Nicholas Frank - Bully Teacher?

Bullying is a cause that has taken center stage in America.  Even President and First Lady Obama have used their tremendous influence and spoken openly and often about the negative impact bullying has on our society.

The typical bullying scenario pits kid on kid.  Or kids on kid.  Most bullying cases are born from insecure children projecting their insecurities on the less fortunate child who is usually defenseless and defeated.

Usually.

Enter Nicholas Frank, or Mr. Frank as he is referred to by his students at  the MicroSociety Magnet School in New Haven, Connecticut.  Nicholas Frank, grown man, teacher.

Mr. Frank, actually, I'll call him Nick.  Referring to him as Mr. lends more of an air of respect than he deserves. 

Back to my point.  For reasons beknownst only to Nick himself, he singled out one of his students, and bullied him relentlessly in front of his classmates and friends.  Nick embarrassed this 11 year old child, who shall remain nameless in this blog post, by calling him a 'fish out of water,' and 'cheeks' because of his full face.  And if that weren't enough, Nick would pinch the boy's cheeks to get his point across. Nick also referred to his student as 'pregnant' because he's felt he was overweight.

Nick also resorted to limiting the number of questions the child could ask in class to 10.  No specific reason given, just because.  If he exceeded his limit, he was punished; either by serving lunch detention or having his cheeks pinched.

What was the fascination with the boy's cheeks?  Strange. 

The poor child was so petrified as a result of the abuse that his grades began to suffer. He was an A student when the harrassment began, and they fell to C's by the time the truth came to light. He was afraid to attend school because of the sheer intimidation by his teacher.  Even at his age, he began to wet the bed at night.  It was too much for the child to handle.

Becasue of the boldness of the so-called teacher, who is supposed to provide a secure, nurturing environment for all students, the classroom had become a negative influence on all of the kids.  Once the bullied child spoke out to his mother, who then reported Nick's actions to his superiors,  his classmated corroborated his story and proved to be valuable witnesses.

Nick was given a slap on the wrist; eight days suspension, no pay.  Sounds like a second spring break to me.

Fortunately, the Connecticut  Department of Children and Families - DCF got wind of Nick's actions and took the punishment a step further.  After an investigation was conducted by an agent of the DCF, it was decided that Nick was indeed emotionally abusive toward his student and caused him fear the school system as a whole.  Nick was placed on the DCF central registry of child abuse and neglect!

Of course, Nick was not happy with the decision and appealed to the Superior Court of Connecticut. The Court's response to his appeal:  Sorry, Nicky.  Your reap what you sow.  The DCF investigation findings and ruling stands.  Guilty.

Poetic justice, I say.

Not proud of you today, Nicholas Frank.