gotta fight for your right to join in on those singing grams

It's shit like this that made me get out of teaching and into law school. Year after year of ugly, ugly children.

Jade sounds like a little douche. We had brats like that in our classes all the time, those who would deliberately drive teachers nuts by passive aggressive activities or acting out and then gumming up the punishment process with appeals and getting the press involved (who were always on the kid's side, like an Obama-supporting reporter). These kids always end up as drug dealers and scam artists living in the ghetto who sue anything that moves, and nothing is ever their fault.

And they always had dumb names like Jade Ray. Her parents should be shot for picking out that winner.

So you can endure year after year of ugly, ugly lawyers?

why not just name her Hope Diamond and make the name completely idiotic?

3: are you quoting the Simpsons? This thread needs more Principal Skinner quotes.

"alright, I didn't join the army to make friends."

ha ha she kicked her ass

If this really happened, which I doubt, that is embarrassing. But, seriously, why wasn't that kid happy not to have to do singing grams and avoid buying a choir t-shirt that would never be worn again?

I suggest the Court take "Jade Ray" as its ward and change the name to something more appropriate..

Maybe "Audacity O. Hope"?

11:00(1) = another compassionate conservative

Jade Ray= on Maury Povich in 10 years, getting a paternity test.

#12, please use the numbering system to your right.

12= another "children should never be punished, it hurts their self-esteem" limousine liberal.

11:06, no thank you.

Ya know, I've been watching way too many court shows, but ya know, I'd really like to see if Judge Judy or the hottie from Divorce Court got a hold of this little b**** Jade. They'd make that butt kicking embarrassment seem like an award for good behavior. The little brat could be humiliated on TV and be insulted by the Queens of the one liners.

Judge Joe Brown is good, too, but this is a girl. It's much funnier when self-entitled little girls get their a**** handed to them by a female judge who doesn't buy their sweet & innocent routine.

16, who is 11:06?

Jade Ray is definitely going to be on Divorce Court at one point in her life.

#13

I like your projection, but I think it'll be closer to 2 years.

bo-ring. i want more stories about muff diving law students, layoffs, and salaries. thanks.

This story is missing a lot. This teacher didn't just freak out over this once incident. More than likely, Jade had been a little cretin all year and the teacher had just had it.

I wish they gave teachers more power. Embarrassment? Please, if the school backed up the teacher and the parents acted like parents, the embarrassment would have had the desired effect: of making an anti-social little loser shapen up.

watch out, the self-esteem police will get you!

20, yes, probably. With like 5 guys in a row denying paternity.

Everyone knows that the students who take choir aren't the ones who are going to be vying for valedictorian. Choir class doesn't carry any honors or AP points. This is Jade Ray's parents' attempt at securing her a "scholarship."

The term "limousine liberal" confuses me. There aren't that many limousines in the country. The liberals couldn't possible all be riding in them on even a semi-regular basis. And think about prom season for God's sake! How many free limousines do you think are available then?!? And if you mean those lousy airport service town cars, that's just bullshit because those things are no longer than a standard car.

Jade's going to be making the rounds. First on Maury, getting a paternity; then on NorthwesternU, I mean Jerry Springer, when her new husband leaves her for her sister while she's pregnant; then on Divorce Court to leave said husband; then suing her sister for stealing her car on Judge Judy; and finally on Judge Joe Brown/The People's Court for nonpayment of a car loan.

Jade's a winner. You can feel it.

25, if your parents name you something stupid like Jade, they prolly don't give a crap about your edumacation. I doubt her parents even know what school she goes to. Jade took choir because the school wanted her in a class that didn't matter and if she acted like a cretin, it wouldn't affect the learning of other students.

27, don't forget on Cheaters, when her live-in boyfriend is sleeping around and Joey Greco catches them!

Joey Greco=the only man who can make Maury Povich and Northwestern's own Jerry Springer seem more honorable.

#12 has obviously never been a teacher and had to see the crap they put up with.

7, that was a quotation from Supernintendo Chalmers. Dumbass.

I'm not sayin there aren't brats out there who need to be punished. But all we know is allegations of insults and battery by the teacher and this is the reaction:

"case closed, kid's lying";
"the little ugly brat deserved it;
"ugly, ugly children";
"little douche";
"These kids always end up as drug dealers and scam artists living in the ghetto who sue anything that moves, and nothing is ever their fault.";
"Her parents should be shot";
"The little brat could be humiliated on TV ...It's much funnier when self-entitled little girls get their a**** handed to them by a female judge who doesn't buy their sweet & innocent routine.";
"Jade had been a little cretin all year";
"the desired effect: of making an anti-social little loser shapen up."

All I see here is ugly, ugly commenters.

32, is that you, Comic Book Guy?

poor 33 believes that all little children who sue are blissful little angels and that all teachers accused are evil, ugly harridans.

the reason why we're making these comments, 33, is because we've all been in situations like this before: some whiny, self-centered little moron makes the teacher's life a living hell and ruins classes, and then when the teacher gives them the comeuppance they so richly deserve, said moron goes to the press and courts and pretends like they're hurt and didn't deserve it and their sweet little angels.

