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
So thankful that God places it upon my heart to homeschool. I am so thankful my kids have never been in the public school and hopefully never will!
Interesting that the public school system–which was established so that the American citizenry would be able to read the Bible for themselves–has become a place where the power hungry lord themselves over children.
If that principal really believed that the child had taken someones money–she should have called the parents before doing anything else.
Yes! Why are such actions taken without parental notification? It should be school policy that parents are called before questionable or innappropriate actions are taken against any child within school boundaries.
People were doing just fine learning how to read the bible at home prior to the adoption of the public educational school system. From what I’ve read, Andrew Carnegie imported that model of education from Germany as a means of educating in a fashion that would ensure a “factory-worker-mentality” workforce (don’t question what you are taught, don’t question authority, etc. etc.) which he so passionately believed was needed to staff his ever growing steelworks. Prior to this model of public education, visitors to this new country were quite amazed at the level of literacy and philosophical wherewithal of this group of “country bumpkin farmers” who were mostly taught at home.
You’re right, Brian. Public schools have never been about education, they have been about indoctrination all along.
Before public schools, the literacy rate in America was around 90%. Now kids are ‘graduating’ from high schools who can’t read well enough to fill out a job application without help……. at least 50% of graduates are functionally illiterate.
And I do believe that is completely intentional… it is much easier to control people who are uninformed than people who can do their own research.
Andrew Carnagie had nothing to do with establishing public education in the US. His interests were LIBRARIES and PEACE. He did provide generous endowments for some universities, like Tuskeegee. Public education in the US long preceeds this late 19th century philanthropist.
If you haven’t, research John Taylor Gatto & Charlotte Iserbyt (author of ‘The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America’). Mindblowing about the American public school system!
Hear Hear Joyce! What an eye opener John Taylor Gattos work is. The podcast ‘School Sucks’ is another great resource for parents wanting to know the truth about the Prussian school system in place all over the world with America being in the lead. We have no real meaningful rights left in this US Corporation nation using legal-ese; a version of English where most of the basic definitions of word “spells” are used against us in every area of life. God given rights are what we need to be fighting for; it is too late for the government and their so-called criminal justice system of opression. Will the masses of sheeple wake up in time?
No doubt we will see the Union protecting this principal’s job security. Perhaps that is why we are not seeing it in the media … they are busy paying off media and politicians with hush money.
No, not all schools, teachers or school officials do these things but when my child walks through that school door I loose my rights as a parent to protect and parent my child. for a “free” education I agree to let them parent my child, make plans for my child and decisions for my child’s future. No thank you! I am William’s parent and will retain the right to protect, parent and plan for him! This includes things that pertain to health (filter drinking water, food & snacks, air quality, shots, doctor visit schedules, medicine given to him, etc.), curriculum content, daily schedule, scope and sequence, timing of learning skills (he is an active 6 yr old boy – we don’t spend a lot of time doing seat work, force early reading or writing – they aren’t ready yet!), decide what behavior is appropriate (yes, he moves around alot and no he doesn’t need meds – he is a healthy, active all American boy!) and all else pertaining to my child. Sorry for the long list but this is a hot button issue. I didn’t have the child to hand over to someone else to parent!
Julie, you are one heck of a mom!
I admire the way you have taken responsibility for your son.
Look through the reams of dead trees the school has sent home with your kid over the years (or maybe they do this online nowadays, so parents don’t actually get a copy?) and chances are you’ll eventually find the phrase “in loco parentis”. Loosely translated from the Latin (don’t get me started about our laws being written in a “foreign” language), it means that the school system claims parental status of your child.
The whole concept gives me the creeps. They should have no more rights than a babysitter or nanny at the most. Anything requiring more than the most minimal intervention should require parental permission unless it is a life-and-death emergency.
I hate what our country is becoming.
Thanks for shining a light in these dark corners, Sarah!
As we are getting ready to have our first child I am seriously considering home schooling
Go for it Michelle!! You will be richly rewarded!
Reason number 15,389 that we homeschool!
It’s things like this that make me thankful my children are grown. I feel for the families that due to issues beyond their control or capabilities are not able to home school. We may go back to the neighborhood small schools of yesteryear. It’s a sad day when a parent is afraid to send their child to school for fear of what may conspire.
Another reason we homeschool. That is a disgusting way to treat a child. I can’t believe that teacher still has a job.
She isn’t a teacher. She’s an administrator. In my experience as a former classroom teacher, the teachers that don’t do well in the classroom, for whatever reason, aren’t dismissed they are promoted to administrative positions. In all fairness, that’s not how all administrators get their jobs. There are many out there that are very talented, do their jobs well and have students’ best interests in mind. This just isn’t an example of one of them obviously.
BTW, we homeschool all of ours. We will graduate our oldest this year. They are so much better equipped to face the world with a clear knowledge of what is right and what is wrong and not so worn down and desensitized that they accept everything that comes their way and cave on important issues/values because they are so exhausted from swimming upstream alone. They may not know all the current slang terms, the obscene lyrics to the latest songs or dress like they are 22 by the time they are 10 but they are sweet children that are eager to learn and go the extra mile to find out more, motivated to serve others from lots of opportunities to practice doing it and most of all happy.
imagine that. Another horror story. When will people wake up?? I did over 20 yrs ago and it is definitely a lot worse now than then.