8-Year-Old Gets 'Catastrophe Award' for Most Homework Excuses

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

I think the real reason this woman is upset is that her piss poor parenting has been brought to the forefront.

The mother of an 8-year-old Arizona girl who was presented with a "Catastrophe Award" for apparently having the most excuses for not having homework believes her child was humiliated by her teacher.

Christina Valdez said her daughter, Cassandra Garcia, came home one day from class at Desert Springs Academy in Tucson, Ariz., with the paper award.

The document, which looks like a colorful card, contained the following message: "You're Tops! Catastrophe Award. Awarded to Cassandra Garcia. For Most Excuses for Not Having Homework."

The teacher signed the card "Ms. Plowman," added the date - May 18, 2012 - and even included a smiley face.

The teacher announced the award in front of the entire class, and the other students laughed at her daughter, Valdez said in a Thursday interview with ABC TV affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson.

When she contacted the school to complain, the principal "blew me off," Valdez added. "She said it was a joke that was played and that the teachers joke around with the children."

But Valdez told KGUN that she didn't find any of it funny.

"I think it's cruel and no child should be given an award like this. It's disturbing," she said, adding that she was not aware her daughter had a problem with homework, and that the girl had been enrolled in an after-school homework assistance program.

8-Year-Old Gets 'Catastrophe Award' for Most Homework Excuses | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!

 

[dblack]

And we wonder why children are so susceptible to peer pressure.

 

[California Girl]

How many millions of taxpayers dollars will she sue for?

 

[old navy]

This will teach that teacher not to assign homework.

 

[Annie]

I think the award was ill advised, humiliation isn't an effective motivator for most people, certainly not 8 year olds. OTOH the mother was obviously being disingenuous:

...It's disturbing," she said, adding that she was not aware her daughter had a problem with homework, and that the girl had been enrolled in an after-school homework assistance program.

Whether parents and others realize it or not, homework is necessary for most children to master concepts. Teachers should be nailed if they send homework over material that has not been covered and practiced in class. Likewise if a child has demonstrated mastery over a concept, then assigning more homework is just begging for trouble with many kids.

 

[bobcollum]

I have no problem with it aside from the part of doing it in front of the rest of the class. That being said, the parent(s) need to get the kids head in the right place. Homework usually sucks, but it's important.

 

[dblack]

This kind of crap is why I was happy to let my kids drop out.

 

[Annie]

Seems the 'Shine' readers agree with the teacher, award and all.

Daily Shot: Mom Oversteps on Kid's 'Award,' Ali's Going Under the Knife, Romney App Misspells "America" | Daily Shot - Yahoo! Shine

 

[regent]

Perhaps the teacher should not care if one student does not turn in the work just let it go. When most students do not turn in the homework it may be time for the school to drop the homework bit.
Our school never assigned homework, and if they did, few would do it. With no homework, we were not forced to lie with made up excuses nor riduculed in front of the class. We had smart teachers.

 

[Annie]

Perhaps the teacher should not care if one student does not turn in the work just let it go. When most students do not turn in the homework it may be time for the school to drop the homework bit.
Our school never assigned homework, and if they did, few would do it. With no homework, we were not forced to lie with made up excuses nor riduculed in front of the class. We had smart teachers.

and you went where for university studies?

 

[blimpo]

Simple solution- Hey lady, if you'd have made sure your lazy kid did the homework everyone would have been better off!

 

[chanel]

Worse than a lazy kid is a lying one. Let's get real. 99% of homework excuses are LIES. And mommy dearest is upset because because the teacher called her out on her bullshit? This teacher did this student a bigger favor than her own mother.

A sociopath in the making.

 

[regent]

How much of assigned homework is meaningful and needed and how much is not needed nor useful, but is assigned for parents? In some respects I think we have convinced many parents that a school that assigns a lot of homeork must be a good school, and the kids learning like few others.
The best homework would be student-motivated, the student becomes so interested in the subject they do research on their own. Does it ever happen, absolutely, but rarely.
Good homework assignments should make sense to the student, but so many do not, just busywork and worse makes learning even more distatesful.
Maybe the real value of homework is that it creates some real thinking to come up with exciting excuses of why the dog....

