Should you expel a child for masturbating in class?

[tehanu]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
My 9-year-old attends an inclusive public school in Westchester, NY. She has an emotionally disturbed classmate (ODD or CD???) who has knocked her down, cursed profanities, shouted discriminatory speech, masturbated on the floor of the library (witnessed by staff and logged but no punitive action), and is excessively disruptive. I have heard by first person account that she was suspended for 2 weeks last year for threatening to kill a classmate. Whenever an "incident" occurs, the school psychiatrist has to come and meet with the class to help them "understand" what they have just experienced. She has an aid who "shadows" her all day, but is obviously unable to stop all of her behavior. She is protected by law for her disability which means she basically is not held to the same conduct code as the rest of the students. This is a regular school and all of the other students in the class are not disabled as far as I know. My child is disturbed by what she is seeing and hearing and it is seriously impacting her education. What can I do? There is NOTHING out there as far as I can tell in terms of legal advice from my point of view.

 

[Just Blue]

ODD = Neurological = Child has little, or no ability to control or process behavior while stressed.


tehanu, If your daughter is that upset, perhaps you should place her in counseling so that she may learn some coping skills.

 

[Perky]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY
My 9-year-old attends an inclusive public school in Westchester, NY. She has an emotionally disturbed classmate (ODD or CD???) who has knocked her down, cursed profanities, shouted discriminatory speech, masturbated on the floor of the library (witnessed by staff and logged but no punitive action), and is excessively disruptive. I have heard by first person account that she was suspended for 2 weeks last year for threatening to kill a classmate. Whenever an "incident" occurs, the school psychiatrist has to come and meet with the class to help them "understand" what they have just experienced. She has an aid who "shadows" her all day, but is obviously unable to stop all of her behavior. She is protected by law for her disability which means she basically is not held to the same conduct code as the rest of the students. This is a regular school and all of the other students in the class are not disabled as far as I know. My child is disturbed by what she is seeing and hearing and it is seriously impacting her education. What can I do? There is NOTHING out there as far as I can tell in terms of legal advice from my point of view.

Unfortunately, there may be little you can do besides asking that your child change classrooms. However, I would certainly speak with the principal about the situation.

I don't know if your district has any self-contained special ed classrooms, but if they do, it's possible that the school is working on a different placement for the child. If so, it can be a long process, and the principal will not disclose that information to you.

I also think a competent aide should be able to prevent most of the problems before they escalated to the point of disrupting the class. Frankly, the teacher and aide should have a protocol in place for those times when the child becomes agitated or defiant.

At home, do your best to explain the situation to your daughter, and that the child has an aide to help her learn appropriate behavior in school.