Hmmm… guess I’ll file this one under: Another reason I’m glad my daughter is attending half-day kindergarten this fall.
In addition to not having to take a nap on the classroom floor (though, part of me would have enjoyed being a fly on the wall when my anti-nap drama queen went up against a woman who had 18 other five year olds to cajole into remaining silent for an hour), my daughter will also be skipping lunchtime in the school cafeteria. Subsequently, I will not have to deal with the same situation parents of a Connecticut kindergartener were forced to face a few months ago.
According to reports, a 67-year-old teacher at Park City Magnet School in Bridgeport was arrested and charged with risk of injury to a minor for allegedly forcing a 5-year-old boy to eat food he had thrown in a garbage can.
School officials told local news reporters that the arrest of veteran teacher Anne O’Donnell stems from an incident whereby the boy apparently tossed his lunch of chicken nuggets and a banana into a large trash can in the school cafeteria.
The blatant waste of food reportedly didn’t sit well with O’Donnell, who is accused of retrieving the items from the garbage can and forcing the boy to eat them in front of her.
Listen, I’m all about not wasting food. In fact, my daughter knows better not to leave the table unless she has eaten the required amount of food on her plate. What’s more, I was schooled by staunch Catholic nuns, who absolutely, positively did not care whether you liked what you were served for lunch. All students were required to eat everything on their plates and drink every ounce of milk served or face sitting through recess and into afternoon class time outside the principal’s office with their trays of food until their parents picked them up. So I get what O’Donnell was trying to teach the boy about being wasteful.
However, there is no way I condone digging chicken nuggets and a banana out of the trash and forcing a 5-year-old to eat them in front of his teacher and classmates. Ever. Ever. Ever.
Forget about the “five second rule” or even the “two second rule;” what in the world would possess a teacher to dig through the trash and force-feed a kindergartener in front of a room full of witnesses?
Police say O’Donnell’s actions were disgusting, degrading, and more importantly, illegal.
No word on what punishment O’Donnell faces should she be convicted of the crime. Personally, I could come up with a variety of appropriate penances, and they all involve digging and trash. Of course, I have a feeling the boy’s parents have their own ideas for punishment and they likely involve a civil lawsuit that would require O’Donnell to dig into her retirement fund.
What do you make of the teacher’s trashy move?
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