CPS removes special-ed teacher after abuse complaints from parents

A special-education teacher at Finkl Elementary School in the Little Village community has been removed from her classroom, Chicago Public Schools confirmed Tuesday — with the move coming after parents of her students complained of physical abuse against their children.

“He grabbed me, hid behind me and pointed at the teacher,” Sanchez said. “I was like, OK, what is the teacher doing that he’s pointing at her?”

She said she has been trying ever since to get answers from the principal, who told her he would contact the Department of Children and Family Services.

“All he said was he can’t get me any information until DCFS contacts me,” she said. He told her on Thursday that the teacher and aides had been removed from the classroom. She was at the school Monday when Chicago Police arrived.

None of the parents who contacted the Chicago Sun-Times knew who was to blame in the classroom for first-, second- and third-grade special-education students was to blame. They said the teacher had two aides working with her and the 13 children. They did not know what happened to the aides, but they didn’t want them around children.

The Sun-Times is not naming the teacher or aides because no one has been charged in connection with the matter.

CPS would not say why the teacher hadbeen removed, nor would the district confirm what, if anything, had happened with the aides.

“The teacher has been removed from the classroom and has no contact with students. Appropriate further action will be taken pending the outcome of the investigation,” CPS spokesman David Miranda said in an email.

The Department of Children and Family Services would not confirm whether they had been called. Chicago Police hadnot made any arrests as of Monday afternoon, according to spokesman John Mirabelli.

CPS would not provide further information about the teacher, including how long she has worked for the district.

On her LinkedIn profile, she wrote that she has worked for CPS since March 2012 and is a special-education teacher.

None of the phone numbers listed for the teacher was in service. A message left for her on Twitter was not returned. A woman identifying herself as the teacher’s mother said she would relay a message, but her daughter was told not to talk to anyone.

The teacher did not call back

Luis Murillo said his 7-year-old autistic son had kept coming home from school with bruises on his body since early in the school year. The school told him it was from children fighting, Murillo said. The child also returned home with the knees of his pants ripped out, as if he had been pulled across the ground.

The boy cannot speak but started drawing this year, and he drew like crazy with colored markers on lined paper in a binder: Pictures of stick-figure children looking scared and sad, saying “no.” Tall stick figure women — three of them — with angry brows and giant teeth. A stick figure saying “help.”

“Every time he drew, we just thought he was drawing,” Murillo said.“He needs psychological help; not only him, but the other kids, too.”

Jessica Sanchez said her 8-year-old son, who has Down syndrome, came home with deep scratches on his face in early March, and the mark of what looked like an adult’s hand on his forearm last Thursday. An aide wrote a note that the boy scratched himself on a table, but the teacher told her the aide scratched him by accident.

Sanchezpicked him up early one day for a doctor’s appointment, and her son scurried behind her as soon as he saw her.

 

This makes me so mad! i work with people with special needs and i never for one second hurting them! The teacher was not capable of taking care of the children.

Abuse Towards Men

Financial abuse: Being denied any financial control or autonomy.

Emotional abuse: Being constantly put-down, insulted & humiliated. Being blamed for things that are not your fault. Being ordered around and constantly dictated to.Having beliefs and opinions ridiculed and discounted. Intimidation – being threatened with violence, breaking things, screaming etc. Threatening suicide, divorce, to hurt or deny access to children / pets.

Isolating: Having social contacts controlled. Being stopped from seeing or talking to friends and family.

Sexual abuse:Being exploited in a sexual way i.e. harassment, unsolicited and inappropriate sexual comments to you or others.

Physical abuse: Being pushed, slapped, punched, kicked, bitten etc. Having things thrown at you. Having a weapon used on you.

At the end of the day, violence usually begets more violence, and so domestic violence advocates recommend that you should make attempts to get yourself into a place of safety, rather than planning to respond in a way that could leave you in a more vulnerable position.

