Teachers can have an enormous impact on their students’ self-esteem. That’s what makes the comment written on young Kamdyn Piland’s homework so unacceptable.
Piland’s father Chris was furious when his 2nd-grader brought home a quiz with the comment “absolutely pathetic he answered 13 in 3 min! sad” written across the top by his teacher.
Piland wrote on Facebook:
“My son Kamdyn’s teacher has been so rude to him and myself all year he comes home with this and I am beyond frustrated that someone would write this on a child’s work”
He added, sarcastically, “such great motivation.”
Now, we don’t know the entire backstory here, but it’s hard to make the case that this kind of comment would do anything to positively motivate a 7-year-old.
While teachers are some of the most overworked and underappreciated professionals, that’s not an invitation to bad behavior.
After seeing Piland’s post, people are now calling for Alyssa Rupp Bohenek to be fired from her job at Valley View Elementary School in a petition on Change.org that’s garnered over 17,000 signatures so far.
It’s worth noting that Piland himself did not name the teacher, rather the local paper – the Scranton Times-Tribune – published her identity.
The quiz featured 50 subtraction problems and, judging by her comment, the students had 3 minutes to complete the assignment. Kamdyn finished 13 problems in that time, a handful of which were incorrect.
The 1,600 comments on Piland’s Facebook post range from mocking the child and his parents to fury at the teacher. Fortunately, there were some level-headed people calling for more information before demonizing anyone.
The rare commenter even found a way to support everyone involved.
The Times-Tribune also reported that school superintendent Rose Minniti was made aware of the situation and that an investigation had been initiated after a meeting between Pennsylvania’s Valley View School District and the teacher.
Minniti assured those who’ve let their emotions get the best of them that this would be a fair and proper investigation:
“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.”
A counter-petition has also been launched in support of the teacher, though it currently has under 1,000 signatures. Still, it acknowledged that what she wrote was problematic:
“What she wrote on the students paper may have been wrong to do, It is something she should reprimanded for but certainly not fired over.”
But the school district is determined not to let this play out in the court of public opinion, vowing “to try to do what’s best for the students and what we need to do for the employee under investigation.”
Regardless of the outcome, we feel for Kamdyn, who is only 7.
He told his local news station that he was distressed by the situation:
“She made me really sad and upset. I was really mad. And [it was] really mean to do.
It broke my heart,” he added.
The good news is that Kamdyn will be moved to a new classroom immediately, according to Fox 56.
While Piland never intended for his post to go viral, he’s hoping that the attention will keep this from happening to anyone else.
Bohenek, who has worked at the school since 2013, has wisely been laying low and avoiding the media.
We can only hope it’s a learning experience for everyone involved.
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