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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,694 posts, read 58,012,579 times
Reputation: 46171
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Quote:
Originally Posted by phetaroi
Yes, good summary.
But let's keep in mind that there is an assumption here that a teacher gave up the info. It still seems to me that a conclusion has been made in the thread with no solid evidence...or at least none that has been presented.
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We don't know, but this is very likely ^^^ (We don't know)
Something was 'perceived', may have been real, maybe not. Hopefully not intentional, but maybe ill informed
Lesson: deal with it (at the time). Dirty laundry gets heavy dragging it around for 50 yrs.
Glad no-one got shot at my schools in the 1960's and 1970's. We had our rifles in the back window of our unlocked pickups in school parking lot. Plenty of ammo for hunting before and after (and often during) school. Plenty of bullying and fights and terrible teacher and principal (staff) behavior. Ironically we survived, tho several were killed in farm, auto, MC, and industrial accidents. (as a senior in HS, 3 of my welding coworkers perished in a grain explosion while I was absent, applying for a new (and safer) job)
I was going to say in a few years this will matter very little to you in the scheme of life.
I see that's not correct.
The principal sounds like he cared just chose a poor way to address the issue. He didn't foresee the possible consequences.
I wish he had taken time to talk to you privately, find out what your deal was and offered some possible solutions. But back then there was very little inquiry in students' psychological issues. Which was probably just as well considering the kinds of gossip that could get out regarding that.
He may have also been so loaded down with work that addressing it in a group was a shortcut for him.
As far as consequences of his mistake, it appears that you are the only one left bearing the consequences of this old glitch. What purpose does this resentment serve you and how long do you want to carry it?
Resentments are emotional poison. Why not treat yourself better than what happened to you?
My .02 cents. The high school principal likely meant well, but was misguided. The OP was hurt by these actions, which says all you need to say. A top of the line educator (then or now) likely wouldn't have planted a seed that is still hurting someone 50 years later. People make mistakes.
But the principal still didn't do anything wrong. The teachers simply couldn't restrain themselves from sharing private information in the face of high student curiosity. Of course, they should have exercised more restraint.
But the idea, that disabilities, or "merely" average intelligence, can be overcome with hard work persists today. There have been posters on C-D who have said, that they worked hard in school to be able to achieve the same in school, that came more easily to some of the other students. That's not a bad thing. Good for them. As someone implied earlier in the thread, some of the kids who had to work hard for their grades got a lot farther than the ones who took good grades for granted. Having the discipline to really apply yourself is a valuable skill that can turn out to be its own reward.
Sometimes kids can be their own worst enemies. When one of my kids was 7, he took an I.Q. test to see if he'd be a fit for the gifted program. His actual score was 113, but the counselor said that she thought my son 'dumbed down' his score by answering some questions wrong on purpose. She felt that he was probably more like 130. She read me one of the questions that she believed him to have answered wrong on purpose. I don't remember the exact question now, but it WAS a simple question.
My son pipes up and says "That's right. I didn't want everyone to think I'm a nerd."
In 1970 my middle school principal called an assembly together for a talk. He proceeded to say that several people in our accelerated classes had low IQs. He tried to turn it into an "inspiring" speech about how these "low IQ' students had a "high will Q" rather than IQ. Well, of course everybody was wondering who had the "low IQ". And it turned out that I scored low on the IQ test because I had OCD and kept checking repeatedly during the test resulting in me never finishing any IQ tests because of my repetitive OCD checking. If you do not finish an IQ test you will score low on the test. People found out that I scored low on the IQ test and I was bullied by several students even in high school. Would this behavior by this principal have been allowed today? By the way, rot in hell Mr. Littlejohn in SC. Thanks. I needed that.
How about the others, were their identities discovered?
He could have said that several students in the accelerated classes did not have higher than average IQs to make his point. Calling out anyone as low IQ, anonymous or not, in a school assembly is just wrong.
Kids did get shot in 1970 and stabbed. I know several that were shot on school grounds, as well as a teacher. There were lots of gangs. I much prefer today's antibullying checkpoints and training for teachers. There are still accelerated classes and programs for gifted kids.
I attended a public high school from '67-'70. There were no shootings or stabbings in my school, nor were there any after school. I spent the following three years living in a dorm and walking the streets of Baltimore. I was a little nervous when I ventured out alone late at night, but that's about it. I don't think it ever occurred to me that I could be shot or stabbed.
Status:
"I don't understand. But I don't care, so it works out."
(set 3 days ago)
35,613 posts, read 17,935,039 times
Reputation: 50634
Quote:
Originally Posted by redraider1974
In 1970 my middle school principal called an assembly together for a talk. He proceeded to say that several people in our accelerated classes had low IQs. He tried to turn it into an "inspiring" speech about how these "low IQ' students had a "high will Q" rather than IQ. Well, of course everybody was wondering who had the "low IQ". And it turned out that I scored low on the IQ test because I had OCD and kept checking repeatedly during the test resulting in me never finishing any IQ tests because of my repetitive OCD checking. If you do not finish an IQ test you will score low on the test. People found out that I scored low on the IQ test and I was bullied by several students even in high school. Would this behavior by this principal have been allowed today? By the way, rot in hell Mr. Littlejohn in SC. Thanks. I needed that.
Guns Up! Sounds like you made it, despite some difficulties on the way.
I've always thought those Littlejohns were a sorry lot.
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