By now, most of you have probably heard that there is a blog out there exposing the alleged abusive tactics of a certain Jewish educator. The goal is to gather as much anecdotal evidence as possible in order to stop this man's abusive ways from hurting any future students. This is, in theory, a commendable practice. In the past few years, the world of the blogs has been instrumental in exposing many cases of child abuse in the Orthodox world, which had not been part of the public consciousness at all. Why should this be any different?
I am not writing this in order to take sides, rather, to point out that this situation is not as clear-cut as it may seem. Accusing someone of abuse is a very serious claim, as the accuser is risking destroying a person's reputation and future. Being a teacher myself, I am particularly sensitive to this issue, in terms of what we should be held accountable for, and what is considered to be an appropriate forum for dealing with these problems.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I believe that it is unfair for anyone to have their every professional move scrutinized. I believe this for a few reasons :
1) Nobody is perfect, and therefore must be a certain degree of understanding when people err.
2) We can never put ourselves in someone else's shoes, and can therefore never fully appreciate the context in which something was done.
The bottom line is: before holding someone accountable the following must be decided: Are the things this person does a reflection of complete incompetence? Or, are these actions resulting from a certain imperfection in a person who is, on the whole, competent for the job?
When it comes to teaching, this line can often become blurred. Let's say a math teacher may has a certain method of teaching which certain students find boring and turns them off from learning. Now, many other students benefit from this form of teaching, and the teacher's track record is pretty good. Does that mean this teacher's reputation should be destroyed by the parents of the students who were completely turned off and failed the math regent because of it?
Similarly a teacher may bring a certain personality to the classroom that many students don't like. Yet, most students may like this teacher for the exact same reasons that the other students dislike them. Should the teacher then called on the carpet for those things that the students dislike about the teacher?
I can personally tell you that I have done or said things that a student did not have taken well. I have often apologized, if I thought I had done something wrong (or even if I didn't). But at times, I have to left it as is. I approached the situation in my way, which may not have worked out for everyone, but sometimes, that's life.
Before claiming that someone is psychologically abusive it should be determined whether the perceived abuse is simply a personality clash. Even if we are able to go beyond, and say that this person truly has a personality that many find to be reprehensible, that doesn't make him abusive. The definition of psychological abuse includes both intent to harm and sustained damage to a person's psyche.
I am not doubting many of the stories on this site, especially because they corroborate many things I have heard about this educator. However, from what I have seen ( and maybe I need to take a closer look), the site does not bring enough evidence of actual psychological abuse, but rather of an eccentric person, whose educational strategies are questionable at best.
In this age of internet anonymity, where anyone can say anything about anyone else, we should all be especially careful about what we say. Again, I am in no way saying that the creators of this site are liars, rather that they should have gathered more evidence before creating the site. It scares me to think that if I have a few students who dislike my teaching practices that I may end up having my reputation and future as a teacher ruined. This is besides the fact that without real proof of abuse, they could find themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit.
I do hope that if this person is abusive, or that his teaching methods are inherently corrupt, that the truth comes out. And I do believe that educators should be held more accountable for their teaching practices than they have in the past. I hope the creators of this continue in that quest. I just think that it could have and should have been done in a more responsible way.
Monday, May 18, 2009
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7 comments:
I think a lot of these types of things come from a rush to tag things we don't like with extreme labels in order to stop them - "abuse" "controlling" "disgusting" etc.
Good post.
I agree with you in general. I think I know what you are talking about and, if I'm right, I'm not sure if this teacher is completely harmless. I don't know if I would say he is abusive, but the stories I have heard are certainly unpleasant. It's one thing when students don't really click with a certain teacher or with his methods of teaching. It's quite another when the teacher behaves in ways that make students - and parents - highly uncomfortable.
Does that mean he is abusive? Not necessarily. But does it mean he should be allowed to continue whatever he is doing? Well - I don't know. Abuse is not the only reason to be concerned with what is happening in a school, you know?
Although your overall point that things in life can be blown out of proportion- which is certainly correct- your post here is full of meaningless cliches and very little substance regarding the educator in question.
