A 10 Year Olds Second Hand Insult Is Sexual Harassment?

by John Hawkins | February 26, 2004 8:26 pm

In Sacramento, it’s apparently never too early for the political correctness fanatics[1] to start indoctrinating the kids…

“The parents of a 10-year-old boy suspended from a public school for sexual harassment are shocked and angry that a playground outburst by their son has been given such a distressing and politically charged label.
Insisting that the first-year principal at Theodore Judah Elementary School overreacted and used poor judgment, they say they are appealing the suspension and want the “ridiculous” punishment stricken from the boy’s record.

They also believe the Sacramento City Unified School District should revamp a sexual harassment policy that treats children as young as 9 the same as 12th-graders.

“I’m just very upset about the whole thing,” said Romola Wilcox, 42, the boy’s mother. “I know he said something that was wrong, but the category they put it into, ‘sexual harassment,’ is extreme.”

According to the “notice of suspension” signed by Principal Marilee Bellotti, the fifth-grader made a crude remark about a girl’s chest Feb. 5. The boy was required to stay home the following day. The suspension document does not describe the girl’s reaction to the comment or how it came to the attention of the principal.

….Bellotti called sexual harassment at the K-6 school in east Sacramento an “occasional occurrence,” though the punishment of the boy was the first such suspension she has issued.

…”It’s unbelievable that you have this policy out there for sexual harassment for kids who don’t even understand what sex is,” said Dave Blagsvedt, 41, the child’s father. “So what do I have to do, include sexual harassment in my birds-and-the-bees talk? It’s come this far, from Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill into the workplace and now it’s made it down to the schoolyard.”

…Here’s the account according to the boy’s parents: The 10-year-old made the remark to a male friend on school grounds. The friend then ran over and repeated it to the girl. The incident occurred four days after the controversial Super Bowl halftime performance during which pop singer Janet Jackson exposed her breast. It was also a week after the boy attended a sex education class.

….For now, the boy is apparently coping with the punishment and wants to move on, according to his mother, though that may not be so easy. He turns 11 today, and one friend has already said he is no longer allowed to attend the birthday party.”

Here’s a conversation that should be happening right now in Sacramento…

Superintendent X: So I understand you suspended a 10 year kid for sexual harassment after he made “crude remark” to a friend about a classmate’s chest.

Principal Marilee Bellotti: Absolutely!

Superintendent X: Well, I have a question for you…

Principal Marilee Bellotti: Sure, what is it?

Superintendent X: Are you some sort of moron? What’s wrong with you?

Principal Marilee Bellotti: Huh?

Superintendent X: 10 year olds make insensitive comments about each other all the time. They always have and they always will. You don’t just arbitrarily call it “sexual harassment” and kick the kid out of school…

Principal Marilee Bellotti: But I thought…

Superintendent X: No, you didn’t think, that’s how you got into this situation. And obviously we weren’t thinking when we gave you this job either or we would have never put an ideologue who apparently understands so little about children in charge of an elementary school.

Principal Marilee Bellotti: You can’t talk that way to me, I’m a principal!

Superintendent X: You were a principal…YOU’RE FIRED…well, actually suspended with pay for a couple of years while we fight with teacher’s union about you and that teacher who started coming to class drunk every day after he got tenure.

All I can add to that is “bring on the school vouchers”! The sooner the average parent has a real choice about which school is going to be educating their kids, the sooner this sort of nonsense will start to become a thing of the past.

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/uncategorized/a-10-year-olds-second-hand-insult-is-sexual-harassment/

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