One school day, Kamdyn Piland came home with tears in his eyes and an upset expression on his face. When his parents asked him what the matter was, the 2nd grader tried to shrug it off. Concerned, they continued to ask the little boy about it until he took something out of his schoolbag. It was a sheet of paper that came with a harsh piece of criticism from none other than his teacher!
Unhelpful Piece Of Criticism
After taking a look at the piece of paper, Chris could tell that this was not going to do his son any favors. In fact, he took it to be a personal attack on the little boy! How could any parent let such a thing go? When he decided to do something about it, the response made rounds on the internet for a good reason.
Unhelpful Piece Of Criticism
A Regular Kid
This father can tell you that his son was a regular boy. He was not hyperactive, nor did he like to indulge in sweet food, TV shows, and video games. The Piland family was completely surprised when they saw the way that the teacher had been treating Kamdyn. What exactly did the teacher leave on his paper?
A Regular Kid
Something Serious
After seeing her note on his work, Chris wondered if there was more to the story than just this. He took it upon himself to investigate what was going on. By the end of it, he learned something alarming.
Something Serious
A Regular School
Kamdyn is a young boy in the 2nd grade. He attends Valley View Elementary School, which is more or less a normal public school. At any rate, this young boy is not what you would refer to as an overachiever.
A Regular School
Many Complaints
Despite this, his parents did not believe that there was any big problem at school. Not once did they get the impression that he was doing horribly. However, it was true that Chris noticed more complaints about his son since the beginning of that school year.
Many Complaints
Good At School
Kamdyn was, in more ways than one, your regular little kid. However, Chris always believed that he was a decent student. Sure, he was not fond of doing homework, but no child ever is. Kamdyn, however, did not have any problems working on his assignments until second grade.
Good At School
He Couldn’t Just Watch
There was no way that Chris was simply going to sit back and let his son continue to do badly. He had to do something about the current situation. But what led to such a huge change in his little boy anyway?
He Couldn’t Just Watch
Struggling In School
Kamdyn was neither dim nor unintelligent. This was why Chris did not fail to notice that he was struggling when it came to school. When his marks started to slip, the concerned father knew that this was completely out of his character for his child.
Struggling In School
Way Too Harsh
After Kamdyn returned home with some criticism from the teacher, Chris realized that it must have something to do with her. Here was the note that Alyssa Rupp Bohenek wrote on his paper: “Absolutely pathetic! He answered 13 in 3 minutes! Sad!” What made her think it was okay to go that far?
Way Too Harsh
Ms. Alyssa
Alyssa Rupp Bohenek is the name of the teacher who checked the paper and left the note. She had been in this profession for quite some time already. Many knew her to be a teacher that was hard to please. Kamdyn was her student, and it was clear that things were not going well between them.
Ms. Alyssa
His Teacher
Whatever Kamdyn did would get her attention. She did not seem to hesitate to add harsh notes on his work. The negative feedback was not only unhelpful, but it made his self-esteem go down as well!
His Teacher
Addressing Bad Grades
We are sure that no parent wants to hear that their kid is not doing well in school. The only thing to do is to address the issue right away. However, people have vastly different ideas on how to deal with it.
Addressing Bad Grades
Tough Love
Some people believe that the solution is to spend more time with the kid and walking them through the lessons. There are times when they have to take on remedial classes too. We are sure that many will agree that ‘tough love’ is not the best method.
Tough Love
Constructive Criticism Please
Even older people know that harsh feedback is not a good idea. Criticism is meant to help us improve, so it is not always a bad thing. However, it is always more effective when delivered constructively,
Constructive Criticism Please
A Huge Blow
When you get criticized for no good reason, your self-esteem is bound to suffer. Even adults will get hurt, so you can simply imagine how much worse it is going to be for a little child like Kamdyn!
A Huge Blow
As A Mentor
We know that it can be hard to be a mentor. Even so, part of their job is to be a good role model to their students. After all, the duties of a teacher are not limited to delivering lectures and grading papers.