Yes its true that "We can never put ourselves in someone else's shoes, and can therefore never fully appreciate the context in which something was done." but this doesn't apply to everything in life. Some things are so heinous i.e. the Holocaust i.e. child molestation that we don't need to imagine what the SS soldier's troubled childhood in Hamburg was like as a prerequisite to judging them.
In the case of this educator
A) the point of that blog is not to have him arrested. The point is to publicize, to potential customers, that the educator is unquestionably abusive as is evidenced by the stories on the site. Parents should know that Yeshivas exist that DO NOT have educators that get a thrill out of calling students "fatso" and by berating parents for doing a terrible job raising their child.
B) In light of A) nobody is claiming that this person is the embodiment of evil. However, he's bad enough that he shouldn't be involved in the educational realm. Unfortunately some people have been brainwashed into thinking that his verbal abuse is an "educational method." If you read the stories on the website one would be hard pressed to describe any of them as educational at all.
YD, if you actually think that the site "should have been done in a more responsible way" can you please make mention of WHAT on the site was done incorrectly? should comments have been disabled? I have no idea what could have been differently that would have disclose information that parents have a right to know about and that they are kept in the dark about especially considering that in 30 years of this man's educational career nothing has been done by educators who ARE aware of it.
Anon -
you say that my post has "very little substance regarding the educator in question." My point here was not to discuss the educator in question, but rather the way in which this was approached, which, I believe, was a bit irresponsible.
I think that instead of creating a public forum for people to tell their stories, sufficient information should have been collected beforehand. Simply giving people a forum to vent sets a dangerous precedent with a person's reputation is at stake. So yes, I would also have been a little more cautious with what was posted in the comments section.
I understand that the creators of the site are so sure that this person must be stopped and therefore are not concerned with ruining his reputation. And if he deserves it, I am all for it. I just think that it sets a bad precedent for the way things should be done.
"And if he deserves it, I am all for it."
In other words the appropriate-ness of the is wholly dependent on whether or not the educator "deserves it."
Thats exactly why I thought that the original post lacked anything substantial to say about the man in question. Most people upon reading the stories on the site seem to be pretty surprised and a number of objective observers have been disgusted by the terrible behavior of this individual. In order to determine whether or not he "deserves it" it may be worth mentioning why any of the harrowing stories featured on the site DID NOT lead you to believe that he "deserves it." For example there is a story by someone with the initials YM/JM. I would love to hear why that story alone doesn't lead you to believe that on a simple human level this educator is anything but frightening.
Let me rephrase what I said: "If it can be proven beforehand that he deserves it, then I am all for it."
I am just not comfortable with the creation of a public site that solicits negative information about someone. Gather the informaion privately first and then go public when there is a significant amount of evidence. I just think it was done the wrong way and sets a bad precedent.
"If it can be proven beforehand that he deserves it, then I am all for it."
So if the person who ran the site saw things with his own 2 eyes that were clearly horrible what steps would you suggest he take before beginning a site like that? More importantly (and more relevant): If the person who started the site knew that the educator caused serious psychological damage to himself AND he saw similar verbal abuse being directed towards other students throughout the school year what kind of dossier would the person need to compile before you'd give him your psak that the site can exist?
Despite being a big supporter of that other site I agree with you that if some outsider/3rd party heard unsubstantiated rumors about someone and decided to broadcast those rumors without any investigation that would be very problematic if not downright assur. However,in this case, from what I glean, the person(s) running the site experienced things themsel(f/ves) that they understood to qualify as full-fledged abuse.
Therefore, the site does not set a precedent for an educator committing a slight misdeed which results in his life being destroyed. The only precedent it sets is one that dictates that when educators decide to exploit their power and actively make people's lives miserable there will be an accounting for that in this world. What's great about that message is that it may cause someone like YOU to think twice before losing your temper in class, for example. I am sure you are a great educator but you have admitted that you may have done things in the past that caused displeasure in your students. That being the case, perhaps you may have done something which actually caused a student's life to be affected more than you actually knew. The fact that the internet gives recourse to students in situations when misbehavior on the part of educators may exist will unquestionably cause educators everywhere so be more on guard in how they treat students and, thus, you (and all parents) should be grateful for websites like the one in question.
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