Blair Magnet Sexism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to say this is so infuriating and it' reminds me why I hate the HS stem magnet concept. This guy doesn't know genius he's an efeing HS teacher. Anyway, STEM doesn't require genius, it's just hard work that any sensible person could do. But so many people (Mostly boys) get into the math because of the outsized praise. Universities aren't just better at teaching the material they're also more clear eyed about what math ability actually is. There are issues everywhere but things improved for me after HS. Horrifying this happened so recently.

This is not about the HS STEM magnet concept. It's about a high school teacher who behaved inappropriately towards female students for decades while the school administration apparently did nothing to stop it.

Except this is a pattern of gate keeping that goes on in STEM, it's worse in the HS. The magnet concept amplifies that. Yes he's one guy but its a pervasive problem.

That is not what this is about. WTH.

Oh yeah, when your math teacher gave you advice on sports bras, did you ask him for a letter of recommendation?

[Anonymous]

Don't feed the anti-magnet troll. This is deflecting tactics learned from the master troll Dotard. This poster hates magnet anything because his/her child is incapable of doing well in it. Probably not even a poster who lives in DMV. Sour grapes and all.

Issue is administration not stepping in and taking appropriate measures to give training and warning to this teacher. He continued without consequences and since his behavior was not tagged as "illegal" he cannot be punished.

The only consequence he faces is the public shaming...and that will be enough for this person.

I do hope that the MCPS administration and BOE are lurking and reading this. The lid to Pandora's box is now open. Similar behavior will not be tolerated.

[Anonymous]

At one point in my career, I did sexual harassment and discrimination awareness training for girls and women that were training in predominantly male fields.

I really think that some level of this type of training should be given to all middle and high school students, but particularly for girls in STEM programs.

What sort of supports does MB (or TPMS) have for girls in the program? Is there a mentorship program? Or like a girl' lunch bunch where they can talk about these issues?

I speak as a former female Mathlete. There are several reasons I didn't pursue a field in math, but one of them is that it was so male dominated, and it was honestly always a little uncomfortable.

[Anonymous]

I applaud MCPS for responding to these claims now, Math and Science are definitely #metoo fields. Larry Summers, anyone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is terrible. I hope all parents on this board speak to their children (both sons and daughters) and talk to them about how behavior like this is never ok. Our daughters need to know that they can and should speak up and that we will support them and stand up for them and our sons need to know that they also have a responsibility to speak up and to back up their fellow classmates.

+1. I asked my MS boy to read this article and make sure he is an ally if he sees these things going on. I also want him to understand the psychological toll this takes on women...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is terrible. I hope all parents on this board speak to their children (both sons and daughters) and talk to them about how behavior like this is never ok. Our daughters need to know that they can and should speak up and that we will support them and stand up for them and our sons need to know that they also have a responsibility to speak up and to back up their fellow classmates.

+1. I asked my MS boy to read this article and make sure he is an ally if he sees these things going on. I also want him to understand the psychological toll this takes on women...

good for you!

[Anonymous]

There are several things people in this situation can do. This is one of the reasons I demanded MCPS have a written code of conduct for employees and volunteers. After years of pressure, they finally implemented one. It is for exactly the reasons you list above. In my own children's elementary school there was a para educator who was emailing girls from his private email account, burning cds of love songs for girls, playing the "hugging game" with others, giving his phone to girls and letting them text pictures to his friends. The principal kept telling parents that it wasn't illegal and he was just young and naive. Once others brought it to my attention, I reported to police, cps, made the principal submit a report to MCPS central office and I reported to Andy Zuckerman and the whole "child abuse and neglect task force" they formed due to my advocacy. It's not my job as a parent to figure out if he is "young and clueless" or someone who was grooming children to sexually abuse them. What was / is my job not only as a parent but also as a mandated reporter due to my job, is report things like this to authorities, EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY HAPPEN and let them figure it out. I'm so glad to see you mentioned you knew to do this already....many parents do not.

So, they finally wrote an employee code of conduct so that things like you describe can be documented. If is a one off, ok...but if they see an emerging pattern of boundary violations they can get rid of people who think the rules don't apply to them. Clueless and naive or predator? Doesn't matter. If you think the rules don't apply to you, you shouldn't be around our children. Go work in central office and write curriculum.