And you're really looking for in depth and balanced analysis from commentators on incomplete stories on ATL???

33=ambulance chaser. case closed. (he needs brats like this for his business, dontcha see?)

"buttocks" ... americans are stupid

Had the school been using the "Cravath System," this would not have happened.

Does the state she's in allow corporal punishment?

The teacher's union should be flipping out about this. I hope they get some mobbed up union lawyer and scare the absolute crap out of this little girl and her vulture lawyer.

this is just awful, when the bad people in our society like Jade Hope Diamond Rainbow Ray get positive press coverage.

Get teased much around the playground 33?

Post 33-- AMEN.

ATL posters are seriously having NEGATIVITY issues. Lighten up, people.

42= another person who blames teachers when their child gets suspended. Get involved in reality, kid.

35: Or maybe 33 believes that we don't have enough facts to judge the situation, that there might be a few bad teachers out there, and that sometimes kicking someone from behind is inappropriate.

Admin: this is number 7 (the Simpsons post guy). Please delete that comment and this one from this opprobrium on good manners and sensible discussion. I don't want anything to do with this post or its commentators.

shes guaranteed going to be a stripper with a name like "jade ray"

shes guaranteed going to be a stripper with a name like "jade ray"

Let's be serious for a second---

If this situation had happened to YOUR kid --as reported in this story-- would you all say the same shitty things favoring the teacher and attacking the student?

I find it very hard to believe that you would, hypocrites.

ah, 44, but you forget: no news report of this teacher ever being disciplined before. Teachers being disciplined is public record; children being disciplined is private.

And considering the story is completely from Jade Hope Diamond Audacity Rainbow Ray's point of view, I would say that's it pretty obvious she's a little liar.

But hey, no worries. We'll follow your rules. No commenting on any story unless we every single fact a court does. On other words, no commenting ever.

These aren't "negativity issues." These are comments from people who "get it"....anyone who has had any experience with or exposure to public school systems in the last decade knows that this shit happens all time: teachers are not respected by most parents, and parents who ordinarily don't give a crap about their children's education all of a sudden become hyper-involved when there's a chance of placing blame on a teacher or school system (and winning cash).

-- liberal that agrees with what some would call "conservative" posters

This is pretty disgusting. And by "this" I mean the assumption that the child is in the wrong based upon little more than a name that doesn't appear to belong to a white anglo-saxon protestant-fairy-tale believing trust fund baby. The way I read this was that the student was challenging the teacher's sale of cheap tee shirts at a profit, and the teacher resorted to violence to shut her up. No teacher should ever kick a 14 year old student in the butt. Period.

This is by no means over, and I look forward to seeing this student at the top of her class at HLS within 10 years.

Oh, and the tone of some of the comments here reveal the commentators as spoiled, frightened rich people who would never deign to name their children anything other than Biffington or Madison.

ThatDaveGuy

I'm gonna take a wild guess that Jade Ray spends a lot more than $15 every month on press-on nails.

I'm gonna take a wild guess that Jade Ray spends a lot more than $15 every month on press-on nails.

Agree with all you say 33. Keep in mind that most of the posters on this website now are law student trolls trying to introduce excitement into their lives with anonymous net combat. Take comfort in the fact that many of them are about to fail the bar exam. That will give them something to get excited about.

If the choir story is true then the teacher was a jerk. But then no society makes it best citizens high school teachers. The "high" is satire.

48:
Let's be realistic:
This *wouldn't* happen to any good parents kid in February because a good parent's kid wouldn't act so wacky and crummy as to deserve it. If the teacher were *bad*, she would have flipped out in Nov./Dec. (when hiliday stresss would have brought out the crazy) and starting kicking kids and crap.

And a good parent doesn't name their kid Jade, moron.

And good kids, when told they're not involved in an activity, sit down and shut up and don't whine and make a scene.

48, you have obviously never been a teacher or dealt with the craptastic people who would name their kid Jade and allow them to act like this.

$25,000 to $75,000 sounds about right to me. The jury will be pissed.

Practically everyone has a creepy teacher story and the scenario the kid paints, if believed, makes the teacher look like she 1. Cruelly picked on the kid's looks 2. Tormented the kid for being poor.

That plus the kick = crucifixion. Bonus $$$$ of the teacher has pointed teeth or is more than 30 pounds overweight or comes off as less than contrite at trial.

This comment from the San Diego Union post illustrates my point:

“I had a high school physics teacher who always singled me out to embarrass me in front of the class. He would always ask a trick question to the class and then direct it to me. When I couldn't answer it he would humiliate me in front of the class. I finally walked out when one time he said, "gosh, your parents must be really ashamed". “

“I have a B.S. in Computer Information Systems so I'm no dummy. This teacher just liked to pick on me. I didn't sue, or tell my parents. I just walked out. BUT I STILL REMEMBER THAT DAY. I HOPE THE KID WINS.”

PS to 38:

"Had the school been using the 'Cravath System,'" the teacher would have paid the mother to abuse the kid.

48 - Do you really expect people to treat their own child the same as a child they don't know? Seems like there are some pretty legitimate reasons to treat them differently.

