By Brigid Schulte
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 3, 2008; A01
In his seven years, Randy Castro has been an aspiring soccer player, an accomplished Lego architect and a Royal Ranger at his Pentecostal church. He also, according to his elementary school record, sexually harassed a first-grade classmate.
During recess at his Woodbridge school one day in November, when he was 6, he said, he smacked the classmate's bottom. The girl told the teacher. The teacher took Randy to the principal, who told him such behavior was inappropriate. School officials wrote an incident report calling it "Sexual Touching Against Student, Offensive," which will remain on his student record permanently.
Then, as Randy sat in the principal's office, they called the police.
"I thought they were going to take me to prison," Randy said recently. "I was scared."
Prince William County school officials would not comment on Randy's case, citing student confidentiality. They said the call to police was the result of a misunderstanding.
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Primarily, they misunderstood their roles as teachers, but when 60% of those in the 'teaching profession' nationwide are administrators, what can you expect? Education has become one big hole in the road, where four teachers dig while six administrators stand to lean against their shovels and watch.
In a nation where everyone can bring a lawsuit and where fast-talking attorneys create an environment of judicial punishment rather than justice, schools and fast-food restaurants have lost their courage. Some would say lost their courage to defend against the indefensible, which is something very different from the undefendable.
If that sounds like nit-picking, perhaps it's time (or long past time) to pick some particularly egregious nits.
- It's indefensible to brand for life a six-year-old who whacks another kid on the butt at recess. That's one of the things that six-year-olds do and they are not supposed to have the cops called for being six.
- It's undefendable, say the schools, to go to court and cause a jury to find in favor of kids being kids and no damage done. There is, when six lean on shovels watching four dig, always damage done.
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