Originally,
I was going to write about that guy in Queens who was flying a remote control
helicopter that went out of control and chopped his head off, but that seemed
pretty gruesome to end the week with. So, I decided to choose a story that was
a bit more entertaining and actually got a snicker out of me as I was reading
it. So, a teacher in Florida, go figure, decided it would be a great idea to
put those dog collar cones, that they put on dogs to prevent them from licking
themselves after surgery, on her students as a joke as if to shame them. Would
it shock you if I told you she might lose her job over it? I have to say that I
found it kind of funny.
Pasco
County school officials didn't find it too funny, though, when they caught Zephyrhills
High School teacher Laurie Bailey-Cutkomp using a cone-shaped dog collar
she called "the cone of shame" to punish misbehaving students after
some teens posted photos of the incidents on Facebook last month. Parents saw
the embarrassing pics and complained immediately.
Ninth
graders at the west Florida school said the 47-year-old science teacher and
former veterinarian fastened the "cone of shame" on students who
arrived late for class or virtually acted up. One student said, "I was in
second period drinking soda, and she said, 'Do I have to put the cone on you?'
When I didn't say anything, she put it on me."
Bailey-Cutkomp
brought the cone to school after showing students the Pixar movie
"Up" during a slow day right before spring break last school year.
The 2009 animated flick featured a dopey dog named Dug who is forced to wear a
"cone of shame" as punishment. Bailey-Cutkomp was booted from the
classroom and is awaiting a school board hearing to determine her fate at the
school. According to a letter to the teacher, Pasco County schools superintendent
Heather Fiorentino wrote: "I am stunned that you would put dog collars on
students for any reason."
Bailey-Cutkomp,
who has been teaching full-time since 2002, told school officials that the
collar was meant to be a joke and she didn't mean to hurt or embarrass anyone
and some of her students actually backed her up. I have to say, though, how can
she not think that putting a cone around a child's head would not be
embarrassing? I mean I get the joke part, but as a joke, you don't threaten to
put it on them for misbehaving. You put it on them really quick to show them
what it might feel like and not as a punishment.
One
other ninth grade teacher wrote in Bailey-Cutkomp's defense to the school
board: "Whatever mistakes Ms. Bailey Cutkomp made, it was a mistake that I
doubt she will make again. Furthermore, what I have witnessed at ZHS certainly
makes me believe that she has much to offer the students." A school board
hearing on the matter has yet to be scheduled. Either way, it still gave me a
chuckle to see these cones around a kid’s neck. If it was my kid, maybe I
wouldn't have found it so funny, but I would have at least asked my child if
they felt embarrassed wearing the collar. If they didn't; then no harm, no
foul. If they did, all hell would obviously break loose!
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