A 9-year-old Hillsborough County boy is accused of sexual harassment by school authorities for writing an unwanted love note to a classmate
The mother of a 9-year-old boy is highly pissed off at Hillsborough County, Florida school authorities for threatening to file sexual harassment charges against the fourth grader.
Her son has a crush on a girl in his class. He did what any red-blooded fourth grader would do if he had the trots for a girl. He wrote her love notes telling her she was “pretty and cute.” He drew a heart, inside of which he wrote, “I like you.” He also wrote, "I like your hair because it is not sloppy. I like your eyes because they sparkle like diamonds." Sweet, but the notes were unwanted.
To make matters worse, much worse, other boys in the school saw the notes and began teasing the love smitten youngster, saying that he wanted to see the girl naked, even though there was nothing whatsoever in the notes of a sexual nature.
That did it. All of a sudden he’s Public School Enemy Number 1. The 9-year-old sexual predator was sent to the principal’s office and told that if he wrote another note to the girl, he would be charged with sexual harassment.
His mother was infuriated. She told ABC Action News, “He’s 9. What little kid doesn't write love notes? My 9-year-old doesn't even know what sexual harassment means."
School authorities deny that they threatened to file sexual harassment charges against the boy. However, they said that since he wrote more than one note to the girl and those notes were unwanted, what he did bordered on harassment.
Dr. Valerie McClain, a licensed psychologist in Tampa, doesn't think this is sexual harassment. "It may be something he thought was very sweet and innocent," she told ABC Action News
According to ABC Action News, “Hillsborough schools said the problem was not the note itself, but the teasing and disruptions that followed. Spokesperson Tanya Arja said teachers discourage kids from passing notes because it can cause classroom disruptions like this one.”
I don’t blame the mother for being pissed off. And despite their denials, I believe the school authorities did threaten the fourth grader with sexual harassment charges.
With all the disruptions that go on in schools, one would think that the Hillsborough County school authorities could have found a more serious disruption to concentrate on.
1 comment:
That is what happens when following rules becomes more important than doing the right thing.
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