School gives student with autism "most annoying" award.

[WOT?*]

This is all in good fun? No, it's not. They "pretend" forgot until the teacher reminded them to take the trophy home. I hope he dumped it in the trash can on the way out the door.

fox8.com/2019/06/04/school-apologizes-after-boy-with-autism-given-most-annoying-award/?fbclid=IwAR0tPsvOrgUtRx2jaGFiX3V-i5z9rrnizub7tmUi3hKf4reL1HwAO-VyTCo

I still get riled up when my absolutely adorable five year old granddaughter got a "Most Sleepy" award for pony camp, the only negative award in a camp full of kids who got "best seat" and "best hands" and "best smile" and she got "Most Sleepy." It was right before she was moving back with her mom after having lived with us for five years, a "last hurrah" week-long day camp. We spent good money on the cutest pink and gray fake alligator boots that everyone loved. Went to Michael's so we could be sure she had a well-dressed pony with ribbons and clip-on butterflies and she and her pony were adorable. She had the biggest blue eyes. And all they remembered about her was "she was always falling asleep on the bus." She was so happy to get an award until she saw our shocked faces in the crowd. We weren't thinking about how cute it was but "how could they find NOTHING positive to remember her by?" It's been ten years. This should never be a "teachable" moment.

[arch01]

That is absolutely awful. What happened to your granddaughter is awful as well-I HATE those awards.

[wambam]

Why in the fuck would they give this to any child ever?

[wildrice]

Kids should never publicly be called out for anything but positive attributes. Honestly I hate "most anything" awards anyway. Someone always ends up feeling like crap.

Even if a neurotypical kid was voted "most annoying", then what? They have a complex for the rest of their life that they are annoying and thus shouldn't be themselves? Fuck that.

[So_Fetch]

I'm curious if they also had a Most Annoying Female award since the article states his was the Most Annoying Male award.

ETA: not that it makes it okay.

[katfco]

This is so horrible.
My teaching partner and I give character awards to our 5th graders at the end of every year, but they're based on character traits and associated with people. So we have a Shakespeare award to someone who writes, a Thomas Edison award to the one who "lights up the room", etc. My kids really got into it this year, guessing who was going to get the award based on the descriptions (they were pretty on target, too).

That a group of teachers would do such a thing hurts my heart and infuriates me. I want to smack them.

[Velar Fricative]

This is awful.

[shauni27]

this makes me want to cry. And WOT?*, that makes me so sad for your granddaughter, too.

This is SO fucked up. I have never been to a school that does any "awards" like this.

[pugz]

this teacher should be fired

[nessness]

That's awful. A "most annoying" award is not something that anyone should give to any kid ever, but giving one to a non-verbal kid just seems like an extra layer of cruelty.

[mrsukyankee]

I'm always astounded by the stupidity of people who are supposedly trained to teach others (note, not all of them and luckily..I hope..only a few).

[sugarbear]

What in the hell?! Unconscionable.
And WOT?*, I am horrified for your granddaughter.

[followyourarrow]

That is so cruel. I hope their are ramifications for the teacher.

[Jalapeñomel]

I'm really hating on teachers right now. I really don't understand the lack of empathy. I don't understand how you can do what we do and be this way.

[bugandbibs]

As a mom of a child with special needs and a school employee I am aghast. I do not understand the how and the why of this whole thing. It's cruel.

[penguingrrl]

That’s horrifyingly cruel. It would be awful to give such a mean spirited “award” any student but for a child with autism is unspeakable. This teacher needs to be let go for this.

[Miss Phryne Fisher]

Can someone confirm something: is this a private or a charter school? By the name it leads me to believe that but I couldn't find that information for sure in the article.

In a public school there are channels that need to be gone through, but would likely lead to severe consequences. If it is private or charter, I hope that teacher (or those teachers) lost their job by the end of the day. As a teacher of 17 years and a special needs parent, I want those parents to burn it down. They should not have the chance to do that to another kid, holy shit.

[lilac05]

This teacher needs to hear the lecture I just gave the other day. NO ONE is annoying. People can do things that annoy/bother you, but that’s on you. That speaks to your tolerance of something that is happening around you. They, as individuals, are not annoying.

It’s a huge pet peeve of mine. Same as there’s no such thing as a naughty child. Kids who do naughty things? Absolutely! But that doesn’t make them a naughty child.

I cannot fathom the other awful things this child had to endure this school year. I would bet my last dollar that this is not the only terrible thing this teacher/staff has done this school year.

[miniroller]

Jun 4, 2019 14:25:20 GMT -5 penguingrrl said:

That’s horrifyingly cruel. It would be awful to give such a mean spirited “award” any student but for a child with autism is unspeakable. This teacher needs to be let go for this.

I’m joining everyone in absolute disgust at the cruelty, but additionally: what about all the students who saw the authority of the classroom (teacher) “award” this to a special needs student?! Thereby, not just accepting, but encouraging mocking anyone different!

Side-note: I hate how years ago (early 00’s), H & I envisioned a world in which small-minded-ness was rare & extremely discouraged due to the (future) connectivity of the world. (Again- we were just entering the digital age.)
Obviously, we, ignorantly, had no idea the authoritarianism that would be/ is embraced by people who are essentially afraid of said connectedness. This teacher is the exact person who is breeding future hate & ostracizing-of-others, & I wholeheartedly agree she needs to be fired.

[madringal]

Jun 4, 2019 14:29:51 GMT -5 Miss Phryne Fisher said:

Can someone confirm something: is this a private or a charter school? By the name it leads me to believe that but I couldn't find that information for sure in the article.

In a public school there are channels that need to be gone through, but would likely lead to severe consequences. If it is private or charter, I hope that teacher (or those teachers) lost their job by the end of the day. As a teacher of 17 years and a special needs parent, I want those parents to burn it down. They should not have the chance to do that to another kid, holy shit.

This story is local to me and from my understanding it's a hybrid. But it does fall under the Gary Public School umbrella.

[eddy]

This poor child.

I still remember the mean spirited award I got from my two bitch softball coaches when I was a junior in high school. I can't remember the "clever" wording but it basically made fun of the fact that I just nodded my head and looked earnest when they gave me shitty/negative feedback. I didn't know how else to deal with the constant yelling and harping. But according to my mom who was very heated about it, I was the only one who got an award that made fun of me.

I quit the team at the end of the year along with half the team.  I loved softball, but it wasn't worth the negativity. It wasn't just because of the award. They personally called me the next year to beg me to go out because they didn't have enough women for a team. I told them no and hung up. I think they only coached one more year and hopefully stayed far far away from impressional kids after that.