51, "white anglo-saxon protestant-fairy-tale believing trust fund baby"
--Actually, racist, their are plenty of trailer park brats with stupid names like "Jade" and "Forever" and "Rainbow." Perhaps you should stop automatically assuming that and actually meet some trailer park trash.
And why do you think I assume they;re not protestant???

Parents who give their kids stupid names are almost always never involved in the kid's lives; the kids grow up to act like this loser Jade did.

48:
Let's be realistic:
This *wouldn't* happen to any good parents kid in February because a good parent's kid wouldn't act so wacky and crummy as to deserve it. If the teacher were *bad*, she would have flipped out in Nov./Dec. (when hiliday stresss would have brought out the crazy) and starting kicking kids and crap.

And a good parent doesn't name their kid Jade, moron.

And good kids, when told they're not involved in an activity, sit down and shut up and don't whine and make a scene.

48, you have obviously never been a teacher or dealt with the craptastic people who would name their kid Jade and allow them to act like this.

"This is by no means over, and I look forward to seeing this student at the top of her class at HLS within 10 years. "

51 = affirmative action beneficiary.

50 nailed it. This isn't a lib/conserv, black/white thing. this is a good parent/bad parent thing.

50 - your "exposure" based comment reminds one of Mill's criticism of Benthem (just google the words - they're names) - that his was the "empiricism of one who has had little experience."

#3 reminds me of why one should N-E-V-E-R leave a teacher on a jury. Zero empathy. Angry about making peanuts all of those years. And judgmental.

56 obviously believes whatever Jade tells him and all teachers are bad. Probably would name his kid Rainbow and expect other people to raise it.

63= John Edwards, is that you?

um, 62, you do realize how dumb you sound, right?

51

I read it as the student questioning a teacher making profit on the shirts. I would have liked to see Jade make the same shirts and sell them for $13.

But, in general, I think students that talk back to teachers should be kicked.

51 probably believes the Jena 6 are innocent little heroes and will all be world leaders one day and saints.

Jade Ray=p.o.s. little turd. Her parent(s)=bigger turds for filing the lawsuit.

Aww, her wittle feelings got hurt because she was an anti-social lunatic. Self-Esteem Police!

64: You're really proving the Dunning-Kruger effect.

56, that comment from the San Diego Paper is clearly from Jade in 10 years; some fat, out of work welfare queen with nothing to do but reminisce about the time some teacher actually dared her to learn in class.

Go back to your left-commune where nothing is ever wrong but authority figures.

pwned

Jade's prolly related to the trashy ho who got kicked out of her own prom for dressing like a stripper. And then physically attacked the teachers and got hauled off by the cops. After being warned about 15000 times that the dress she was going to wear would not be allowed at the dance. And now thinks she's wronged. And is suing.

yes, my years of experience dealing with little special ed kids proves I know nothing, 69.

You're really proving the "Liberal-With-Their-Head-Up-Their-A$$-About-how-the-world-works" Effect.

FRAT STUD? Ohhh, FRAAAAT STUUUUD . . . (called while "playing" cow bell or maybe the triangle).

And as a former high school teacher, kids in my classes used to get their asses kicked by me all the time, figuratively speaking, it was no big deal.

Wow, an awful lot of people implying that they know what its like to be a teacher ... I call bullshit.

I for one will admit I have not been a teacher, but I come from a family of low income area public school teachers (my mom, sister and two cousins if you want full disclosure). I grew up with these stories and hear them non-stop every time I go home. In this case, I still want to know more than the kids name before I assume its her fault. It's absolutely true there are bratty kids out there, and there are good teachers who get stopped from doing the right thing because of ridiculous parents, administrators and the threat of press/lawsuits. But there are also many many teachers that lack the maturity and intelligence to deal with the stress of the job, and for all we know this teacher was one of them.

Claiming you know what its like to be a teacher is not a good cover for being a biggot.

Jade and her mother are going to be on Maury= My mother is sleeping with my man!

73: I am not even sort-of liberal. You, however, are significantly less intelligent than you believe.

Why isn't Andrew Giuliani suing Duke for kicking him off the golf team the lawsuit of the day? The complaint is nearly 200 pages long.

55/59: Please provide a list of names good parents are allowed to use. If necessary, you can just point to the Bible.

Also, please provide a list of acceptable last names, since Ray doesn't make the list (which is surprising, given your probable affection for James Earl Ray).

Do you really mean that "good kids" are the ones that sit there and practice eating putative authority figures' shit during high school so that they can be good at it once they reach their crappy biglaw gigs?

Second, 78: Andrew Giuliani suing Duke for cutting him from the golf team and thereby interfering with his professional golfing career MUST be the lawsuit of the day. Where is Marc Edelman when we need him?

75:
Bigot is 1 g, not 2.
I have been a sped teacher.
The kid's name is a dead, dead give away.

Claiming that there are bad teachers is true. Claiming, however, that teachers aren't on the defensive, is untrue. No teacher DARES lay a hand on a kid, even the bad, crazy teachers, knowing this crap happens. In the 1950s, you can make your case, Today? NO FREAKIN' WAY. For a teacher to kick a kid in the butt requires that kid seriously getting under people's skin. Or lying.

