Student catches bullying teacher on cell phone video
A special needs student records his teacher in a highly bullying frame of mind via cell phone video. The teacher is suspended by the school.
The thing about cell phone video is that it can capture people in their natural state.
From what one can see in the cell phone video captured by 15-year-old special needs student Julio Artuz, his teacher's state is not always serene.
According to ABC News, Artuz had already told his parents that his teacher, Steven Roth, was treating him in a less than educative manner.
His parents didn't believe him. His father--also named Julio--was so skeptical that he told his son to prove it. So angling his cell phone in a highly professional manner, young Julio captured Roth calling him a "tard."
He was also the object of an old school classic: "I will kick your ass from here to kingdom come until I'm 80 years old."
The video makes for deeply uncomfortable viewing. It certainly did to the Board of Education of Gloucester County, N.J. The Board placed Roth on administrative leave.
Julio reportedly has ADHD and emotional issues.
His mother, Joyce McCormick-Artuz. told ABC News: "Teachers are supposed to build students up and build their self esteem, not rip it down. You don't scream at them...degrade and threaten."
McCormick-Artuz also told ABC News that when she showed the video to the school principal--with Roth present--Roth offered that he'd endured "a bad morning with my wife."
Some will be wondering what Julio might have done to provoke such ire--if anything.
But there is surely an even more troubling question here. Should teachers, in order to protect themselves from some future action, start filming their students?
Or, indeed, should schools, in an attempt to protect themselves and everyone else involved, film everything that goes on within classroom walls?
Given the scant resources that are dedicated toward education, one wonders what else happens in America's schools on a daily basis.
One also wonders: given technology's vast reach and grasp, where does it all end? Do we now have to act as if we're being filmed wherever we are and whatever we are doing?