Parents can and should:
- report everything they know to CPS / Police (special victims unit).
- report it all directly to Jack Smith in writing with the heading "Employee Code of Conduct Violations" Here is a link:
- http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/uploadedfiles/staff/0168.16_employeecodeofconduct_booklet_web.pdf -
- please note THEY HAVE REFUSED TO INCLUDE INFORMATION FOR PARENTS ON HOW TO REPORT VIOLATIONS. They have also refused to send this out when they send out the student code of conduct every year, which we as parents have to sign. Why not send this too?

- talk to your kids about feeling uncomfortable / uh oh feelings and tell them they should tell you if they feel that way even if it's someone you know, like, love or live with. There is an excellent online training for this, I wish it was 2 days ago bc they were offering it for free in February but even now, it's only 5 dollars to take it on line. Here is a link: https://www.d2l.org/education/additional-training/talking-with-children/

you might also want to share another training with friends about bystander intervention for exactly the type of situation you list. https://www.d2l.org/education/additional-training/bystander-intervention/


I hope this is not too much information. I strongly applaud you for following your gut feeling and asking for more help. Please let me know if you want more info. I obviously have a lot to say on this topic.

+1

[Anonymous]

THIS JUST WENT OUT TODAY TO PARENTS


A message from NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

Dear Parents and Guardians:

I am writing to inform you of the arrest yesterday of Mauricio Alvarado, an evening building service worker at Northwest High School, on charges of sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree child abuse, second-degree sexual offense, third-degree sexual offense, and fourth-degree sexual offense. The alleged offenses are not related to any Northwest High School students and did not occur on Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) property.

MCPS has just learned of this investigation and is fully cooperating with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office on this matter. Mr. Alvarado has been placed on administrative leave.

These charges are deeply disturbing and upsetting. This type of behavior does not reflect the principles of Northwest High School or our community, and it will not be tolerated. As always, counselors and other staff members are available to talk to students at any time.

The safety and security of our students is our top priority. While these charges are unrelated to Northwest High School, if you believe you or your child has relevant information regarding this case, please contact the Special Victims Investigations Division of the Montgomery County Police Department at [phone].

Sincerely,

Jimmy D’Andrea

Principal

This e-mail has been sent to you by NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you no longer wish to receive email notifications from NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL, please click here to unsubscribe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is terrible. I hope all parents on this board speak to their children (both sons and daughters) and talk to them about how behavior like this is never ok. Our daughters need to know that they can and should speak up and that we will support them and stand up for them and our sons need to know that they also have a responsibility to speak up and to back up their fellow classmates.

+1. I asked my MS boy to read this article and make sure he is an ally if he sees these things going on. I also want him to understand the psychological toll this takes on women...

good for you!

I should add that I have also spoken to my HS DD who witnessed sexual assault in MS of many peers. DD and I stood up and complained then and got the same kind of push back described in the Blair article - that what I was complaining about wasn't serious (it was a lesser degree sexual assault of non-consensual sexual touching but the school staff seemed entirely unaware of this) and nothing could be done. In HS, DD and I have continued to talk about the arrest of several sexual perpetrators at her schools and other MCPS schools her friends attend. The psychological toll of that should not be underestimated -- girls feel vulnerable and like a target both in and out of school. DD has also told me about other incidents of sexual harassment at her school akin to the kinds of comments from the Blair teacher about how girls aren't good at math or science. But, by HS, DD definitely doesn't want to rock the boat herself or have me complain. DD knows that she has to ask these people to write her recommendations for college and she is also afraid of grade retaliation, which is very hard to prove or prevent. I hope she will be willing to speak out after she has committed to college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to say this is so infuriating and it' reminds me why I hate the HS stem magnet concept. This guy doesn't know genius he's an efeing HS teacher. Anyway, STEM doesn't require genius, it's just hard work that any sensible person could do. But so many people (Mostly boys) get into the math because of the outsized praise. Universities aren't just better at teaching the material they're also more clear eyed about what math ability actually is. There are issues everywhere but things improved for me after HS. Horrifying this happened so recently.