Jade claims she's got 50 witnesses. I'll bet only her 3 friends testify.

I think the teacher/union should counter sue, except the only thing Jade and her family probably have are a box of lee press-ons and a can of cheeze whiz.

MO-RON.

OKay, I agree that suing was probably the wrong course of action for this.

What ever happened to Parent-Teacher conferences? I bet they didn't even try to talk to the principal about it.

They're going straight for the money and THAT will earn them some ridicule and maybe hurt their case a little bit.

56 here. I said IF believed.

There were 50 students there and probably an equal number of retelling to parents so it will not be hard for the jury to decide whether it happened.

And let me give you clue. It is not an admirable quality to torment poor or ugly children. Ordinary people (i.e. jurors) despise that kind of behavior. And when juries get pissed the open YOUR wallet.

So, by all means, if you accidentally hit a kid on her bike, DO tell witnesses at the scene that you could care less about rug rat trailer trash that probably have bad parents.

79 has obvious hatred for the kids who did well in school and teachers who forced him to learn, I'm sorry, made kids eat shit. I mean, they expect you to sit there and be quiet and read and shit!

And please, if you can't figure out that Jade is the sort of name either some low class, hands off parent would name a kid, you're either seriously delusional or seriously sheltered. Either way, get out in the real world.

79 named his daughter Jade.

I'll buck the trend and say the teacher should be flayed and dropped in a barrel of boiling oil. Not because I particularly believe it, but just because pushback is needed. Also, there are a lot of idiotic and demented public school teachers out there who deserve to go broke because some students won't put up with their shit. Here's hoping Ms. Nameless Choir Teacher gets hit with a tough verdict, fired, and is reduced to selling blow on the streets by next year.

83:
"There were 50 students there and probably an equal number of retelling to parents so it will not be hard for the jury to decide whether it happened."
---Have you never, ever played telephone???? And with teenagers, not adults??????? by the time the 50th kid gets up there, aliens would have probed Jade and given her a lollipop.

"And let me give you clue. It is not an admirable quality to torment poor or ugly children."
--_And let me give you a clue. it is not an admirable quality to act like a human piece of garbage like Jade obviously did and then whine when you get come-uppance.

"Ordinary people (i.e. jurors) despise that kind of behavior."
--As they despise whiny money grubbing hands off parents like Jade's.

"So, by all means, if you accidentally hit a kid on her bike, DO tell witnesses at the scene that you could care less about rug rat trailer trash that probably have bad parents."
--So, by all means, if you act like a piece of trash, DO tell everyone you're entitled to NEVER be embarrassed, because it hurts your feelings, and learning is for suckers.

Game. set. match. Bitch.

86, here's hoping your own brat gets beaten up by Jade in school, and when the teacher's don't intervene, they say, "We're not supposed to hurt Jade's self-esteem. Besides, all we do is give people shit, according to you, 86."

86:"Also, there are a lot of idiotic and demented public school teachers out there who deserve to go broke because some students won't put up with their shit."

What's more likely:
1. Choir director is a power hunger dictator.
2. Jade is an unruly bastard child without any sense who doesn't sit down and shut up when the teacher tells her to.

Get back to me when Occam's Razor hits you.

83=pwned.

Jade's got stripper/escort written all over her. She'll prolly end up with Elliot Spitzer in about 5 years.

Get back to me when you learn what Occam's Razor actually means.

“I had a high school physics teacher who always singled me out to embarrass me in front of the class. He would always ask a trick question to the class and then direct it to me. When I couldn't answer it he would humiliate me in front of the class. I finally walked out when one time he said, "gosh, your parents must be really ashamed". “

Sounds like just another day in law school.

Jade is actually a beautiful name, if you're Asian.

I think 92 is just in denial about the realities of public schools today. teachers are powerless, kids are allowed to do whatever they want, and the administration is terrified of being sued. For this to happen, it takes a combination of a craptastic child and a teacher driven to her wits end.

Bottom line: Jade's a little witch with a b, and either a liar or a deserving victim.

For crying out loud, Jade's suing because she was embarrased. For hurt feelings. This isn't like she was forced to be nude in front of the class (which is embarrassing for Jade only because she usually gets paid to do that).

She's embarrassed for being yelled at. The kick was just icing. OMG. This kid would suing without the kick. Read the story, you knee jerk Jade supporters.

86: The teacher is entitled to indemnification from the School District, who should have taken immediate administrative action to fire the teacher and then apologize to the parents and welcome the kid back.

If a kid is automatically expelled if mom packs a 1.5" paring knife with the apple in the kid's lunch, there should be zero tolerance for sexual assault or battery on children.

If they would have done that they probably would not have been sued.

What this teacher did (if she did it) was extremely hurtful and cruel and the fact that the kid is underprivileged makes it more so not less so. and the kick makes it battery, a crime and a tort.

Didn’t your parents teach you about noblesse oblige or at the very minimum that it is not in the interests of the ruling class to gratuitously torment the under classes?

I find it depressing that so many law students could be so clueless.

"Jade" is not nearly as bad as "Kashmir"

11:26(1): Wow, thank you for being a voice of reason.

