Teacher calls pupil a "cripple"
Undoubtedly one of the most shocking disability stories of the year so far - . That's a teacher, yes. Crippled Monkey is used to making barbed comments about "kids today, eh?" but never thought I'd have to say even worse things about the adults at the front of the classroom.
Amy Wild, a teenager who currently uses a wheelchair after complications with heart surgery, was told to "move, cripple" by a male teacher as he passed her in the dining hall of the school in Stockport, near Manchester. The headteacher of the school has since apologised unreservedly to Amy, and the matter is being taken "extremely seriously" as they investigate it with the member of staff involved. I should hope so, too.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this story. Have you got any examples of similar behaviour from the teachers - rather than the other pupils - that took place during your schooldays?
Comments
Aside from my "real" disability, I am also fairly short-sighted (about -11 dioptres) with moderate astigmatism. One lunchtime at my primary school we were lining up to go inside, and my heavy glass-lensed specs fell on the ground, scattering frame, lenses and tiny tiny screws. As I was scrabbling around, trying to locate the various bits, the teacher apparently told our line to file indoors, which I didn't hear as I wasn't wearing my glasses (which will make sense to glasses-wearers). What I did hear, though, was the teacher screaming angrily, "Hey! Rosemary! Are you deaf as well as blind?" Funnily enough, the teacher left very soon after my parents complained to the school.
The world is a harsh, hurtful place. The only thing that can be changed is your approach to it. Maybe people are a bit too sensitive and need to grow slightly thicker skins.