The Smiley Smile Message Board

Ask and you shall receive.  I don't know what Maybelline teaches, but i taught English for years, and currently teach middle school Social Studies.

How can i help you?

What can I do to receive extra credit?

I don't give extra credit.  In my class, you do what you're supposed to do, or you don't...but you earn your grade based on the given assignments, not on extra work when you've goofed around all marking period.

I know...i'm mean...

Hows it like teaching middle schoolers these days? I remember giving my SS teacher hell...but he was kind of a jerk.

My wife teachers espanol.

computer/ technology teacher here, grades K-8!

Amosario, there aren't too many jobs i'd rather be doing than teaching middle school.  Being a full-time musician would be one; being independently wealthy would be the other.  The kids make me laugh, they make me cry...they make me mad, they make me think...my inner child, i sometimes think, is a middle schooler, so they and i get along just fine!
;-)

Jason - how do you like your middle schoolers?

Deep fried and covered in chocolate syrup.

Ya'll know it's a proven scientific fact -- that anything deep fried is pimpalicious, right?

I agree with this comment 110% Susan.  It's amazing how well I can relate to them sometimes.

Relate to them well you do, eh? you sick foda.

(http://www.jky.net/MadisonAvenue--FriedChildren.jpg)

No joke...that's a real flier. Methinks some one goofed up on it.

Personally, I like my children baked, not fried.

Bad advice for their teenage years of rebellion.

Bwahahahahahaha! :D

I'm still trying to wrap my head around a "desert bar". I think one would be perfect for a Sandbox.  ;)

What do you think of the teacher's union?  Good or bad?

Rerun, i'm one of three union reps from my building, so it's interesting that you should ask!

The teachers' unions are critically important for a few reasons.  The first is, obviously, economic.  Towns and cities face difficult economic decisions these days, and for some reason one of the first things they look to cut is the education budget.  My union will enter contract negotiations this summer for our next three-year contract, and i know that those in charge of negotiations are already marshalling their forces against what they perceive to be some of the most difficult negotiations in a long time.  Our union not only looks at salaries, but also medical and insurance benefits, teaching assignment/duty equity...all sorts of things.  RIght now, my executive council [all the building reps in the district, plus our president] is working on getting state funding of our teachers' retirement fund back up to 100% - CT teachers don't collect Social Security, so ALL we have is the state fund, and it has been grossly underfunded for ten year.  Big battle; we are taking it on.

Another reason the union is important is that as teachers are asked to do more with less, principals - inadvertently or purposely - are asking teachers to do more than they are contracted to do.  Sometimes such a situation is easily resolved, but more often, it takes some work to prove that the request or assignment is against contract.  I'm lucky to work with a principal who is very aware of this, and works hard to be equitable at every turn.  Others aren't so lucky; they NEED their union to correct an unfair situation.

I realize there are unions and union reps who are out to get administration.  There are unions that do NOT work for their constituents.  But does that mean we should get rid of the unions?  Hell no...it means those unions need to clean their own house and start making the difference for their teachers.

i teach special education here in california and have an sdc/functional skills class. 4-6th grade. they are great kids and need a lot of care/attention. as a primary grades teacher, i saw other special ed "teachers" yelling at their kids and treating them like crap so, i stepped up to the plate and added another credential. i haven't regretted it for one day. ;D

Good for you, CYA.  Our special needs kids SO need to have empathetic, sympathetic, caring professionals...my nephew is pretty challenged, so on behalf of him and his family, i thank you.

We have an autistic boy in the school play this year - he's in the moderate-to-severe range - and while he can be a little trying sometimes [asking twice the questions we just answered...of BOTH of us...when we're down to our last nerve...] he is tremendous on stage, and he is having a blast.  Even better than that, he is hanging with THE most accepting, loving kids in the school, who totally take him under their collective wing.  They love him as we do, they make sure he's all set...and once he's on stage, he gives it everything he's got in a highly appropriate way.

I love that kid...i'm gonna miss all of his questions once the show is over.

I'm too cool for school.


        :banana

Prosecutors drop sex case against teacher

She offers 'deepest apologies' to boy, 14, and his family

 (She's going to use this as a springboard now. She'll appear on reality shows and probably pose for Playboy. Another person getting rich instead of going behind bars.)


(http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/LAW/03/21/charges.dropped/story.lafave.tue.gi.jpg)

LOOK AT HER STUPID FACE! YOU CAN PRACTICALLY SEE THE DOLLAR SIGNS IN HER EYES. BOOK DEALS, MOVIE OF THE WEEK, PENTHOUSE, THE SURREAL LIFE, CELEBIRTY DEAL OR NO DEAL, DANCING FUCKING WITH THE STARS.....THERE'S NO LIMIT TO WHERE SHE'LL GO! "YOU'RE GONNA MAKE IT AFTER ALL!!!!"