As A Mentor
A Leader
It is important for them to make sure that they are going to leave a good mark on their students. When you are this story, you are going to see that Bohenek seemed to be neglecting that part of her job.
A Leader
Not Helpful Whatsoever
In all honesty, we really cannot fault Chris for his anger after seeing the comment scrawled on the paper. This was completely uncalled for. What was she thinking when she wrote that down? Surely, there was a way to give him criticism without having to personally attack him.
Not Helpful Whatsoever
Only Made Things Worse
Of course, Chris would like to see Kamdyn do better in his studies. If you ask him, there was no way that her ways are helping him. As a matter of fact, her method is only making the young boy less motivated.
Only Made Things Worse
A Recurring Problem
Was it possible that this was the only negative comment that she handed out that year? Chris could have put it past him if this had been the case. However, the truth was that this was not the first nor last time that she gave out that sort of feedback that school year.
A Recurring Problem
Far Too Personal
The comments she made were much too personal for him. Chris would have just talked to his son if the critique had been fair. This was not the case, which was why he decided to bring it up with her instead.
Far Too Personal
Took To Facebook
It is truly appalling to hear about a teacher who calls her students “pathetic.” It should go without saying that educators should treat their students with fairness and compassion. The way she was doling out criticisms was not helping Kamdyn and his classmates at all. Chris decided to post on Facebook about it.
Took To Facebook
Payback
How could Chris make a point about the way she was behaving? He decided to take to Facebook and write a post. This was how he condemned the teacher and the way she was treating her students.
Payback
His Viral Post
In the post, he narrated what happened and uploaded the note that she wrote on Kamdyn’s work. The concerned dad was surprised to see how much attention the post earned. It felt like the whole country tuned in to the story and wanted to hear how things were going to unfold.
His Viral Post
Everyone Disapproved
If you look at the comments and interactions from the post, you will see that people disapproved of the way the teacher handled things. After seeing the outrage, Chris and Kamdyn felt a little vindicated.
Everyone Disapproved
Her Responsibility
A teacher is not only supposed to make sure that the students get high grades in class. It is important for them to feel happy about their job as well. After all, it is not easy or simple to educate young minds.
Her Responsibility
The Harsh Comments
There is a lot of pressure on teachers because they have to mold the kids into good individuals. Even though Chris understand all of this, he did not think it was within her rights to traumatize his child like that. After all, his little boy just wanted to learn!
The Harsh Comments
How Learning Should Be
As a human being, there might be nothing more important than learning. After all, we will all have to learn new skills and abilities if we want to make it in this world. This is especially true for young minds.
How Learning Should Be
No One Likes Negativity
On top of that, it is important to keep in mind that the most effective way to learn is to teach in a creative and inspiring manner. Trust us, negative is only going to bring down the students.
No One Likes Negativity
Launching A Petition
Chris was prepared to forget about the issue after venting on his Facebook wall. However, netizens did not want to let it go and even chose to take matters into their own hand. Soon enough, someone started an online petition calling for Bohenek to be fired from her job!
Launching A Petition
Rallying Behind Him
Chris was shocked at the way that these strangers supported him and Kamdyn. Not once did he think that the story would strike a nerve with people he did not even know. He was moved by the way these people stood up for his little boy.
Rallying Behind Him
Endangering Her Career
The petition only made things more serious and heated. If Bohenek was unable to keep herself safe from all the backlash, she might soon be out of a job. At this point in time, Chris was still fuming with so much anger and wanted this to happen.
Endangering Her Career
The Line Has Been Drawn
To Chris, it sounded like the best course of action not only for Kamydn but also for the other students at the school. After all, there comes a time when you need to draw a line. This was that moment for him.
The Line Has Been Drawn
Teaching How To Learn
All teachers should know that they have to do more than just impart the course material to the people under their supervision. It might be an underrated aspect of the job, but it is also important for a teacher to instill the love of learning in their students!
Teaching How To Learn
Processing Improves
If you can do this, the rest of the job is going to come easy. After all, learners will be able to absorb information much more quickly when they get the hang of the process. We cannot say the same thing about negativity, however…
Processing Improves
In Response
After the petition was opened, it ended up getting about 10,000 signatures. On the other hand, there were teachers who chose to stick up for Bohenek. They did not think she should get fired by the school.
