When the Teacher Is The Bully: Mom Talk

Veteran teacher John Rosi put a 13-year-old student in a headlock.

When I was in fifth grade, I changed schools mid-year. In my new reading class, our teacher, Miss Theodore, picked on one little girl named Maryann every day. Picked on is an understatement. The teacher was relentless—and mean! It seemed like a vendetta. I remember feeling embarrassed, and even maybe ashamed. I was the new kid, and was shocked that all the others seemed to think it was normal for this teacher to verbally abuse this poor little girl day in and day out. In fact, some days, she spent most of the hour complaining about how stupid Maryann was. Those days, not much teaching was going on. For the entire year, 40 kids listened to a teacher beat up on poor Maryann. It became so commonplace that we learned that it was OK. I can only…

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