 OCALA, Florida (CNN) -- Prosecutors here dropped charges Tuesday against a former teacher accused of having sex with a middle school student.

The teacher, Debra Lafave, offered her "deepest apologies" to the 14-year-old boy and his family.

Lafave, 25, said she is undergoing therapy for bipolar disorder and was "very remorseful" about the events that led to her arrest in June 2004.

"My greatest regret would probably be the fact that I put this young man through this," she said.

Lafave taught reading at a suburban Tampa middle school before her arrest.

The boy told investigators he had sex with Lafave three times in four days in June 2004, according to court documents. One of those times was in a car while his 15-year-old cousin drove them around, he told authorities. (Nice!)

He also said she performed oral sex on him multiple times, including once at her home, the documents said. (Double nice! Let's hear it for Bi-polar disorder!)

In November, Lafave pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County court to two counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. She was sentenced in that case to three years under house arrest and seven years of probation, and was required to register as a sex offender.

One of the incidents was alleged to have occurred in Marion County, so similar charges were also filed there, and Lafave's defense negotiated a similar plea agreement.

But that deal was tossed out Tuesday by Marion County Superior Court Judge Hale Stancil, and prosecutors there dropped charges when the teen balked at testifying.

"It's over -- and this time, this case is really over, and over for good," Lafave's lawyer, John Fitzgibbons, told reporters. "We can only hope now that in the next few weeks Debbie will basically fade into a footnote in everybody's memory."

In a written statement, Assistant State Attorney Richard Ridgway said the trial was likely to be broadcast on cable television, raising concerns about the privacy of the boy Lafave was accused of molesting. He would have been the prosecution's key witness.

"The court may be willing to risk the well-being of the victims of this case in order to force it to trial," Ridgway said. "I am not."

Lafave criticized the extensive media coverage her case received, accusing reporters of invading the privacy of her former student.

She said she was taking a journalism course online, adding, "God has given me a great outlet to write, and I would hope I could reach people through writing."

"I am a strong Christian woman," she said. "I believe that God has a path for me, and this was just a bump in the road."

(A bump in the road. Hear that? Child molestation is just a bump in the road. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with these people? And if this was a man, there would be no hesistation. We need to send a message here, but now they are giving the green light to insane teachers everywhere to unzip it and let it fly. Hopefully, "God's plan" is to wipe Florida off the map this summer. They can move my beloved Buccaneers up to Virginia.

When we abandon the commandments of God, when we abandon a moral compass and say there's no right or wrong, just choices, we can excuse a teacher sleeping with a student.  And I don't say that as a self righteous person, I say that as someone who has seen and done things, online and offline, that are wrong and sinful. 

Or, in other words, just as a mom should cry about a daughter proclaiming herself for all the world to read, a "cheerful slut,"  likewise we should be moved to tears about an evil world that will allow this teacher to profit from the lifetime of damage she's inflicted on that boy.

Molesting? Are they sure? If MY Comprehensive school teachers had been cute, horny 23 y/o's, I'd have let them "molest" me, too.

Therein exists the double-standard.

Yes, I would too, but you see, when you send your child to school you shouldn't have to be afraid of them being corrupted by the people put in place to educate them and mould them into respectable adults.
The world shouldn't be one big XXX film.

 My wife works so hard and provides a positive role model for her students, and a scumbag like this woman is a disgrace to the whole profession. And I know the type. My wife works right along side a few similar nutjobs.

You have to have boundaries and rules. Otherwise, we'd have ffffffriggin' anarchy.

Sure, you'd have let them, but that doesn't change that it's molestation: the minor can't legally make sound choices about what's good for their own welfare. 


Sure, there are important reasons for there to be a teachers union; it's just too bad that it has been, for ages, one of the most notoriously corrupt, least comprehensible, least accountable, and most unabashedly politically driven unions in existence.  When kids tell me that they're thinking of going into teaching, I never fail to tell them that it's a noble calling and should be a very rewarding career in lots of ways, the main exception being that they'll have to join that particular (ugh!) union. 

I'm just being a fly in the ointment, dude. I still would've, though!

I'm just being a fly in the ointment, dude. I still would've, though!