 

Men have psychological damage, as the result of domestic abuse, can also have severe implications for a person’s life – and this cannot and should not be discounted. Problems with depression, anxiety, substance abuse etc. can accompany domestic abuse, which can affect all aspects of life.

 

Courts need to catch up with police in tackling domestic abuse

This week the family of a woman who was murdered by her former boyfriend called for a public inquiry to give victims in England the protection they deserve.

Maria Stubbings was strangled with a dog lead in 2008 by Marc Chivers, who had already killed a previous girlfriend.

The 50-year-old mother of two from Essex had been dating Chivers less than a year and had no idea he was a convicted killer until he was charged with assaulting her. Police did nothing to protect her, disarming a panic alarm and failing to take her fears seriously.

Scotland is also failing victims, but the problem here is not the police but the courts. Scotland’s police force is far from perfect, but is one of the most advanced in Europe in tackling domestic abuse. English forces would do well to take a trip north to see how it is done.

To see worst practice, they should make a stop at our courts, where sheriffs are behaving like extras on Life on Mars.

Recent statistics show that of 8869 people found guilty of domestic abuse in 2011-12, 12 per cent were jailed, 30 per cent were fined and 25 per cent were given community sentences.

A further 31 per cent were admonished and one per cent were given an absolute discharge. While the police are racing ahead, the courts are tripping them up at the final hurdle.

Last week I interviewed Samantha Livingstone, a 28-year-old victim of serial woman beater Graeme Lees, who walked free from court, despite brutal abuse of three women.

In a horrific nine-year relationship, Lees punched Samantha while she was pregnant with his son and once beat her so badly that she had to pretend to friends she had been in a car crash.

This pathetic slap on the wrist is a shameful betrayal of a woman, now forced to live hundreds of miles from home because she is too scared to be within reach of Lees. A few hours’ graffiti scrubbing in the community won’t stop Lees claiming his next victim.

At the end of the month, a conference for the Association of Scottish Police Superintendents will consider the introduction of Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, which would require men with a history of violence in the home to disclose it to new partners.

There are calls for police to be able to warn potential victims they are with an abuser, a move that currently breaches data protection.

Such changes may save the next Maria Stubbings, but it will take time for pilot schemes currently running in England to show if this idea is effective.

As the police continue to search for solutions, sheriffs and the courts remain the problem.

The vast majority of sheriffs are white males in late to middle age who have proved themselves detached from the realities of a crime, which claims the lives of two women a week in the UK.

It is time the courts caught up. We need more women on the bench and men who think that punching a pregnant woman in the stomach is a crime that should be taken seriously.

 

 

This is why we need to be concerned about victims! If anybody has any suspicion about abuse to just ignore it, see if they need any help. How someone can abuse you until they snap and kill you. Hitting, punching, screaming, scratching should all be taken seriously by doctors and law enforcement.

Domestic abuse

a women who was abused her partner. One night it got so serious that he punched her so many times her right eyeball came out of the socket. He told her that it was all her fault and she would never see her kids again, but she got custody of her kids and he went to serve time in prison. Women will, at some point, experience domestic abuse and roughly 100 women, each year, will die at the hands of their boyfriend or ex-boyfriend.

Statistics on Domestic Violence

• Every 9 seconds in the US a woman is assaulted or beaten.

• Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. Most often, the abuser is a member of her own family.

• Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.

• Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.

• Nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented with a breakup.

• Everyday in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends.

• Ninety-two percent of women surveyed listed reducing domestic violence and sexual assault as their top concern.

 

 

Approximately 40 percent of people experiencing violence are young adults ages 18 to 30; this translates into a greater risk for violence in this age group than in any other segment of the population.”Order of Protection” or “Restraining Order” The court order directs the other partner to stay away from the petitioner and refrain from any further harassment. The man becomes enraged with his loss of control and the attempt by the woman to “break the relationship” and engages in various acts of harassment which include stalking, threats, assault or other subtle forms of “psychological warfare.” Realistically speaking, domestic violence homicide is the one category of murder that is actually preventable. Early intervention by law enforcement, social services and the criminal justice system can effectively deter future violence.

