I Wouldn’t Want My Kids Going To A School Where The Principal Compared Himself To The Terminator

youtubeTalk about inappropriate and I know inappropriate! Now, I love pop culture and I’m all for educators acting goofy on occasion, but in light of Sandy Hook and everything else going on in the news I think that this school principal who introduced himself to the high school by creating a persona based on The Terminator showed some extremely bad taste. If my kids were enrolled at this school I would not want them attending it. The high school is located in Everett, Massachusetts, and students were shown the video last Monday during morning announcements.
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Are you creeped out? I’m creeped out! The empty classrooms, the playground on fire, the terrified woman crawling backwards from the menacing figure. None of this says “Excellent learning environment” to me. I get that the new principal was trying to get the kid’s attention and show them that he means business, but it’s just in such poor taste.

From Boston.com:

Principal Erick Naumann could face suspension or dismissal for the video that suggested students had been ”˜”˜naumannated,’’ schools Superintendent Frederick Foresteire said.

The school board is holding a special meeting Monday evening to hear public comment and consider disciplining Naumann and the technology teacher who produced the video.

The video was shown during morning announcements last Monday. The superintendent says the principal told him his intention was to get students’ attention and Naumann has no history of discipline.

But Foresteire says the video was inappropriate, particularly after the recent school shooting in Newtown, Conn. Among images, the video shows a burning swing set and a skeleton that’s on fire.

”˜”˜The concern is those are inappropriate things to be talking about in schools,’’ Foresteire said. ”˜”˜We just had that Sandy Hook situation and violence in schools in a big issue.’’

Naumann couldn’t be immediately reached for comment Monday.

I want teachers and principals to be reassuring towards our kids, to make them feel like school is a safe place where their biggest worries should be studying for finals or turning their homework in on time, not that if they don’t walk the straight and narrow a Terminator-type figure will punish them. After he created the video, didn’t Naumann show it to anyone who told him that this may not be the best way to introduce himself to the school? Various reports say that the majority of students weren’t upset by the video, but high school students aren’t known for being the best at voicing their fears or concerns. Maybe I’m hypersensitive about the idea of violence directed towards students, but I just don’t find this video all that amusing.

(image: Youtube)

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