It's very sad looking at the children growing up today / in this day and age - it's scary to think they'll grow up one day and become leaders / parents / teachers / etc themselves.

Yes, there are exceptions - however, these "exceptions" should have been the norm, rather than the few (hence "exceptions").

I have two kids of my own, and I observe the above from spending a lot of time at the park, and looking at my kids' friends.

You may say who am I to judge - I was brought up in China so I'd like to think that I have pretty good traditional values: such as respect, humility and honesty.

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Did your Dad demonstrate the proper technique? This **whack** is too hard. This **Thwack** is too light. Just kidding. I see that the nannies around Hamilton Park are often better at handling the kids who act up or have meltdowns. They tend to ignore the child and the kid will then realize they're not getting anywhere. Too often some parents will try to "understand" and "reason" with their child. They treat every situation as if it's the penultimate moment in the child's development.

Lisa Fantacone, a Jersey City Public School teacher, detailed the allegation made against a Source4Teachers substitute accused of assaulting a child, eventually calling on the board to end its contract with the outsourcing firm. Dr. Marcia Lyles explained what the district is doing to deal with similar situations, while JCBOE member Ellen Simon questioned the sincerity of the union.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvmD0gLp7NM

bodhipooh, lol, we were never hit by a teacher either and we were always extraordinarily well behaved in school. Children were raised very different when I was growing up. When it snowed, we were expected to get up and go shovel for the elderly neighbors at no charge to them. Then we had to go and shovel for money. Mostly to stay out of the house. It was the same deal with raking leaves in the fall. There was just an expected level of deference to be paid to elders. Today, these pseudo yuppies raise their children to believe that they are exceptional at everything and the are freely entitled to be showered in accolades from everyone. I have never observed any of my neighbors' children extending themselves for anyone. It's just not they culture downtown or in this day and age.

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Ha ha ha! My mother used to do pretty much the same thing. She would introduce herself to each teacher and let them know that if I ever stepped out of line, they were expected to reprimand me and that she would always back them up in such a situation. We never got in trouble in school and knew to avoid being the target of unwanted teacher attention.

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If you slap a kid, you failed as a leader. We can do much better than that.

At the beginning of each school year, my father would introduce himself to my new teacher and give that teacher authority to smack me if I got out of line. The teacher was further instructed to call my parents so they could do the same. Our world has changed so much over the years. Sigggh.

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True, but I'd still like to know what the perfect little angel did to provoke this slap. Teachers typically don't do this out of the blue. These days, there's a whole investigation if a teacher even raises their voice a few decibels.

The contract with Source4Teachers is a bigger source of controversy, IMHO. Once again, Jersey City is using an out-of-town vendor when there are plenty of locals that could serve as substitute teachers. The public schools I went to never used any company, they just had a list of qualified substitutes, mostly retirees and called on them when they needed them.

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Also don't run with scissors

Slapping or hitting any student means violence is OK and it is not.

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In the private sector - when you sub-contract anything - particularly for a position of responsibility - you typically vet both the contractor and the service provider. Question is - what vetting did the BOE do - on both the practices and policies at S4T - and on the actual teacher? The BOE can't sub-contract it's duty of care to the students.

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Parents are idiots that slap too - Note: We don't use physical punishment in prisons ! Also, can a child then slap an adult or parent when they stuff-up or a sibling or other peers ?

If teachers can't slap, then how come parents can?

If the sub teacher had all the credentials and certifications to be a teacher then how can it be the agencies fault ? - If the agency (S4T) did all the checks, the only fault lays with the sub teacher.

I do love how some will make this into some sort of contractual / political issue with the service provider (S4T) even though its just one nut-job teacher that could have their name with any agency.

As for provocation - there is no excuse to slap anyone ... and this applies to children and adults.

In a shocking story that the Children First team first learned about yesterday, a substitute teacher the district hired from the controversial "Source4Teachers" (S4T) personnel agency attacked a student, viciously slapping him according to Children First sources on the scene.

According to Children First sources on the scene at PS 34, the 3rd-grade student went to get something from his cubby and was attacked by the male S4T substitute. The official teacher for the classroom had left the class in the sub's care to go to a meeting only 10 minutes earlier, Children First learned, before the attack began.

"The whole class saw it," the Children First source said anonymously. "These kids are traumatized and they don't want another sub again in their class."

The Source4Teachers's contract to be the exclusive provider of substitutes for the district was recently renewed by the Board of Education, a vote that former board member Gerald Lyons of the Children First team vociferously opposed. Gerald spoke out about the company, warning that the company was a waste of money and that they would not provide better quality subs than what the district could hire on its on. Gerald Lyons also warned about the potential danger of outsourcing personnel to be with our students, a danger that was realized in yesterday's incident.

"Source4Teachers has been a huge and expensive error," remarked Gerald Lyons recently at a May 22nd board meeting. "We are wasting up to $10,500 each school day."

Children First has received several reports of other problems with S4T subs, including sleeping in the classrooms, using cellphones and coming to work intoxicated, issues that have been brought up numerous times to the 9-members of the Board of Education that have ignored the complaints. Last year, a Source4Teachers sub lost a prek student at PS3 -- the child was found in the street of the building in the snow by a staffer.

Gerald Lyons and The Children First Team continues to demand that the district immediately cancel services with Source4Teachers and re-hire our own personnel.

https://www.facebook.com/TheChildrenFirstTeam

pf course the teacher is wrong for slapping the student, but i wonder what the student did to provoke a slap.

Jersey City student slapped in face by substitute teacher, police told

By Matthew Speiser | The Jersey Journal
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on October 02, 2014 at 4:30 PM

Jersey City grammar school student said a substitute teacher pushed him to the ground and slapped him across the face Wednesday afternoon, according to a police report.

Police responded to a report of an assault at School 34 at 4:10 p.m., though the teacher who allegedly struck the student had already left the building. School 34 Principal Shante Jones told police that the teacher told her that he "intended to slap the child but did not," the report stated.

There were no cameras in the school that caught the alleged incident on tape, but the student stated that several classmates witnessed the incident, according to police.

The student, who refused medical attention, had no visible signs of injury and no complaint of pain, according to police. The Institutional Abuse Investigation Unit, a division of the Department of Children and families (DCF) that investigates allegations of child abuse outside of homes, was also notified and a case was generated, the report indicated.

The substitute teacher is an employee of Cherry Hill based Source4Teachers, a teacher outsourcing agency that is contracted by the Jersey City school district to provide schools with substitute teachers.

"Source4Teachers is currently reviewing an incident which allegedly occurred on October 1, 2014 in the Jersey City Public Schools. The company is in full cooperation with school district officials," Source4Teachers said in a statement.

The company also stated that the safety and security of students are the top priority for Source4Teachers, and that all teachers are offered training and undergo criminal background checks as required by state law.

When police attempted to reach out to the director of the company -- whose name was redacted from the report -- to acquire information on the suspect, the director became "irate and stated that policy prevented her from disclosing information," according to the police report.

Police said the director was "uncooperative" and "unnecessarily belligerent" and also threatened to file a complaint against the officers, which she ultimately decided not to do, the report stated.

Police said they advised the victim's mother to file a complaint in court.

Jersey City Board of Education Chief of Staff MaryAnn Dickar and School 34 Principal Shante Jones did not return calls for comment on the incident.

Ron Greco, the leader of the Jersey City teachers union, said the district's contract with Source4Teachers is a major sticking point between the union and the district. Greco questioned why the Board of Education contracted Source4Teachers, adding there are plenty of qualified educators in the community that are eligible to work as substitutes teachers.

Jersey Journal Link