In Response
Reaction
Let us hear from little Kamdyn as well! We are sure that he had plenty of things to say about the unkind note he received. He said, “She made me really sad and upset. I was really mad. And [it was] really mean to do.” No one, especially not a teacher, should make a child feel that way!
Reaction
Seven-Year-Old
When news outlets spoke to the family, Chris shared, “You don’t write that on anybody’s paper, let alone a little 7-year-old, second grader’s paper. It said on the top of it that he answered only 13 of them in 3 minutes and that it was absolutely pathetic with a sad face.” Kamdyn said, “It broke my heart.”
Seven Year Old
Unprofessional
Chris had much more to say when it came to this topic. We can see why he was furious about it. “I believe what you wrote on his paper was extremely unprofessional and just very rude and she messaged me back and said she was sorry I felt that way,” he shared.
Unprofessional
Punished Not Fired
Many agree that the teacher did a pretty traumatizing thing to the young boy. Even so, there were folks who thought that a reprimand was going to do the trick. They said that firing her would be too much.
Punished Not Fired
Update
Parents, teachers, and relatives are people who get to mold young minds into the person that they will be. The school promised to investigate some more and ensure that justice would be served. After some time, Chris updated everyone by making a post. It said, “Thanks to all the efforts and support of the dedicated people who signed and shared this petition, I’m happy to announce that the teacher in question is currently being investigated by the Valley View school board.”
Update
Superintendent
A news outlet claimed that Rose Minniti was made aware of what the teacher wrote on the piece of schoolwork. She is the superintendent of the school. She held a meeting with the teacher and the school district before the start of the investigation.
Superintendent
What’s Best
Here was what Minniti told the media as an official statement: “As always with everything, we’re going to try to do what’s best for the students and what we need to do for the employee under investigation.” She told the same news outlet, “It’s a personnel issue and the results of that are not going to be dictated by social media. It’s going to be dictated by the facts and evidence.”
What’s Best
Personnel Issue
We sure hope that the investigation led to results that would bring justice to the situation. Even when it was still ongoing, there had been people who want Bohenek to be fired. As a matter of fact, the petition ended up reaching more than 20,000 signatures.
Personnel Issue
Some Blamed Him
Some people chose to side with Bohenek. Some said that the fault was with Chris and the way he raised his son. These folks said he needs to spend more time on his kids instead of social media.
Some Blamed Him
Helping With Homework
According to them, this could have been prevented if he had only helped Kamdyn with schoolwork. They are in the minority, however. Most folks who found out about the story said that Bohenek was clearly in the wrong here. What do you think?
Helping With Homework
Training The Teachers
We are sure that education is forever going to be an important topic. If you ask us, teachers need to be monitored to ensure that they are giving out the best guidance. After all, they are mentoring the future of our nation!
Training The Teachers
Teaching Styles
A teacher needs to be in good shape to impart lessons to their students and perform the duties that are part of the job. While the grades of the students indicate their teaching ability to some extent, let us not forget that the style, technique, and method are also very important.
Teaching Styles
Teaching The Teachers
There was an issue that became apparent as people debated in the comment section of the post. Some said that teachers should get more guidance too. A person might sound qualified for the job, but this does not always mean that they are ready fo it.
Teaching The Teachers
They Need Mentoring
After all, there are also times when teachers have to be mentored. No class is ever the same, and every learner has individual issues that they need to work on. A teacher needs to be prepared for these things.
They Need Mentoring
Becoming A Mother
When people tuned into the story, they also found out that Bohenek was actually pregnant for a few months already. This meant that she would become a mother to a child of her own. There was speculation that she was behaving impatient and short-tempered thanks to the pregnancy hormones.
Becoming A Mother
Finding Some Inspiration
However, this story managed to shine the spotlight on yet another issue. What was she going to do if she finds herself in a similar situation? Will she do the same thing that Chris did? Or was she going to let this slide? She is a teacher, so she should have known better than to bring down a poor young boy.