To the rest of you, maybe the kid is lousy, maybe she isn't, but you are saying nasty, racist, insulting things about a 14-year-old kid who probably can use google. If it turns out you are wrong, will you give a damn? I am thinking no. A lot of projection here.

Also, maybe you were all a bunch of damn cowards who didn't stand up for the other students in your class, but I did see both bad students and deeply inappropriate teachers. My husband was routinely hit and belted in school growing up in the south (and we're both pretty young).

You wusses should be ashamed of yourself, and you should not go libeling A CHILD, even a child who you, in your omniscience, magically KNOW is bad, without having your facts down. She isn't every child who has ever done a bad thing, she is a big unknown. So maybe reserve your judgment, or speak, and reveal yourselves to be idiots and cowards.

97, wow, Ithrow some marxist class warfare language where it totally doesn't apply. nice job, commie.

Any administration that fired the teacher would suddenly find a dearth of good teachers around--or a union so pissed that milk doesn't get delivered for a month. Who wants to join a school that automatically believes some braind dead little child.

Noblesse Oblige?? WTF are you trying to apply some medieval class concept on a teacher with students? Students aren't an underclass, their dumb non-classed undeveloped adults. When we give 14 year olds the right to vote, talk to me.

No, Jade's parent (s) would have sued anyway. Please. they're suing for $$$. not to have said teacher fired. In other words, money grubbers.

All kids should just be randomly beaten in school. That will teach them to fear all teachers.

99, way to stick up for the brat.

"My husband was routinely hit and belted in school growing up in the south (and we're both pretty young)."

--um, corporal punishment IS STILL LEGAL. So bitching about being hit where it IS LEGAL and claiming Jade has aright to sue for being a wretch is STUPID.

88: If I ever have a brat, which I currently have no plans to do, I'll make sure to send it to school with a knife, to deal with both violent peers and out-of-control teachers.

89: Occam's Razor requires that we make the fewest possible assumptions; it does not offer any guide to choosing between two assumptions of unknown relative probabilities, such as the ones you posit. In this case, we either need to make some assumption to account for the incident, or we could make none and accept the null hypothesis that the teacher and student had no history, that this was an isolated incident, and that the teacher just went nuts for no reason.

I think it's more reasonable to make at least one assumption, but which assumption one makes at this point is essentially a matter of choice. Misbehaving students exist, but so do petty tyrants masquerading as teachers. Tenure and strong union protection can keep teachers in their jobs long past the point when they would have been discharged for misconduct elsewhere. My post was mostly just a reaction to the comments here; I think we clearly don't have enough information to decide who's at fault, but blaming the teacher is just as rational as blaming the student when we know so little.

-86

12:32, Yeah, that was actually my point. In some places, (not my home state) teachers can actually strike kids. So calling the girl a liar for saying her teacher kicked her may be a little out of touch with reality.

Let me summarize 99 nicely:
"making fun of a stupid name like Jade=racist, even though lots of white people have given their kids stupid names like Jade, too."
"She filed a public suit in court and had her name placed in the paper, but she can't be subject of debate or insults. We must all love little Jade Hope Diamond Amber Rainbow Ray."
"Some teachers were mean to me! One even gave me a perfectly legal punishment when I told him to fuck off, I ain't learnin' the white man's physics."
"I will defend jade, and claim you can't criticize her, while implying the teacher was wrong. But the child, who filed in court to protect her witty bitty ego, is to be left untouched, because all children named Jade are innocent."

104, who's 12:32? use numbers, ya trogledyte.

Dear 100:

I am as far from a "Commie" as one can get. I believe in a free market economy (i.e. capitalism). My family is well off. I had a full boat ride in private schools through law school graduation + apartment + car.

One other thing my parents did for me was teach me to be kind to those less fortunate than me.

Like it or not, if you wind up in law, you are going to be part of the ruling class.

It never pays to rub the nose of the under classes (and "trailer trash" qualifies) in their disadvantaged lot in life. That is how class resentment festers, and it is not in your interest to behave that way, nor in mine, nor is it very nice way to go through life.

That is all.
#97

12:36

Wow, great reading comprehension, since I didn't mention the physics story.

Let's apply reading comprehension to the rest of my post:
1) I didn't say mocking the child's name was racist
2) Even if someone files a lawsuit, imputing inchastity is still libel per se, which is what some of the people on this board have said
3) I did not criticize the teacher, mock her name, or say that she was necessarily in the wrong. I just said it was wrong to mock a child on the little information that we have. I stated that there were both bad students and teachers, and due to the possible damage reading this thread could cause a child, everyone should STFU. If I had gone on to criticize the teacher, you would have a point.

Wow, I had no idea I was part of the ruling class. That's the best news I've heard all day. I'm going to start imposing some rules around here.

"Jade" seems to have admitted in her own pleadings that she copped a 'tude with the teacher.

Given that most people spin their own stories, one would assume that the anti-Jade folks are probably right.

If this child had any actual capacity for shame or embarrassment she would never have been part of this money-grubbing lawsuit. I have a feeling nothing on this board will bother her in the least, unless she can get another lawsuit out of it. I would have much more sympathy if they were just pursuing a complaint or disciplinary proceeding that did not involve personal financial gain. The bill for all this will be paid by the taxpayers.

