Daily Archives: 4/3/2007
Toronto Principal Gets Away With Flying Crap
| 4/3/2007 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News, Ethics |
A Toronto principal charged with two counts of assault and a subsequent charge of breaching a non-contact order has been given an absolute discharge on one charge while the other assault charge and the breach charges have been withdrawn. The judge ruled that Maria Pantalone had suffered enough from the charges and should be rewarded with no criminal record for throwing excrement at two youngsters last June. Pantalone is the sister of Toronto’s Deputy Mayor Joe Pantalone.
She has been on paid leave since the charges were laid. While that is galling, it does speak to the fact that we still have a system where we’re innocent until proven guilty even if we are as guilty as hell. Pantalone now has to face a review of her position by the school board.
It will be interesting to see the outcome although I suspect few will be surprised if she retains her job. I don’t think very many will be wondering too long if her relationship with a prominent politician played a role in her getting off scot free with abuse of children. It seems rather obvious to me that her political connections has let her away with this.
She reportedly said in her own defense ‘that she just couldn’t take it any longer’. Wonder where she got the supply of crap she used? Did she have it tucked in her purse for when her snapping point came? Maybe she was letting her pet use her desk as a washroom to have it close to hand for just such an occasion.
Yes, I know kids can be bloody irritating and they will push the limits. I’m well aware that parents often don’t give the teachers the support they so badly need in keeping order when their little Jane’s and Johnny’s act up. However, what parent could give any support to a supposedly responsible trained ‘professional’ who resorts to this sort of abuse to respond to youngsters?
My thanks of course to the judge and the lawyers on both sides who have so obligingly sent the message to these youngsters that it is okay for an adult in a position of authority to abuse and humiliate them. Good move folks.
It was only a week or so ago that some youngsters were suspended from another Toronto school for cyberbullying after they participated in an online forum in which another school principal was being personally attacked. The kids claimed their freedom of speech was being denied. I support the move on the part of the school because those kids needed to learn that with freedoms come responsiblities and they had not lived up to theirs.
When I see decisions like this one rendered in the favour of the abuser, I start to have some understanding (not to condone) of why kids resort to the actions they do sometimes. I certainly hope some parents scream long and hard at the school board to not allow Pantalone to retain her job after her getting away with criminal sanctions for her abuse of others.
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