Teacher Ties Up Students In Slavery Lesson

(CBS/AP)  A white social studies teacher attempted to enliven a seventh-grade discussion of slavery by binding the hands and feet of two black girls, prompting outrage from one girl's mother and the local chapter of the NAACP.

After the mother complained to Haverstraw Middle School, the superintendent said he was having "conversations with our staff on how to deliver effective lessons."

"If a student was upset, then it was a bad idea," said Superintendent Brian Monahan of the North Rockland School District in New York City's northern suburbs.

The teacher apologized to the mother who complained and her 13-year-old daughter during a meeting Thursday that also included a representative of the local NAACP. But the mother, Christine Shand of Haverstraw, N.Y. said Friday she thinks the teacher should be removed from the class.

"I think the teacher should have gotten some discipline," Shand said. "I know if that was me, I would be uncomfortable going back to that class. Why should my daughter have to switch?"

Monahan refused to say what, if any, measures were taken against the teacher, Eileen Bernstein, who was still working on Friday. The school district said she was not available for comment.

"We encourage our teachers to deliver the curriculum in a variety of ways, to go beyond just reading the textbook," the superintendent said. "We don't want to discourage creativity. But this obviously went wrong because the student was upset."

On Nov. 18, Bernstein was discussing the conditions under which African captives were taken to America in slave ships. She bound the two students' hands and feet with tape and had them crawl under a desk to simulate the experience, Monahan and Shand said. Monahan said the girls were not the only blacks in the class.

Gabrielle Shand burst into tears at home, her mother said.

"There are other ways to demonstrate slavery," Christine Shand said Friday. "It doesn't matter the color of the kids, it's just not right to tie them up. My daughter is still upset, still embarrassed. She didn't go to school today."

Wilbur Aldridge, director of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the history demonstration, first reported in The Journal News, "went wrong when she started to do that binding."

"I don't care what color, no one should be put in the position of having their hands and feet bound," he said.

Aldridge said he feared that the teacher still "didn't get it" after their meeting. He said the teacher apologized "because Gabrielle was upset, not because she admitted she did something wrong."

Shand said she had not decided whether to take any further action, including filing a lawsuit.

[runningralph]

CLOVERNYC, The best odds of sucessful child raising is to have a mommy and daddy taking care of the child. Children raised without both parents have increased risk of emotional problems. Of course, there are no guarantees. Many one parent children will do well, and many two parent children will have problems. The odds are better for the two parent kids. This is true regardless of race.

Illegitimate children are a different problem. Many of them are raised in poverty. The majority of convicts had no real father.
New York is my favorite city. All American cities should aspire to be like New York.

[mrmeatspin]

Did you read that in your Ku Klux Klan manual?


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Posted by CloverNYC at 05:52 PM : Dec 08, 2008
+ report abuse


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nah its from the study of black culture

[clovernyc]

People of all races need to try to reduce the illegitimate birth rate.
posted by runningralph
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You draw a completely illogical nexus between a statistic 70% of black children not having ''real fathers'' and being ''overly emotional'' as a result.

From this you conclude that there is a need to reduce the ''illegitimate'' birth rate.

Did you read that in your Ku Klux Klan manual?

[clovernyc]

When you pair emotion with educational content, it is more likely that the material will be remembered.
posted by chillllout
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Yes, you are right.

Those two children will never forget how a teacher they trusted embarrassed and humiliated them before their peers by binding their hands and feet for the sake of a demonstration.

[runningralph]

70% of black children don''t have real fathers. As a result many of them are overly emotional and sensitive. Teachers need to take this into account when dealing black children. Many white and Hispanic children have the same problem, but the white children''s single parents know that a lawsuit won''t work for them. People of all races need to try to reduce the illegitimate birth rate.

[delta5243]

Shand said she had not decided whether to take any further action, including filing a lawsuit.


AND THAT''S REALLY WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT !!!!!

[sho131]

Obviously, Since many see the black/white race issue as such a highly subjective topic, the teacher would have been better to demonstrate with a one of each race. Also, I do not buy the girl broke into tears because she was embarrassed, rather I suspect her mother was the one to kneed her to those tears. It''s ridiculous and outlandish making such a big deal out of what is creative teaching. Someone needs a big lesson in and out of ignorance.

[fred747]

Maybe next time the teacher can explain white *** trafficking by taking two white girls and drilling them in the can in front of the class.

[Meg003]

When my child was in kindergarten, his teacher demonstrated slavery by having the white kids with blue eyes play the slaves. Now I understand why.

Not one parent complained. Everyone understood that the teacher was attempting to get the children to see the horror and unfairness of slavery. Had she used the black children, I suppose she could have made the news.

[toolmangler-2009]

I think that this teacher, should be very ashamed..For allowing this to happen...
Posted by dennisjr6 at 09:24 PM : Dec 06, 2008



I think she should be praised. If she had used two white children the impact would have been smaller, but by using two Black children even the whites could relate by having a visual representation of what she (the teacher) was trying to tell them, the students may just remember that lesson long after they forget how to do Trig...