Finding Some Inspiration
A Creative Approach
Let us not forget that teachers must be inspired too. When they are going through personal problems or feeling dispirited, they can bring that vibe into a classroom setting. It is always better if a teacher is positive and upbeat so that she can encourage a similar attitude among the students.
A Creative Approach
A Great Teacher
For this reason, teachers should always actively work on being inspired. When they are in the right state of mind, they might even come up with creative methods to help out a struggling learner. If you ever had a mentor like that, you should consider yourself a very lucky person.
A Great Teacher
Children Are The Future
Maybe this is the real problem in the story. Teachers have to be in the proper state of mind before they do their job. After all, what they do and say will have a big impact on the children that they are teaching.
Children Are The Future
The Lesson
Were you ever blessed to have an inspiring teacher? If this is the case, you would know exactly what we are talking about. Teachers do not need to exhaust themselves by forcing enthusiasm. The truth is that simply looking forward to doing their job is already helpful enough on its own.
The Lesson
Extra Attention
There is no doubt that simply giving the students more attention will improve their confidence. Yes, there are times when this is all it takes! We really think that this was how Bohenek should have handled the situation with Kamdyn. After all, the children are our future. They deserve good role models!
Extra Attention
Important Lesson
When all has been said and done, let this story serve as a great lesson not only for parents but also for teachers. Mentors need to act in a certain way, but we should not forget that they are also humans.
Important Lesson
Mistakes
Every single one of us makes mistakes. No one is perfect, after all. However, parents should never forget to take an interest in the education of their kids. Set aside some time to help them with their lessons!
Mistakes
Bully
The reaction of the citizens had primarily been negative towards Bohenek. We can see why this is the case. Users wanted to share their two cents on the issue by commenting on the post and the petition. “A teacher bullied […] a second-grader,” said Beth O’Brien from Peckville. “I think they should be fired.”
Bully
Shouldn’t Happen
Chris said that the only thing he wanted to do was to keep his kids safe and happy. He was not trying to get Bohenek fired for kicks. “It’s something that shouldn’t happen and shouldn’t be tolerated at all,” he explained. Aside from the complaint, he also had Kamdyn transferred to a different class.
Shouldn’t Happen
Taken Seriously
Chris said that he chose to speak out about it in order to raise awareness. Aside from that, there was one more he decided to talk about it more publicly. “Maybe it’ll be taken seriously now and it’ll keep it from happening to other teachers and other students,” this father explained.
Taken Seriously
Comments
The comments left by the netizens differed, but most of them had been seeing eye to eye. Yvonne was as furious as Chris when she found out what the teacher did to the young boy. It is clear that she is one of the people who wanted the school to sack Bohenek.
Comments
Ill Spirited
The sad truth is that the world will always have folks who are cruel for no good reason. Social media is full of those types of people as well. Just take a look at this guy who thought that it was a good idea to focus on the math skills of the boy instead. It is clear that he did not grasp how the problem was the behavior of the teacher instead!
Ill Spirited
Not Bad
A different commenter by the name of Rose shared the sentiments of Chris. To be fair, most people did. After all, there was nothing wrong with solving 13 math questions in only three minutes when you are in the second grade! It did not sound like Kamdyn’s performance warranted the criticism given to him.
Not Bad
Strong Words
Some folks did not hesitate the hold back when they expressed what they thought of the teacher. Erona here thought that Alyssa did not deserve to be a teacher. She said that it was irresponsible of a teacher to act that way towards a child.
Strong Words
Personal
Margaret made a great point as well. According to her, Chris said that Bohenek had been rude to Kamdyn the entire year. What could be the reason behind that? It sounded like the teacher was indeed going for a personal attack since there was no excuse for such rudeness.
Personal
Apologetic
Brittney, on the other hand, felt sad for the little boy than anything else. According to her, the teacher had to be fired. After all, a teacher should be encouraging the learners and not putting them down.
