Some people just don’t pay attention.
Ah, public education!
A middle school principal in Florida was arrested a few days ago when he was caught trying to shoplift a pack of light bulbs, some bacon, and frozen shrimp–in all, worth $37.45 (https://nypost.com/2025/04/07/us-news/florida-middle-school-principal-arrested-for-shoplifting-at-walmart/).
What is this guy, 12 years old or something? When he was arrested, he told police that “his friends” taught him “skip scanning” (a form of stealing) and he “wanted to see if he could get away with it.”
He’s educating (LOL, or else cry) the children of his community. When he’s not busy stealing from Walmart. Yeesh, what do some of his “teachers” get up to?
There are too many stories like this in the nooze–and they don’t breed confidence in public education.
Please consider homeschooling.
Absolute stupidity. Just as a practical consideration, why take the risk of being caught when the payoff is $37. Then add in the moral implications, which are huge. Will he keep his job? I wouldn’t want a person of this nature serving as a role model to children.
What’s wrong with a dishonest idiot running your school?
If some of these school shenanigans had happened when I was a kid, the people involved would have lost their jobs, and probably their teaching certificates. I had more than a few truly great teachers, who really tried to make a difference. I also had a fair number of good teachers, who cared, but were nothing special. There were a handful who were not very good, but apparently just wanted a regular paycheck. But even the least talented of them, I believe to have been persons of integrity. There were teachers I loved, teachers I liked, and a few I didn’t care for, but I never had a teacher whom I thought to be dishonest or untrustworthy.
As tough as I am on the education system, I have a great deal appreciation for some of the teachers I had. There were several teachers who formed the foundation of my knowledge of music. Likewise, there were teachers who helped me to learn math and to read, fundamental skills I use every day. I learned basics of physics, and even aeronautics from teachers I encountered, along the way. I actually got to thank a couple of them, decades later, and I’m very glad I did.
The system is the problem, and any system which tolerates a dishonest person as a school principal is badly broken. The system had serious problems when I was a child, but it has become exponentially worse, these days.
I’m a bit older than you, so my grade school experience differs from yours. In those days (c. 1955) there was supposedly a teacher shortage and they were hiring just about anybody. I had a few good teachers and a few really rotten ones who shouldn’t have been allowed anywhere near children.
I was raised to be somewhat cynical, so at the time, I had little respect for my teachers, at the time. In retrospect, there were some pretty good teachers.
However, I was dysgraphic, and even with a lifetime of effort, my handwriting is poor. I was insulted and called lazy, and much worse by a few teachers. They didn’t understand the problem at the time, but that is no excuse to ridicule a child, especially a child who was struggling to improve my handwriting and was frustrated and discouraged. So indeed, there were a handful of teachers who should never have been in such a position; entrusted with children.
My 4th grade teacher had me stand on a chair and told all the other kids to make fun of me. I don’t remember what I did to deserve that.
Unbelievable! But … I can believe it. My 10th grade band teacher talked down to me in a most condescending manner and ridiculed me behind my back, to other students. That year, I had a medical problem which had profound effects on my health and my ability to do everyday tasks. Basically, I was being subtly poisoned and living in a a continuous fog.
I didn’t know why, and to be fair, neither did he, but a person in a position of trust and responsibility should never have behaved as he did. The next year, one life threatening health crisis later, I was in the best form of my life, and was doing much better in school, and truly, in all things. He had quit, and moved on to other employment, but he came back to visit the school and made a point of approaching me and telling me that he was impressed by how much I had improved.
Being still a 16 year old, and not wanting to make waves in the authority structure of the school, I didn’t bother to fill him in on the details, but had I ever encountered him in my adult years, I undoubtedly would have given him a piece of my mind regarding his conduct, which was reprehensible. Perhaps he was encouraged to move on to other employment, because I’m certain I was not the only student he mistreated.
I laugh at the irony of the fact that just a few years later, I was a member of the Musician’s Union and could have potentially ended up playing a gig with this dolt. He had told other students that I couldn’t have been a very skilled guitarist, but I was making my living from playing and teaching the instrument, in my younger adult years, and while I readily credit a number of other public school music teachers with helping me to learn what I needed to practice this art, I give absolutely zero credit to this band teacher who taught only rudeness, unkindness, and disrespect for others.
He’s long dead and gone, or if not, somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 years old, at this point, so it’s a moot issue, but does serve to demonstrate just how much trust has been placed upon public school teachers, and the potential for abuse of this trust.
Government and teachers’ unions have to be chased out of the schools, where they do nothing but harm.
I’m glad I didn’t have to put up with stuff like this in high school. But it was mighty hard to handle when I was nine or ten years old.
That’s the problem, there’s a power gradient and students have to do as they are told. My chances of effecting any justice with that band teacher were precisely zero. Ultimately, parents need to step up and take responsibility for their children’s education.
Parents used to have power over their local schools–until the state and federal governments usurped it.