I'd still hit it with her (if she lived in West Virginia she would be old enough to consent).

12:59---So people who are sexually harassed or battered should just take it?

Because it is not 'the thing' to sue?

Tell your clients that. If a child is battered, and the school district protects the batterer, the child should sue. If the child was not, of course, false lawsuits or bad. Why don't you withhold judgment?

And "I have a feeling nothing on this board will bother her in the least"? Wow, why don't you go join one of those psychic phonelines. So, if your parents decided to sue a teacher on your behalf in high school, you wouldn't mind a bunch of lawyers randomly calling you a slut who, in the future, will be screwing so many men she won't know who the father of her child is? Again, wow.

Not appropriate to say about a child. There is NOTHING in the article that suggests promiscuity or anything like that. That is the projection of sick adults who really should know better.

Yeah, and to second 107, lay off the "trailer trash." They have to live somewhere- at least they're handling it and trying to make a living instead of wandering the streets of our cities causing trouble. A lot of people live that way but not because they wouldn't rather have a brick house on a cul de sac. They have hard lives.

In case you forgot, 111, children cannot sue on her own behalf. So what should she do to distance herself from this lawsuit?

"So people who are sexually harassed or battered should just take it?"

If my child were legitimately kicked in the rear by a teacher but did not sustain any injury, I would complain to the school authorities but I would not sue.

I support this kid for the following reason.

When I was a kid growing up in an almost totally WASP school, we had to sit in forced mandatory dramatic productions every year. I was never given a part and I am sure it was because I wasnt WASP, not perky enough, and not sucking up to the teachers enough. When I was older and at another school I was a reasonably good debater and won stuff, so ub retrospect it wasnt like I drooled really bad or anything.

My point is this: the whole idea of artistic auditions in a school is asinine. Because, in general, everyone in a middle school is about the same level of nontalented, cuts in drama or music class/club are usually based on whether the school thinks you are cute enough or connected enough. In my experience it is rarely based on skill. Everyone like this kid should be pissed off.

I hope the school wisens up and stops allowing pseudo-skill based cuts to ruin the educational process. Unless these cuts are based on certified PSAT scores, I'm not buying them.

Even with the humiliation? Do you know that in this case they did not go to the authorities?

Also, would you agree with me that the kid shouldn't be blamed for her parents' lawsuit?

"Do you know that in this case they did not go to the authorities?"

I have no idea if they did or didn't. What does it matter?

"Also, would you agree with me that the kid shouldn't be blamed for her parents' lawsuit?"

I don't know who's responsible for the decision to file the lawsuit. Anyway, if the child created this situation by copping a major attitude with the teacher and then lying about the teacher's reaction, then obviously she bears some responsibility.

to 117:
"I was never given a part and I am sure it was because I wasnt WASP, not perky enough, and not sucking up to the teachers enough."
--Way to impute your own paranoia as the sole reason why you never given a part.
Here's a myriad of other reasons:
you're a little brat; your parents weren't as connected as the other kids' parents who got parts; you were an outcast; you were really bad; you had a million other activities; the kids who were sucking up were actually just paying their dues.

Imputing a direct conspiracy against you based on race or ass-kissing is a cop out.

"if the child created this situation by copping a major attitude with the teacher and then lying about the teacher's reaction, then obviously she bears some responsibility."

Neither you nor I know whether that is what happened or not. But for whatever reason, a lot of people on this board think that this surmise is justification for suggesting this girl will sleep around, which is my problem with what is being posted here.

aww, 117, I guess we shouldn't hurt kids' feelings by forcing them to compete. Stop being a coddling little priss.

I call bullshit on your logic. In middle school, there is plenty difference in artistic abilities, just like there are kids who are good athletes and kids who can't get out of their own way.

Just because you don't want a kid's feelings to be hurt doesn't mean we stop the whole separating by ability thing. The kid will get over it--if he obsesses so much about not being good at singing/acting, and he really wants to be good, he can work and improve.

In other words, your "everyone gets a medal" ridiculous modern parenting bullshit can be thrown in the crapper where it belongs.

121: By the kid's own pleadings and the story (written with reference only to little Jade's statements), she was copping an attitude. That's how we know. If this were the teacher talking, I would say, "Let's hear from the kid." But this is the kid talking, and admitting, she was an ugly little brat.

117: "When I was older and at another school I was a reasonably good debater and won stuff, so ub retrospect it wasnt like I drooled really bad or anything."
---Um,, moron:
1. debate is not drama. Two different things, different abilities.
2. The fact that at a later time in life you did well does not mean that when you were younger you deserved to win. Abilities can chaneg over time, with practice or lack thereof. Michael Jordan was famously cut in high school, but he doesn't say, "Well, because I won in the pros, I was obviously good back then."
3. you went to a different school. Different mix of talent. Different talent evaluator. Maybe to the former evaluator you sucked and to the later one you were great, and both were honest and objective--just had different criteria. And maybe at different school there was weaker competition than at your first school.

Learn to argue correctly.

to 117:
"Never assume a conspiracy when a cock-up will suffice."

Words to live by, conspiracy theorist.