This is true. But somehow the young men that show up for these programs often label women as incompetent - might start with arsehole teachers in high school? Pathetic!

And the teacher was a product of the same, no doubt. I didn't experience anything this overt although I knew about letchy teachers (talking other side of the country now). But the attitude amongst male classmates was bad. As with so many problems getting out of HS was the answer for me. I'm just really horrified that this was going on in 2013, I knew it happened 30 years ago.

I'm not saying burn down the magnets. I'm just seeing the hyper-specialization is rife for abuse. Perhaps five years and a retirement solved the problem. I'm also concerned that my kids' principal is mixed up in this. I like her, I hope she did the right thing, but I'd like to know more.

[Anonymous]

Similar situation at Wibston Churchill High School right now. Person who has violated the Code of Conduct is still in contact with students despite being reported.

Parents, please review the Code of Conduct with your children. This code applies to any adult they come in contact with in MCPS. It is also a good reference for what is considered appropriate adult behavior. Let your kids know to tell you if any adult interacts with them outside those boundaries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:THIS JUST WENT OUT TODAY TO PARENTS


A message from NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

Dear Parents and Guardians:

I am writing to inform you of the arrest yesterday of Mauricio Alvarado, an evening building service worker at Northwest High School, on charges of sexual abuse of a minor, second-degree child abuse, second-degree sexual offense, third-degree sexual offense, and fourth-degree sexual offense. The alleged offenses are not related to any Northwest High School students and did not occur on Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) property.

MCPS has just learned of this investigation and is fully cooperating with the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office on this matter. Mr. Alvarado has been placed on administrative leave.

These charges are deeply disturbing and upsetting. This type of behavior does not reflect the principles of Northwest High School or our community, and it will not be tolerated. As always, counselors and other staff members are available to talk to students at any time.

The safety and security of our students is our top priority. While these charges are unrelated to Northwest High School, if you believe you or your child has relevant information regarding this case, please contact the Special Victims Investigations Division of the Montgomery County Police Department at [phone].

Sincerely,

Jimmy D’Andrea

Principal

This e-mail has been sent to you by NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL. To maximize their communication with you, you may be receiving this e-mail in addition to a phone call with the same message. If you no longer wish to receive email notifications from NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL, please click here to unsubscribe.

Infuriating.

Might be worth starting a new thread with this?

Can the WaPo please please please do an article bringing together aLL of these stories to demonstrate how widespread the problem is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Similar situation at Wibston Churchill High School right now. Person who has violated the Code of Conduct is still in contact with students despite being reported.

Parents, please review the Code of Conduct with your children. This code applies to any adult they come in contact with in MCPS. It is also a good reference for what is considered appropriate adult behavior. Let your kids know to tell you if any adult interacts with them outside those boundaries.

What??? Why is someone who has been reported still in contact with kids? Is this a long-term problem at Churchill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In one MCPS middle school there's a male teacher who has been reported for spending too much time alone with female students, talking to them on social media, and even hanging out with them when he sees them in town. Parents have complained too. The problem is that while there are reasons to be concerned, there's no evidence that he's crossed the line. (He was told to get off social media, but that's the only thing I know for sure he's doing differently.) To the person who's well-versed in this, what should we all be doing in cases like these to protect kids? I know to tell CPS/police, but what can they do over just a "creepiness" factor? And also it's not always the creepy teacher. Sometimes it's the well liked dude who parents know hangs out with school leaders and is considered a great teacher and "cool". There's a real unwillingness to deal with this bs, and I'm over it too.

Name the middle school. You don't need to name the teacher. It's the only way we can figure this stuff out. Vague comments helps the perpetrator and it's what he counts on

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is terrible. I hope all parents on this board speak to their children (both sons and daughters) and talk to them about how behavior like this is never ok. Our daughters need to know that they can and should speak up and that we will support them and stand up for them and our sons need to know that they also have a responsibility to speak up and to back up their fellow classmates.

+1. I asked my MS boy to read this article and make sure he is an ally if he sees these things going on. I also want him to understand the psychological toll this takes on women...

good for you!

Great idea. I agree