And no matter how much fun you thought you were having, you'd still be traumatized for life!   :D

A teacher is supposed to set a standard for proper behavior. These are the people you send you children off to each day. This sort of thing is becoming an epidemic, and someone should figure out why.  People who are crazy like this woman should not be allowed within 1000 feet of a school. It’s easy not to be afraid of her because she’s pretty, but if she was a hunched back old man with his hand in his pocket leering hungrily at the little children in the playground there would be more action taken. This woman should be listed as a sex offender and go through the process like everyone else, because in my eyes, she’s no different than some Gary Glitter or any of those other perverts. A 14 year old is still a child, and no matter how “hot” this broad is or how much we as sick men are jealous, the line between right and wrong has been crossed and if it doesn’t become reestablished then the education system will continue to go right down the tubes along side the rest of this sick, twisted society.

Bubba, you're completely right.  If everyone would laughas they threw away the key on a male teacher whose excuse is "Hey, I'm bipolar and horny!", so should they do the same thing in this case - it's no different.

There is evil inherent in anyone who preys on children, but when it is a teacher - someone who is mandated to protect children - it is especially heinous.  That this chicky isn't serving time is a total corruption of justice.  Why on earth would ANYONE permit this trial - ANY trial involving a minor - to be broadcast on TV of any kind is beyond me - and in this case, that's the reason the minor victim refused to testify - and with good cause!

The whole thing is sick.

And i can guarantee you that her Union dropped her like a hot coal.

See, that's the thing. This incindent isn't even a crime to these people. It's a way to sell magazines and get ratings. The same thing happened with the OJ trial. It wasn't about justice, it was about spectacle, and the only thing people wanted to talk about was Marsha Clark's new hairstyle, not the fact that 2 people got butched on the front steps.

Television has not only robbed us of our morals and common sense, but has now interfered with the judicial process. Even real life murders and rapes are nothing more than entertainment for families to enjoy, huddled around the TV. It's not real to them, because it doesn't effect them. It's just another reality show. And everyone wants to be a part of it.

Think about all the hooplah over that brain dead vegetable woman who they decided to pull the plug on. People were in the street protesting, some ham was storming the hospital with a water bottle, trying desperately to "save' this poor woman, when all he really wanted was his camera time. All this fake outrage, just to be a part of the show. And why are we so concerned with a braindead person's right to nourishment, when living, breathing unwanted children all over the country are going to bed hungry at night? Talk about not knowing where your priorities are. And these attrocities are the kind that never go away. We go to war over the life of someone who is already technically dead, yet won't give a dime to the guy who's dying on the corner downtown, a guy who still has a chance to live. And who cares about her now? Who remembers her name? No one. How's Elian Gonzalez doing? Who cares? It was such a big deal at the time, but in the grand scheme of things, who gives two sacks of sh*t about who gets custody of some kid? We've got much bigger problems at hand. Maybe that's it. Maybe the real problems are too scary and too hard to address, so we'll kill time thinking about the little things, the things of no consequence.

People need to pull their heads out of their asses and see the big picture...

Instead, they waste their energy getting outraged over stupid bullshit that doesn't make a difference. They are outside of courthouses releasing white doves as the Michael Jackson verdict rolls in. Remember her? She got her cameo, that nut. She got her picture in the paper. Hopefully the neighbors saw her and got it on tape. Just another actor in the show. It's just a tv show!

The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to think that television is the enemy here. I think I'm going to take it outside and kick it's ass for fucking with our way of life.

Give it a few swift kicks for me.  Other than sports and the weather, and the very rare other thing, i have no use for it at all.  And it costs me about $70 a month for the pleasure.

It seems like the only commentators I've heard about this case and similar ones are males that don't understand the big whoop.  Tucker Carlson (I was flipping channels, he's really horrible) was going at it the other night with some jerk about how they envied that 14-year-old boy.  Bill Maher has repeatedly made statements on the Mary Kay Letournou case that she should not have been prosecuted, that she was just doing her 13-year-old student one really big favor.  None of them has commented on a double standard, but maybe deep down, they also think male teachers should have the right to have sex with their young female students.  But they're afraid to say it.  If it feels good, do it.  The boy involved with Mary Kay never finished high school, has never held a job, and has never taken care of the children they produced together, leaving that job for his mom.  He's now over 21, and is doing nothing, and has never done anything but stay home and be supported by either his parents or his now-wife.  Do you suppose he was damaged?  I also wonder what these male TV commentators would have to say about males molested by male teachers.  Some of the boys might have already been gay, and will grow up to be gay.  Would they say the male teachers did them a favor in that case?

There is an epidemic of this type of thing with female teachers, though maybe it's always been that way, but not reported on.  Of course, it happens with male teachers all the time, and they often get serious time for it.  It shouldn't matter what gender, they should get the maximum, and never be allowed to deal with kids again.  They did a terrible injustice in this case, because no doubt she will try this again, even if she doesn't get a job as a teacher.

