless he returned it, she would have to search him. J.C. told Holmes he did not have the money.
Holmes then ordered J.C. to come with her to her office. Holmes also called a school custodian and asked him to meet her at the office. Once there, Holmes again asked J.C. if he had the money and again, he told her “no.” J.C. even pulled out his pockets to show that he had no money.
The assistant principal then told J.C. she had no choice but to search him, and that she was within her legal right to do so. Holmes allegedly ordered J.C. to remove his shoes, socks, pants and shirt.
With J.C. stripped to his underwear, Holmes ran her finger around the waistband of his undershorts.
Holmes did not find any money on J.C. While in Holmes’ office, another teacher arrived to report that the $20 had been found on the cafeteria floor.
When J.C.’s mother later contacted the school to voice her concerns about the strip search, she was reportedly told that school personnel have the right to perform strip searches and that the assistant principal was within her rights in doing so.
Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute accuse Ms. Holmes of violating J.C.’s Fourth Amendment rights when he was inexplicably strip searched for stooping down to help out a classmate. In addition, they cite the 2009 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Safford Unif. Sch. Dist. # 1 v. Redding which ruled that school officials such as Ms. Holmes absolutely do not have the right or authority to strip search a student unless there is evidence that the child is in possession of a dangerous item.
These frequent acts of violation against children and flagrant ignoring of parental rights by public school officials must stop and hopefully with this lawsuit, The Rutherford Institute can make some positive headway in this area.
The lunchroom has clearly become a warzone in many public schools instead of a healthy environment for eating and sharing with classmates that it is intended to be.
Do you have an act of lunchtime bullying by school officials to share? Please chime in with a comment.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
In Swedish schools we don’t serve junk food, we take nutrition very seriously, it’s important that you eat food that helps you to think straight throughout the day.
My son was in Middle School. He developed seizures induced by stress and was often accused of ‘manipulating’ staff with these seizures or to avoid doing work. His Neurologist wrote a letter assuring them that they could not be faked or fiend events. He had a Principal that did not seem to respect or believe this ‘free pass’ to not have complete control over HIS SCHOOL, because he could not control my child. During lunches, my son always replaced his tray after eating without prompting. Never an issue. One day, the Principal asks him to put away the tray. My son freezes immediately. The Principal antagonized him into a seizure. I was called to report to school. 2 days later, same thing happens.
Only a sort time later, my son is restrained to the point of being unconscious. I am told that he is exhausted from fighting with them. I soon found in my own investigation that he was restrained by an uncertified substitute teacher while the the Principal observed. 3 Office of Civil Rights Complaints later, we are no longer in school. The stress an anxiety became too overwhelming.
Mina, I just have one question: would you talk to anyone in person that way, just because you disagree with her? With sneering contempt? It felt like buckets of shit were being dumped on me. Would you tolerate someone else talking to someone that way in front of you? Just wondering.
I’ll just say again, that I don’t know you, but I’d for damn sure object strenuously if I saw someone bullying you like this. I wonder what you teach your children.
Sorry my all-caps post bothered you. I thought it was clear I used that as a way to separate my response to his specific accusations. It was not yelling. Not sure why you’d find that offensive.
My post absolutely WAS about schooling. I objected to the global demonization of teachers and administrators. Turns out I was correct. What a sad way to have it demonstrated.
Some of the early posts brought up the false propaganda about the UN treaty. I did a little research and posted a link to video of comments by the only quadraplegic Member of Congress. Was that a useful contribution? Or are you only looking to have your current views reinforced? Ah! Now I get it. Sorry to have wasted your time.
Very sad to see that no one here, including Sarah, says/does anything about bullying. You know you’d be passionately writing in if it happened to someone YOU care about. When it’s going on in front of you, but you don’t know the person being attacked, well ho hum. Sad.
What bullying are you referencing Melinda?
I’m referring to Tucci78’s hate filled, racist rants with their personal attacks. I may agree or disagree with people here, but I’m pretty civil about it. It’s unfortunate to be treated with literal contempt. I’m an accomplished, intelligent person and I’m used to a certain measure of respect, or at least civility. His attacks are not just political disagreement. They are vicious and personal (I assume it’s a man. It sounds/feels like a man bullying a woman to me.) I don’t “…deserve anything but contempt”? Really? Because you don’t like my political views?
I would have objected strongly if I’d seen someone else attacked like that. But that’s just me.
I guess I learned whatever I needed to know about the people “here” when NO ONE who had been hysterically ranting against teachers and administrators on Thursday had the courage to say they were sorry about it after Friday. If it were me, I’d be mortified.
No one was bullied here. Melinda, you are a victim-badge-wearing glutton for punishment, that “punishment” having your positions properly trounced, and that is why no one has stood up for you. You claim that people here have been “hysterically ranting” but we should feel sorry for you, who prefers to whip out the all-caps posts and self-victimizations. You can’t even keep it about schooling or policy, you have to make it about you. If it were me, I’d be mortified.
la la la la la la la … did someone say something? (something worth reading?)
No? la la la la la ….
And the regression is complete.
Guess I should have been clearer for those who are slow to understand. I was hoping for an a p o l o g y from some of the reasonable people here. Not more ranting
Melinda whines: ” I was hoping for an a p o l o g y from some of the reasonable people here.”
Sorry, but the “reasonable people here” have concluded that you don’t d e s e r v e anything but expressions of contempt.