Shocking video shows school worker punching autistic boy after racial remark

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Shouldn't have punched him, but $5 mil in damages? I'd love to hear how they justify that...

When people seek huge amounts of damages for something so small, I always start to think that this goes further than what we're being told... I can't help but think that the parents were trying to pull a fast one by getting their kid to provoke staff so they could sue...

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 21

Dalek1099

Original post by Roger-Smith

I've just shown this to my stepdad and he praised whoever was responsible and said we could do with more of it happening in this country!!!!!!!!! :angry:

Your stepdad was completely right did you not see atrocious behaviour at your school and think these pupils could do with a good beating?The majority of pupils know exactly what they are doing and are just being nasty.Its not fair that at the moment such bad behaviour is allowed to ruin the learning of well behaved students.

Reply 22

doodle_333

Working with someone with a lot of additional needs is really challenging, regardless of where or how that is done. It's understandable to get annoyed and frustrated but if he felt that overwhelmed he needed to walk away and ask another member of staff to take over while he sorted himself out. Punching someone vulnerable because they upset you (perhaps without even realising what they were doing) is just a horrible response.

Reply 23

doodle_333

Original post by Dalek1099

The boy punched him and was racist and he got punched back whats the problem?You do not know how strong that boy could potentially be a couple of punches and the school official could have been seriously injured/dead I don't think people seem to get this all that school official did was self defense and yet this is not an acceptable argument apparently?
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2012/apr/04/corporal-punishment-student-behaviour-worse

walking away would have been the ideal response (assuming he's no danger to anyone else), if he had to react in self defense then that means restraining the kid not punching him back, punching him in response is not self defense

Reply 24

generallee

Original post by Dinasaurus

I am not the man in the video, I probably wouldn't punch the kid but I can't help my instinctive reaction which is to not sympathise with racists.

A huge, fully grown man punches a learning disabled child with a mental age of five with all his force, causing a concussion and you don't sympathise??

You need to take a look at yourself, and your lack of a moral compass. That is a shameful thing to say...

Reply 25

Jebedee

Original post by generallee

^This

When you work in this sort of field it is assumed that you have to deal with crap and not retaliate. The same people whining that it was justified just because of the race element are the same kind of people who would cry police brutality when a cop beats the living crap out of someone who attacked them.

You can't have two sets of rules for different people and if you think the racial element justifies it then you are the racist.

Reply 26

FarageCollage

the kid hit him first though - sure, you should moderate the force of your blows if it's a kid, but if they attack you first, they know *exactly* what they're doing. you can't say that adults can *never* hit back kids, or else kids could get away with anything they want.

Reply 27

oShahpo

To be honest the kid looks like a dick :biggrin:

Reply 28

generallee

Original post by FarageCollage

This was a child with a learning disability giving him a mental age of five.

Who was hit, in anger and frightening force by a fully grown man, who had been given extensive training and was being professionally paid to take responsibility for his care.

It is appalling, you only have to look at the video. I just don't understand the lack of basic morality on the part of those who defend or excuse this man.

No adult beats the crap out of a five year old for WHATEVER reason. Full stop. Period. End of.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 29

FarageCollage

Original post by generallee

I'm sorry but if this kid is a threat to their teachers they shouldn't be there in the lunch hall but somewhere where they're not going to harm people.

Reply 30

username1204031

Original post by FarageCollage

I'm sorry but if this kid is a threat to their teachers they shouldn't be there in the lunch hall but somewhere where they're not going to harm people.

Exactly right! We should throw the mentally ill in solitary confinement from birth!!!!!!!!!!

Reply 31

FarageCollage

Original post by JordanL_

Exactly right! We should throw the mentally ill in solitary confinement from birth!!!!!!!!!!

unless you're saying they're not a threat when they proved themselves to be an automaton in this video?

Reply 32

Dinasaurus

Original post by generallee

I have no intention of working with autistic kids, shame on him and his family for bringing him up to be like this then.

