The vote to exile the poor little kid, whose mom says he has Augsperger's, was 14 to 2. That means two 5 or 6 year olds have already learned to stand up to people who abuse their authority and try to play on the fears of people to divide them against each other. Good for them. I only hope they explained their votes by saying, "Miss Portillo, you're a big poop-head!"

All is not lost, not as long as we have a couple kindergartners who can recognize Stalin in a skirt. Let's find out who those kids are and give them citizenship awards. You go, little rebels!

What the heck are you talking about????

If this child was as disruptive and reports indicated, the problem is this one kid, not everyone else!!!!

Another example of short term "feel good" thinking that is helping, bit by bit, to destroy America's future.

All dissent must be squashed. All abberrant behavior must be suppressed. All deviation from the norm must be banished. Anyone who does not conform, comply and demonstrate the proper respect for authority must be banished. Our children must be taught this at a very young age, so they'll grow up and become the conformist, consumerist adults we desire as citizens.

You're absolutely right. Our nation's future depends on this. We must have citizens who are trained to believe and obey, good people who do not question authority.

When they sit on juries, for example, they must believe the defendant is guilty because the prosecutor says so and she represents the power and majesty of the state.

When the Secretary of State comes on television and shows them pictures of fuzzy blobs in the desert, they must believe it constitutes justification to invade whatever nation the president says we should invade. When the media tell them it's a slam dunk and a smoking gun, they must nod their heads in agreement.

Having to live and work and otherwise interact with people who are different threatens our sense of unity, our "one-ness" as a people, our willingness to goosestep to whatever drumbeat sounds from the Marching Band of Patriotism. We cannot have this! We must purge and isolate those who are different. If they cannot suppress their disruptive tendencies, they must be cast out, voted off the island, swept away by a righteous wave of democracy, culled out by the majority of decent citizens who recognize the treat they pose.

One people! One nation! One leader! (I wish I knew how to say that in German)

Read my post above:

Autism is a challenge to most teachers....this child should have been tested and put in a separate class for his own growth...with a teacher(s) who are trained to work with kids with the various behaviors that autistic kids have.]

The teacher should have been talking with the mother and she would have found out that he was autistic and then the teacher could have tried to help the child, not disparage him for a disability he was born with.

Please, spare the histrionics. You walk a fine like between supporting chaos in the name of individualism and recognizing that some people are unable to control themselves.

Which is it? (Taking this specific case aside, and arguing purely from the perspective of what you put forth in your post) Do you believe that a person should be able to do whatever he/she wants irregardless of the impact to others - or that a person should act like his peers and stay in-line? OR....... somewhere in between? If it is somewhere in between, when is that line crossed between borish behavior and positive uniqueness?

Don't beg the question, this isn't a black and white matter.

First, EV, congratulations on using "beg the question" correctly. That's very rare these days. I'm so impressed I hesitate, but not to the point that I'll refrain, to point out your use of "irregardless," which is a nearly illiterate coupling of "irrespective" and "regardless."

Of course I believe in civilized behavior. The problem in this case is that the child in question is incapable of being civil all the time because he has Augsperger's syndrome, according to what his mom said on TV.

Perhaps the little guy should not be mainstreamed, or should be selectively mainstreamed, or be enrolled in some special program to help him control his behavior, or... Well, there are many possibilities.

The behavior of the kid and the extent to which it disrupts the class and prevents the others from learning is not the question here. There's a solution to that problem and it can be discovered with some patience and experimentation.

The teacher is the real problem. She's teaching the students it's okay to gang up on people who are different and ostracize them, drive them out, humiliate them into segregating themselves, whatever it takes so the rest of us won't be bothered or inconvenienced or offended by them.

That part is very definitely black and white. The teacher was wrong to demonstrate to her students how to degrade and shame and de-humanize another person. That's a life skill they'll acquire soon enough without special instruction. She's also a bit dense if she doesn't realize her efforts are wasted on an Augsperger's child, but I don't think people should be held morally culpable for being dim.

It is probable that the little boy with Aspergers, or autism, or whatever, should be in a special needs situation. Although I am supportive of integrating people with special needs into mainstream classes to the greatest extent possible, we must realize that this is not always beneficial to either the individual student or the rest of the class. HOWEVER, the teacher was way out of line voting the child out of class. This is a public school, paid for with public funds, to serve the very population that funds the school. Teachers can't just kick someone out of the class because they "don't like" the student today. The kid had already been sent to the office, and the situation had already been handled. She should be punished for her poor judgment, possibly even fired, and schools need to review their policies concerning student discipline and make sure their employed teachers know what those policies are. Finally, if something like that ever happened to one of my kids, I'd kick the teacher's ass!

Arlington, I think you miss the point. The support of this teacher's move is not due to the manner in which she handled the situation. I believe that this result (moving the child to a class where EVERYONE could learn better) could have and should have come under the request of the Principal/School Board and, yes, even the mother who must realize that her child is not "normal" and perhaps would learn better in a special education environment. And, the support does not come from wanting thoughtless sheep that can not be individuals - to the contrary...the support comes from wanting a positive, nourishing, thought provoking learning environment for ALL of the children which can only come if students of the same general learning level can be fostered and taught information in a manner they can comprehend. The class can only progress at the level of the least intelligent student. I want all citizens to be able to think for themselves...how can this happen when all of the "normal" level students are being held back and bored to tears because the special kid in the class is getting all of the teacher's attention and the kid doesn't get the lesson of the day? Integrating special needs children dumbs down everyone. Continuing the government mandated IEP's and insisting integration is what will lead to the senario you presented with drones who can't form a thought!