MAHER: OK. We're back with Mark and Mary. Mark and Mary? Sounds like a morning show, doesn't it? Hot coffee with Mark And Mary.

Well, speaking of hot, show that picture, if you can -- is that Debra Lafave? Is she the hot one? There's so many teachers...

GERAGOS: There's about three now that are pending that are very, very cute.

MAHER: Cute, but this is an epidemic of teachers, female teachers in their 20's...

GERAGOS: About 30 years too late, too.

MAHER: ... 30's having...

FULGINITI: This is what I'm going to hear from the two of you this evening. I can just hear it.

MAHER: Calm down, Geragos.

GERAGOS: But I have defended these cases, and I still don't understand...

MAHER: I bet you have. You defended them at home with your wife is where you're defending them.

GERAGOS: Exactly just explain to me why this is a crime. I don't understand it. If the kid is over 15, I don't understand why it is a crime.

MAHER: I have made this case for 15 years on the air.

FULGINITI: I told you, this is exactly what I'm going to hear.

MAHER: But it's true. Sometimes a double standard is right. Because there are two sexes. Yes, double standards.

FULGINITI: No, but what you guys are missing is these in particular are teachers. They are in a position of power, and they have a responsibility for trust.

(CROSSTALK)

MAHER: They absolutely should be fired. I'm not arguing that. It is wrong for the teacher to have sex with the student. Absolutely.

FULGINITI: But you don't think it should be criminal behavior?

MAHER: No, it should not. Jail time? that's ridiculous.

GERAGOS: That's ridiculous.

MAHER: This woman -- who was the first one, Mary Kay Letourneau, right?

GERAGOS: Right.

MAHER: Went to jail for how many years?

GERAGOS: Seven years was, I think, her original sentence. MAHER: Turned out that love affair was so strong that they came out, got married. They have two kids. It was like the Woody Allen -- I mean I criticized Woody Allen a lot when he went through his thing. But, you know what, at end of the day, obviously he wasn't just using this girl. Because he married her. They had kids together.

FULGINITI: Oh, but that's the exceptional case though. You have to realize that many boys -- what happens in many situations -- no, it's that, yes, the relationship inevitably ends. And what happens is the boy, you know, drops into depression. His grades start to fail.

MAHER: Oh stop it.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: You know what happens? What happens is the mothers get involved. And the mothers start flipping out. And then the kid has to deal with a psycho mom. But other than that...

MAHER: What boy ever dropped into depression because he was...

GERAGOS: Right. Because he got laid by his teacher?

MAHER: Right.

FULGINITI: Oh, come on. Even the maturity level of boys at the ages of 13 or 12 years old...

MAHER: Can I see the hot teacher again?

GERAGOS: Yes, exactly.

MAHER: Could I see her up one more time? I would like to see this woman and see if I would drop into depression. Yes, I might be depressed that I'm not with her anymore. Oh, that's not depressing. That is so not depressing.

GERAGOS: Right. Can you imagine a 15-year-old who is going to be depressed because he is not banging this gal anymore?

MAHER: You would be depressed because now he's going out with the girl with the braces.

I read this story in the front page of "The New York Times" about two weeks ago about a kid, a boy, who wound up in a rather steamy affair. He was on the web, and somehow he got in chat rooms with men. And, you know, they said, we'll send you 50 bucks if you just take your shirt off in front of your web cam. And he did.

You know, I mean, it's not right, but then, we were, well, maybe we'll give you more money if you masturbate. And so he was like masturbating for money in front of the camera. I don't think it's right. I'm just saying if that had been available when I was that age. I'd have more money than Bill Gates right now.

GERAGOS: And some D.A. would prosecute you. MAHER: And yes, I mean, I do think we have criminalized things in many areas.

FULGINITI: Yes, but, you know, there's a new case, Bill, actually where this woman took off to Mexico, and she took this eighth grader with her. And she was the teacher, and he was her eighth grade student. Oh, but come on, you guys.

(CROSSTALK)

GERAGOS: And he had a hall pass probably from his dad.

FULGINITI: Have you lost your mind?

GERAGOS: No.

MAHER: Well, that's wrong.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/13/lkl.01.html

In general, tho, male predators are much more exposed [no pun intended] and reviled than female predators.  It's as if...i don't know...the strength and physical power inherent in the male leaves a whole lot of leeway for the female.  Like it makes it okay for the female predator. 

As if human predation of any sort is okay...

That's sick, and it's irresponsbile...

Mahar was correct about speculating about the possibility of true love between Laterno and the boy. They've since gotten married (that family tree must be a real freak show)...