"Neither you nor I know whether that is what happened or not."

Of course not, but I have had enough painful experience in life to make a pretty good guess that this "Jade" is an entitled lying little brat.

"But for whatever reason, a lot of people on this board think that this surmise is justification for suggesting this girl will sleep around, which is my problem with what is being posted here."

It's part of the personality type. If I had to bet $10,000 one way or another, I would say she'll be a single mom within 5 years. And so would you.

I really don't think asking if the shirts really cost that much (who knows, maybe the teacher was a joker, or the child was obtuse or forgetful) she was copping an attitude. Even if she was, a kick in the ass = not okay. So until we find out whether the former happend saying she sleeps around (or will) should be verboten. I do not see that as a difficult line to draw.

126 is dead on. A sue-happy, dumbly-named, ugly brat like Jade is gonna be someone's unmarried mother in 5 years. Probably 3.

127, obviously Jade was asking for the 15th time, after being told about the requirements, and was trying to be a little annoying minx and disrupt choir--probably because she does so all year and drives the teacher nuts. Enough experience with children will teach you that this is a common story--bratty kid asking the same questions over and over, trying to slow things down in a passive-aggressive type way.

No, 126, I would never say (or think) that about anyone. Wow, you're sick. Getting called ugly by a teacher = being a single mom?

Your lack of logic and desire to pick on SMALL CHILDREN who cannot get at you is a stunning display of childishness and weakness.

In the real world, I've had enough experience with children who are victimized by adults to let things all come out in the wash before I decide who is or isn't the liar.

94 must be named Jade. Cause isn't a beautiful name for Asians or any ethnicity. It's like naming your daughter "Candy," it reeks of stripper.

128, I have been a nanny, a tutor for special needs students (about half of whom were actually learning disabled, the other half of whom just had serious attitude problems), I helped raise a teenaged relative, I have more than a couple dozen cousins, and a handful of nieces and nephews. You don't have to tell me how crappy children can get. But I've also seen adults be incredibly abusive towards children. I do not assume that adults are always correct or telling the truth.

Do you think there is some magical teacher sparkle fairy dust that keeps them from hitting children? Or from lying?

131, I do think there is a few magical kinds of fairy dust: litigation, administrations always siding with the child, and mass media portrayals of everyone under the age of 18 as a victim ( in terms of being innocent and not capable of doing wrong).

The times when a teacher his a child illegally and are vastly, VASTLY outnumbered by the times a child presents a false suit or complaint against a teacher just to get $$$$ or to give the teacher a hard time.

Nowadays, male teachers are never allowed to be in a room alone with a girl--there must always be at least someone else. This is not done because male teachers are untrustworthy (otherwise they wouldn't be hired); this is done because of the fear that some teenage brat will make up a story of sexual advances to ruin the teachers career and sue the school into bankruptcy.

Quite frankly, the odds heavily favor that Jade is making this crap up or was 100X more unruly than she is letting on. Yes, there are abusive teachers; there are also kinky Nazi porn lovers, but the odds of this teacher being either are roughly the same. The chances this kid is a liar/unruly deserving brat? The same as the chances of her being pregnant in 5 years and NOT married to the father.

"Getting called ugly by a teacher = being a single mom? "

Lol. Want some extra straw to go with your strawman?

a summary of the arguments thus far:
"Jade is a stripper's name."
"All teachers are bullies."

Her name is Jade Ray. She is scum. End of story.

You can bet David Bowie's gonna donate to her legal fund. Because She's been wronged. David Bowie said so.

I'm going to ask Lat to take down the comments calling this girl a slut.

If all of you are such clever lawyers, stop committing per se libel. Just stop.

If the kick occurred and no medical attention was required, give her a dollar in nominal damages and the school district should discipline the teacher. As for being called ugly, the First Amendment protects opinion. In fact, I'm going to take this opportunity to call Oprah ugly. Go ahead and sue me, O.

Another big Obama endoresment comes in:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080724/NEWS/807240387/1001

137, I don't recall anyone calling the girl a slut. I recall people assuming that in 5 years or less she'll be an unwed mother.

There's a difference between saying slut and saying this is how her life will turn out.

137, I don't recall anyone calling the girl a slut. I recall people assuming that in 5 years or less she'll be an unwed mother.

There's a difference between saying slut and saying this is how her life will turn out. And I'm sure Lat will listen to you.

You all are being total a--holes. The teacher is supposed to be a grownup, not call a 14-year old girl "ugly" and kick the kid out of *public* school choir for not having enough money. And then kick the kid?

That teacher should have been fired before the day was over - this suit is totally because the school didn't do that common-sense thing because it is scared of the union.

I have daughters, I know that if this happened to mine, I would have not been able to restrain myself and would have gotten sued myself. Lucky for this kid, her parents are more grown up.

138: Oh ye of little First Amendment knowledge. Go try calling your boss ugly, or an important client. You can tell security all about your constitutional rights as they escort your fired ass out of the building.

Government employees are no more protected from adverse employment actions based on inappropriate speech that is destructive of the employer's legitimate business (or, in this case, educational) interests than are private sector employees. Teachers have to leash their tongues at work just like everyone else.