Reply 33

Platopus

He shouldn't have punched the boy. The boy did make a racist remark and although he apparently has the mental age of a 6 year old, I knew not to be racist at that age. Doesn't excuse the man's actions regardless. My cousin is severely autistic and I know if he were to say something like that, he wouldn't really understand what he had said. However, he would not say it because his parents are very careful not to use such language around him and to teach him what is socially acceptable. Had this boy's parents done that, he would not have said it. So, you can't blame the autistic child or truly think of him as racist.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 34

Plagioclase

Original post by Dinasaurus

I have no intention of working with autistic kids, shame on him and his family for bringing him up to be like this then.

I find your lack of understanding pretty depressing, to be honest. He is not a normal child. You cannot assume it is his conscious decision or the result of neglect on the part of his family that he is acting in this way. He has a mental illness, how difficult is this to understand? Professionals like the man in this article are being employed to help him deal with his behaviour issues and instead, we get this.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 35

Dinasaurus

Original post by Plagioclase

I'm a bit disturbed by some of the responses here - please bear in mind that the perpetrator here is supposed to be a trained professional. It is his job to be able to deal with challenging behaviour. No, of course the boy's behaviour isn't particularly pleasant but he's got mental health difficulties, which is precisely what professionals like Parker are there to help with in the first place. It really isn't mind-blowing stuff to expect someone with autism to say or do socially unacceptable things. Behaviour like this doesn't come out of the blue, people around him would have known that he's capable of acting in this way. If this man's response to this is violence, he shouldn't be working in this sector and in my opinion completely deserves to be convicted of assault (if this is indeed what happened).

I find your lack of understanding pretty depressing, to be honest. He is not a normal child. You cannot assume it is his conscious decision or the result of neglect on the part of his family that he is acting in this way. He has a mental illness, how difficult is this to understand? Professionals like the man in this article are being employed to help him deal with his behaviour issues and instead, we get this.

Even if I was to condemn the man, I do not sympathise with the kid, if it's not a fault of his parents that he is racist then who's is it?

He apparently has the mental age of a 6 year old, I would not dare make such remarks at age 6.

Reply 36

username1204031

Original post by Dinasaurus

Sad that after all this time, people still don't even try to understand mental illness. :frown:

Reply 37

Plagioclase

Original post by Dinasaurus

I'm not asking you to agree with the kid, I'm asking you to accept that this is the kind of stuff you need to expect when dealing with people with autism so it is disgraceful that someone trained to deal with his issues should respond in such a manner. The fact that you're calling him a racist also shows a complete lack of understanding. One of the key characteristics of autism is a lack of understanding of what's socially acceptable and what isn't. I do not believe for a moment that this boy understands the significance of what he said. That's not him being a disgusting person, that's not necessarily his parents' fault, that's called mental illness. It's not very pleasant and that's why we have people trained to deal with this behaviour.

Saying "he has a mental age of a 6 year old" is a huge simplification and it's completely wrong to assume that he would act like an ordinary six year old. That is not how autism works, it is totally wrong to think of autism as people that haven't grown up.

Reply 38

generallee

Original post by Dinasaurus

I have no intention of working with autistic kids, shame on him and his family for bringing him up to be like this then.

The shame is on you for your ignorance.

Mental health conditions, learning disabilities, autism are not anyone's fault. Either the individual's or their parents.

Your views belong to the dark ages. It is the sort of remark a Dickensian Beadle or Workhouse worker would have come out with. We have moved on, and treat people with disabilities with respect as individuals. As human beings like ourselves, just with lower IQ's, Down's syndrome, autism or whatever.

The extraordinary thing is that those defending a man who assaulted a vulnerable child IN HIS CARE still don't get how appalling a branch of trust this was. Even when it is pointed out to them.

As someone who has worked at a charity for adults with learning disabilities myself, and seen how wonderful they are, so grateful for help from those more fortunate than them, how hurt they are by other people's cruelty, l despair of human nature when I read threads like these.

Reply 39

KingKoala

Original post by Dinasaurus

Although I agree it with unprofessional for a grown man to punch a child, considering the fact the child punched the man and also made a racial remark, I do not have sympathy for him. But considering how shitty his life is going to be, I doubt he needs more punishment.