Apologetic
Arguments
We all know just how easy things can get on social media. People seem to think that it is a free for all. This is the reason things tend to spiral very quickly. You will be able to see this after Erin left a comment that got a reaction out of the other netizens.
Arguments
Trauma
Sandra took another route and went all out by giving Chris some advice. She thought that the best thing to do was to put Kamdyn in a different classroom under the guidance of another teacher. After all, no one wanted him to be traumatized even more.
Trauma
Toughen Up
David, on the other hand, had a different kind of advice. He told Chris that he should toughen Kamdyn up because the world is not all rainbows and sunshine. This netizen thought that the situation could have been avoided if Chris had only helped Kamdyn work on his assignments.
Toughen Up
Pathetic
Lori wanted to talk about the choice of words in the note instead. There were folks who thought that it was too harsh to call Kamdyn ‘pathetic.’ It is not a word that adults should use with each other, so it is even less appropriate to call a child this word.
Pathetic
Still Employed
After the whole ordeal, it seems like the verdict has yet to be handed out. The school district website says that Bohenek is still an employee of the elementary school. If this is the case, we just hope that she already learned her lesson.
Still Employed
Tender Age
Here was what another woman had to say about this situation: “Such a tender age to be scarred from this form of abuse. There are a lot of so-called ‘teachers’ that are working in schools that don’t care for children and aren’t fit to teach … Little to no training or love for the profession. I’m a former teacher and has taught for 20 years, I can truly see why many students and families are turning to homeschool and other non-traditional learning opportunities.”
Tender Age
Censor Thoughts
We are not surprised to hear that this person was horrified by what Bohenek did: “I’m disgusted by this teacher’s actions and she should be fired if she doesn’t know how to censor her thoughts as well as promote the kids learning with positive feedback.”
Censor Thoughts
Not The Only One
Sadly, this is not a rare problem. As a matter of fact, there are plenty of children who have been in Kamdyn’s shoes. Something like this happened to the son of a woman called Karen Eubank.
Not The Only One
4th Grade
Her 9-year-old son had been complaining about how mean his teacher was, but she did not take it seriously. Karen had been under the impression that he was still getting used to the new school since he just transferred. After all, it is hard for young children to be in a new environment.
4th Grade
Another Reason
Karen was also not convinced since kids tend to call people mean when this is not really the case. A young child might feel like a teacher is being harsh when they are telling them to do their schoolwork.
Another Reason
Not What She Thought
Karen turned out to be wrong about the situation. She thought that it was all going well and that her son had was just exaggerating. The truth was that he was being honest and had a reason to feel upset.
Not What She Thought
Avoiding School
Karen paid the school a visit before she made the decision to transfer her little boy there. She was happy with her decision at the start. Sadly, her son did not share these sentiments and said that he no longer wanted to go to school. According to him, he felt sick every day. He was always in a foul mood when she came over to fetch him as well.
Avoiding School
Adjusting
She thought that it was nothing more than a case of new school blues. He was probably just having a hard time coping, but she knew that he would cope soon. The truth came out in the fall of that year.
Adjusting
The Truth
Karen talked to a kid in the classroom next to her child about how school was going. According to this boy, her son had it rough because the teacher constantly yelled at him. Even though he was not in the same classroom, he still managed to hear it!
The Truth
Taking Action
Karen felt determined to find out what exactly was going on after that conversation. She set meetings with the principal and teacher to get to the bottom of things. The teacher said that her son was inattentive in class. On top of that, the principal did not do anything about the situation! Karen felt frustrated, particularly when they expressed that they also felt worried about the boy.
Taking Action
Listening
They said that her son was unable to pay attention in school, so she decided to have him psychologically evaluated. The results only revealed that her son did not have any problems despite what the principal and teacher claimed.
Listening
Resolving The Problem
Karen talked to the parents of the other children in the class. They said that they had never seen that teacher smile! On top of that, her son told her that this teacher liked to pick on him and behaved in a mean way. He said that he pays attention but added, “But I look out the window because I’d rather look at trees and listen than look at her angry face.’” A few days later, Karen decided to home school him instead.
Resolving The Problem