Effects on children

Age and  Potential effects

                                                             INFANTS:                          

                                     1) Needs for attachment disrupted   

                                     2) Poor sleeping habits

                                     3) Eating problems

                 

                                             Preschool Children:

                                       1) Lack feeling of safety

                                       2) Separation/stranger anxiety

                                       3) Regressive behavior

 

                                                School aged children: 

                                      1) Self blame

                                       2) Somatic complaints

                                       3) Aggressive behaviors

 

                                           Adolescents:

                                       1) School truancy

                                       2) Substance abuse

                                       3) Delinquency

 

Children also can develop a range of problems including psychosomatic complaints, such as headaches or abdominal pain, as well as poor school performance. They are less likely to have many friends or participate in outside activities. They experience a lot of guilt and shame about the abuse. Children tend to blame themselves.

                                                                

Concrete Angel

A young girl who is being abused by her evil mother. She meets a nice boy who lives right next door. He sees the abuse the little girl goes through. At the end the girl does die. This happens all the time, if you know anyone make sure you do something about it.

Domestic violence against women: Recognize patterns, seek helpDomestic

 

Domestic violence against women: Recognize patterns, seek help

Domestic violence is a serious threat for many women. Know the signs of an abusive relationship and how to leave a dangerous situation.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Your partner apologizes and says the hurtful behavior won’t happen again — but you fear it will. At times you wonder whether you’re imagining the abuse, yet the emotional or physical pain you feel is real. If this sounds familiar, you might be experiencing domestic violence.

Recognize domestic violence

Domestic violence — also called domestic abuse, battering or intimate partner violence — occurs between people in an intimate relationship. Domestic violence can take many forms, including emotional, sexual and physical abuse and threats of abuse. Men are sometimes abused by partners, but domestic violence is most often directed toward women. Domestic violence can happen in heterosexual or same sex relationships.

It might not be easy to identify domestic violence at first. While some relationships are clearly abusive from the outset, abuse often starts subtly and gets worse over time. You might be experiencing domestic violence if you’re in a relationship with someone who:

• Calls you names, insults you or puts you down
• Prevents you from going to work or school
• Stops you from seeing family members or friends
• Tries to control how you spend money, where you go, what medicines you take or what you wear
• Acts jealous or possessive or constantly accuses you of being unfaithful
• Gets angry when drinking alcohol or using drugs
• Threatens you with violence or a weapon
• Hits, kicks, shoves, slaps, chokes or otherwise hurts you, your children or your pets
• Forces you to have sex or engage in sexual acts against your will
• Blames you for his or her violent behavior or tells you that you deserve it
• Portrays the violence as mutual and consensual

  If you’re in an abusive situation, you might recognize this pattern

• Your abuser threatens violence.

• • Your abuser strikes.
  • Your abuser apologizes, promises to change and offers gifts.
  • The cycle repeats itself.

  Typically the violence becomes more frequent and severe over time.

  The longer you stay in an abusive relationship, the greater the toll on your self-esteem. You might become depressed and anxious. You might begin to doubt your ability to take care of yourself or wonder if the abuse is your fault. You might feel helpless or paralyzed. If you’re an older woman who has health problems, you might feel dependent upon an abusive partner. If you’re in a same sex relationship, you might be less likely to seek help after an assault if you don’t want to disclose your sexual orientation. If you’ve been sexually assaulted by another woman, you might also fear that you won’t be believed. Still, the only way to break the cycle of domestic violence is to take action — and the sooner the better

 

 If anyone you know has been in a domestic situation make sure you take action of it and don’t leave it be. There are so many warning signs. It doesn’t matter if you white, black, Asian, Mexican, gay straight, etc. It happens to everyone 

Abused Men

Everyone thinks that women are the only ones to be abused. That’s not entirely true. Men are abused in just the same ways women are. They may be abused emotionally, physically, etc.