But yeah, most men aren't taking this seriously. They just want to pat the boy on the back and say "way to go, slugger!"

A part of me does too, but I try to fight off the flaws I've inherited as being a member of the male population....(I don't always win the fight  >:D)

I can't see the possibility of "real love" between and adult and a child.  She met that boy when he was seven years old, and she started "grooming" him at that time by giving him gifts and special attention.  If it's true love, then all the male pedophiles that cultivate those type of relationships must have real love, too.  Some male pedophiles also marry their victims and have families with them. 

The damage is done by the fact that these kids never know any other options.  They never get a chance to have relationships with people their own age because they get tied to these adults so early.  Not only do their "romantic" options not exist, but they are stunted in all their other life choices, as well.  Note that Villy, the Letornou case boy, has never completed any education beyond the 9th grade nor ever held any type of job.  Also, while he might have enjoyed the sex, did he really want to father those two kids? He has never been a parent to those kids, either, until he recently married Letournou.  There's nothing at all healthy in that relationship, and no redeeming value, even now that they've married.  I don't care if they're married until one of them dies, it's still not right nor good for Villy.  Not to mention what it did to Mary Kay's children from her first marriage and her first husband.  What husband wants to be cuckolded in that type of situation?

Bill Maher is a complete creep.  As for other men that feel that way, well, fine.  But I don't think you really would have wanted to wind up in a serious, marriage-oriented relationship and father a child with an adult woman when you were 13 or 14.  Fooling around, maybe, but getting saddled with that?  I don't think so. 

Plus it’s a widespread male adolescent sexual fantasy to dream about the older sexy woman, who will smother you in ”motherly love”, something that apparently continues later in life, if you look at the fascination of MILFs. I bet Freud could get a lot out of that.
There’s a movie called ”Summer Of  42”, which tells of a young boys sexual fascination of an older woman, who eventually seduces him and introduces him to ”manhood”. In principle I guess you could say it’s a pedophilic movie, but I don’t think it has ever been criticised for being that. It’s also a very tender movie, with a famous soundtrack and theme song ”The Summer Knows” by Michel Legrand. So I guess it’s really a very widespread fantasy, pretty deeply ingrained in our culture, but most of the time the reality is probably much harsher and complicated than the fantasy.

Søren

I remember watching Summer of '42 on TV a few years ago (when I was a young boy who had not yet been introduced to manhood) and not finding any fault with it at all.

When young boys start growing up into young men they find just about any female attractive in some ways. If that lady was my teacher I would've been all for anything she wanted to do. But it's the same as a Dad saying to his son, "Go get em' boy" referring to him going out to do lots of girls. No Dad in his right mind says to his daughter, "Go get em' girl" referring to her sleeping with tons of guys. There's a double standard with boys, by both parents and society which excuses things like this teacher and the student.

Recently a 30 year old male teacher was arrested from the middle school here for doing the bad stuff with a girl in the 8th grade. The news spreads around like a sickening disease. I'm sure if the teacher was some hot woman all the boys would've been applauding the whole action. People need to look past the immediate physical properties of a person and see their minds. A pedophile male is the same as a pedophile female to me. Granted, I may not have any objections to sleeping with an attractive older women, though I still know it to be wrong and potentially damaging to my mental state.

Heck yes.

I always thought the MILF thing was that it's just not usually what you think of when you think of women that you have sex with.. it's kinky, because they're older. Same reason why so many people are into Asians.. it's different, but it's safe. All sexual desires come from the kink factor.. during the Victorian ages, when women's bodies were completely covered in clothing, even an ankle would excite. Why were they excited by the ankle when we weren't? Because it's too commonplace, and therefore not sexy. Do the men that live in countries where women walk around topless find breasts anywhere near as erotic as we do? Doubtful.

Great point.

If we were all naked, after a few hundred years it would have solved a few problems that sexuality poses when clothes and covering ups are introduced. I must admit that it is very frustrating at times to see a girl clothed in a revealing way. I want to expose just *that* much more for the sake of it.

Of course nobody wants to be naked for those reasons, it's also a question of climate and where we live.

Me too, but strictly speaking I guess it is kind of pedophilic. If you made the same kind of movie about a young girl and older man, I bet there would be an uproar, well, maybe not if it was done the same way. About the MILFs, maybe it's a kink, maybe it's also a big freudian slip, I mean why can't it be mature women, that they want to have sex with, it has to be "mothers". According to Freud your mother is your first object of desire and maybe that is what comes through here. Nice in a way if those wretched people in the porn industry, still have a thing for their old mum.

Søren