142, once again, you do realize the entire article is written based on only the kid's description, which, being a 14 year old brat named Jade, means diddly and squat.

The kid was not "kicked out of choir." She was not allowed to singing the telegram, and only because she was dressed inappropriately. I'm guessing proper dress was required, and the kid didn't have it--and while buy the T-shirt would have sufficed, it was required. So no, the brat wasn't kicked out.

The teacher should not have been fired, you overparenting reactionary wuss. Kid's lie, and I'd bet money this kid is lying or deserved it.

You have daughters, who are probably just the same self-entitled little brats this loser was. You probably get mad at the teacher when your daughters act unruly and they are punished, because god forbid your little angels are ever found to be wrong.

Now, when your daughters are pregnant at 17 and getting tattoos and never calling you, you'll wonder why, you awful example of why people should need licenses to have children.

Clearly 142 is one of those "teachers/authority figures are always wrong" types that needs a good mugging to be shown that sometimes, just sometimes, there are bad people who need punishment.

let's put 142 and his "love the little ugly brats" in a classroom with Jade and her friends. in about 10 minutes, he'll be screaming at the door or lying in a fetal position as this classy runt makes mincemeat out of his yuppie-made self-esteem.

Give the teacher a medal. Give the kid an expulsion. Case closed.

this is why the modern education system is in shambles. You used to kick out the bad apples like this Jade p.o.s. and give the teachers the power of discipline. Now losers like 142 kick out th teacher, allow Jade to run wild, and then wonders why schools are lagging behind.

The teacher is always right until proven wrong. That mantra would prevent a lot of these problems. Children are unruly, undisciplined, illogical, self-interested little morons---they will lie or cheat to get what they want or need. Welcome to reality.

Sorry, liberals, 146 is right: school is a privilege, not a right. If you nutty little lefties could figure that out, then maybe schools could improve. But no, to you socialist dingbats, everything you want is a right, bar none.

I think someone should start a fund for the teacher. Get her a good attorney to sue the pants off of Jade for libel.

142, don't worry about restraining yourself. Your girlie little slaps and angry attacks against the teacher's poor wine tasting ability probably wouldn't have been suable. Only laughable.

One thing that I noticed from my own time as a teacher-torturing little s--- in grade school was that the lack of disciplinary options for teachers and administrators was an almost direct cause of teacher abuse.

The teachers are being eaten alive and they don't have any power left to keep a class of 35 kids in line. No joke, my mother, a public school teacher, caught a kid sharpening a cafeteria knife into a shiv in school. While escorting the kid to the office where expulsion proceedings were sure to begin, they were turned around by the principle who stated unequivocally that it, "Was not an administrative issue."

When a teacher can't even give after school detention to a kid for fashioning a weapon on school grounds it's no wonder that the weaker of them result to one of the few options not yet completely restricted as a means of fighting back; namely, psychological abuse.

That being said, the choir teacher probably is an indomitable raging douchetard.

150, i agree. More power to the teachers. But I still think this choir teacher was pushed the breaking point. Jade's article, written totally from her point of view, makes her seem like a little douche liar.

Let's start a rumor about Jade.

151, I'm sympathetic to both the teachers and the kids. I remember all of the under-handed shit teachers pulled on me. But if they could have just slapped me accross the mouth that would have been the end of it. No need to make me feel like a loser or criminal. Just a kid being put back into line.

But my mom, godmother, and sister-in-law all work in decaying school systems and you should hear some of the stories they bring home. You may have even heard one of them: my mom's school recently had a scandal where two pre-teen kids were video taped performing sex acts on each other in the MIDDLE OF CLASS. The girl had been more or less coerced all year long and eventually gave in. The whole class was in on it. Two kids distracted the substitute teacher while the rest formed a barrier so he couldn't see the action. In a few hours that video was on almost every phone in the school. Great way to end the year.

That was a MIDDLE school. All I can say is parents: stay involved in your kids' lives. No one else has the power or the will to keep them out of trouble.

150

Jade spelled backwards is edaJ.

143:

I didn't say that the teacher couldn't be disciplined by her employer for calling the girl ugly. I said that you can't sue someone (successfully) for calling you ugly. Nice reading comprehension there, toots.

sounds like a lot of pussy kids here got slapped by some 14-yo girl named jade when they were in junior high - let it go kids, let it go.

Check out the teacher's cached Myspace page. At least she has decent looks going for her.

150 - you're totally right about the lack of support from administration in schools, but at some schools, you'd be luck y to only have 35 kids in your class. Music classes are usually bigger than that since they're electives with no state restraint on class size. Most choir classes are more than 50 students. I am a former high school teacher and had a couple of 40+ person classes (had a 58 person class my first year teaching and fought for more than a month before they reduced class sizes -- I had kids sitting on crates, folding chairs, and on each other's desks just for a spot).

Unfortunately in schools today, teachers are left hanging out to dry to come up with their own system of frontier justice because administrators either 1) don't care, or 2) refuse to adequately discipline students. It used to be that you could call the parent to tell them their kid is a screw up, but now, if you can even get ahold of the parent, they don't do shit to reform the kid's attitude. Some set an awful example in front of the kids and encourage their stupidity.