 

[chanel]

"Creative excuses"? You mean lies?

Kids can get pretty "creative" at cheating too.

Same damn thing. They should all consider politics as a career.

 

[laughinReaper]

lets face it, the dog ate my homework is not just a joke, kids don't do their work and use excuses to cover up their laziness. Obviously the parent wasn't checking to make sure the kid was doing it. Embarassing maybe, but the kid will survive and none the worse for it.

In my day a teacher could grab you by the ear and put you in the corner. One of my teachers used to dump your desk over if it was messy right there in class. My second grade teacher had a bulletin board with a paper house with all our pictures on it. If we miss behaved we had to close the window over our picture and stay after school for detention. Guess what. We learned to keep our desks neat and didn't fuck with the teachers if we didn't want to be laughed at.

Of course in my day we also went home for lunch and if we misbehaved the teacher would call our mothers and let them know. Not only would I get detention, but my mother would give me the belt before I went back to school. My mother would say if the teacher had to call home I deserved it. All my teachers ever had to do was threaten me with a call home and I did what I was told. End result was you had teacher's who could teach,kids who could learn and a classroom in complete control. Worst offense was usually chewing gum in class and spit balls. Todays classes are out of control with the inmates running the insane asylum because all the power has been taken away from the teachers and the parents in the name of PC.

Good for the teacher, bet that kid does her homework now.

 

[tjvh]

The fact that mommy, and daughter share two different last names, and nowhere is the "baby's daddy" mentioned tells it ALL.

 

[PredFan]

So her kid doesn't do homework, lies about it, and the mom (and I use the term much too loosely here) is only upset about the loser kid's ego?

How ass-backwards is that?

 

[blimpo]

lets face it, the dog ate my homework is not just a joke, kids don't do their work and use excuses to cover up their laziness. Obviously the parent wasn't checking to make sure the kid was doing it. Embarassing maybe, but the kid will survive and none the worse for it.

In my day a teacher could grab you by the ear and put you in the corner. One of my teachers used to dump your desk over if it was messy right there in class. My second grade teacher had a bulletin board with a paper house with all our pictures on it. If we miss behaved we had to close the window over our picture and stay after school for detention. Guess what. We learned to keep our desks neat and didn't fuck with the teachers if we didn't want to be laughed at.

Of course in my day we also went home for lunch and if we misbehaved the teacher would call our mothers and let them know. Not only would I get detention, but my mother would give me the belt before I went back to school. My mother would say if the teacher had to call home I deserved it. All my teachers ever had to do was threaten me with a call home and I did what I was told. End result was you had teacher's who could teach,kids who could learn and a classroom in complete control. Worst offense was usually chewing gum in class and spit balls. Todays classes are out of control with the inmates running the insane asylum because all the power has been taken away from the teachers and the parents in the name of PC.

Good for the teacher, bet that kid does her homework now.

Good post.
How many that agree with your post will read it and go on to the next thread and blame the teachers?

 

[paravani]

Hi, Folks!

Hey Regent, what are you, thirteen years old?

How much of assigned homework is meaningful and needed and how much is not needed nor useful...

Good homework assignments should make sense to the student, but so many do not, just busywork and worse makes learning even more distatesful. Maybe the real value of homework is that it creates some real thinking to come up with exciting excuses of why the dog....

Spoken by someone who's obviously clueless about the real world.

The mother of an 8-year-old Arizona girl who was presented with a "Catastrophe Award" for apparently having the most excuses for not having homework believes her child was humiliated by her teacher ...

The teacher announced the award in front of the entire class, and the other students laughed at her daughter, Valdez said in a Thursday interview with ABC TV affiliate KGUN-TV in Tucson.

When she contacted the school to complain, the principal "blew me off," Valdez added. "She said it was a joke that was played and that the teachers joke around with the children."

But Valdez told KGUN that she didn't find any of it funny.

"I think it's cruel ...

... So, to avoid humiliating her daughter any further, she talks to the television station and has her daughter's shame broadcast to the nation????

WTF???

-- Paravani