I
have to admit something that I'm not sure that I've ever admitted in this blog
before. I'm officially a "Piney"! What is that? It's a nickname for
people who live in the Pine Barrens region of Southern New Jersey. Apparently,
I've been a Piney for the past four years new since moving down to this region.
Here's the problem, though I'm from the Northern region and am technically a
New Yorker, we don't seem to fit with the lifestyle down here. I'll give you an
example. A teacher down here recently found two 5-year-olds naked and having
sex in the bathroom. WHAT? And now she might lose her job over it!
That's
right! The rural South Jersey school district of Mullica Township seeks to
remove kindergarten school teacher Kelly Mascio after two 5-year-old students,
a boy and a girl, were found naked in the bathroom of her classroom on
September 30. The two younger students told the teacher they were "having
sex." Okay, what 5-year-old speaks like that and how is this any fault of
Mascio's except that the kids were under her supervision? Shouldn't their
parents be the ones to blame for teaching them about sex at the age of 5? I am
telling you, these Pineys get married early, probably have sex at age 5 or 6,
and are divorced by the age of 12. By the time they're 20, they've been married
three times. Elizabeth Taylor could have been a Piney! Almost every person
we're friends with down here has been married at least once. I'm still on my
first, thank God! I'm telling you it's a different culture here.
Anyway,
Mascio, a teacher in the district for 15 years, actually reported the incident
to her supervisor and police were called immediately. The teacher was then
suspended with pay and no criminal charges filed. Wait a minute! How is this
her fault if the kids sneaked into the bathroom to do this? She reported the
incident. How can she lose her job? And why would criminal charges even be
brought up. It's not like she put them in the bathroom naked. The Mullica
Township Board of Education voted Wednesday to bring charges against the
educator through the state to seek to remove her from her position. I still
don't understand why?
Luckily
the Mascio has a lot of support in the community as 200 people showed up to
support her at the meeting. President of the Mullica Township Education
Association, Babrbara Rheault stated, "Our main concern is that the
administration has completely forgone all traditional disciplinary avenues
available in handling the incident. The administration has selected a
disciplinary route that resulted in enormous emotional and professional turmoil
and has strained the confidence and trust of school staff, parents and
community members." The Mullica school board did not state why Mascio was
placed on leave or why they are moving forward with the possible termination.
The only way that I can see Mascio being terminated is if she stripped the kids
herself and told them they had to have sex in the bathroom, but if that were
the case, why would she report the incident? It makes no sense whatsoever,
which leads me to believe that once again am witnessing a South Jersey
organization overreact to something when they don't have their facts together.
Being a Piney is now what it's cracked up to be. Is it cracked up to be
anything at all?
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