In this day and age, can this be allowed???

Wales Online wrote:

A TEACHER sprayed air freshener on Asian children for “smelling of curry” in the mornings, a disciplinary hearing was told yesterday.

Elizabeth Davies, 48, was accused of “humiliating” children aged between three and six by using the aerosol spray on them in nursery class. Mrs Davies faces being struck off for using the air freshener on “smelly” pupils at her inner-city Swansea school with a large Asian catchment. The hearing was told she accused Bangladeshi children of smelling of onions or curry – and would say “there is a waft coming in from paradise” before blasting the air freshener over them.

Mrs Davies, a nursery school teacher for 20 years, is also accused of spraying other children who broke wind, washing their hands with pine disinfectant and making them stand on newspaper for accidentally wetting or soiling themselves. Mrs Davies, a nursery school teacher for 20 years, taught at a inner-city school where more than half of her pupils were Bangladeshi.

A disciplinary hearing of the General Teaching Council for Wales (GCTW) heard she was sacked from her £34,000-a-year job at Hafod Primary School in Swansea over “child protection concerns”. Teaching assistant Wendy Roe said Mrs Davies would have a smug look on her face when she sprayed the children and said the words “black b******s” in a low whisper on more than one occasion. She added: “There would be short, sharp squirts on the children’s backsides. It was mainly the Asian children.” Mrs Roe said she had been asked to prepare bowls of disinfectant in water, so that the children could wash their hands before having snacks. But she often poured the liquid down the sink, to give the impression it was in the washing bowl.

The hearing heard of a girl, known only as RA, who would regularly soil and wet herself and was often made to stand unchanged in a public area until her mother came to collect her. On one occasion, the child RA soiled herself twice in one day. After her second soiling, Mrs Davies refused to change her again, saying “that’s it, I’m phoning mum. I’m not putting up with this”, said Mrs Roe. “I saw RA being treated like this quite a few times.” When asked if she thought Mrs Davies was discriminating against the children on the grounds of their race, she said “I think so” and “I feel she had a problem with them”.

Teacher Karen Hopkins said she often saw RA standing on newspaper outside the headmaster’s office or in reception class. “It was often evident, because of the smell. She was often visible, because of where she was stood. She seemed embarrassed and didn’t have a lot of self-esteem and accepted the way she was treated,” she said. Learning support assistant Jan Islam told the hearing: “Mrs Davies would wash the children’s hands in a bowl containing pine disinfectant. “She would spray air freshener almost daily.

“Children would sit on the carpet. If they had broken wind she would stand above them and spray air freshener at them. She would spray it on their backs and backsides. “I’ve also done this myself on her direction. She would get me to spray it over them. “If a child came in smelling of onion or curry she would say: ‘There is a waft coming in from paradise.’ Sometimes she would spray without there being a smell.”

Mother-of-two Mrs Islam said the spray was “usually” for children who had English as their second language. She highlighted the case of a three-year-old boy who broke wind – and was sprayed with the aerosol freshener. She said: “He told his mother at the school gates that he had farted and that Mrs Davies had sprayed air freshener over him. He thought it was funny and he was happy and cheerful about it.”

But the disciplinary hearing was told other parents were unhappy about it and reported it to the school authorities. Mrs Islam said: “There was boy aged about four or five who soiled himself. I took him to the toilet and stood him on newspaper. I dressed him in alternative clothes in the meantime. Sometimes we didn’t change the clothes. “Mrs Davies would say ‘we are not here to babysit them’ and call their parents. Pupils would be told to stand on newspaper until their parents arrive to collect them.” Mrs Islam said the child could be made to wait around 30 minutes, depending on how long it took to contact their parent.

The hearing was told the 260-pupil school had children aged two to 11 with a large Asian community – with more than 50% from a Bangladeshi background in the nursery. Presenting officer Martin Jones said Mrs Davies was a “very experienced teacher who should be expected to understand acceptable behaviour”. Mrs Davies denies five allegations of unacceptable professional conduct: spraying aerosol at pupils and instructing others to do so, leaving pupils in a soiled or wet state, making wet or soiled children stand on newspaper and washing pupils’ hands in disinfectant. The hearing was told the school was ruled under a climate of fear from previous headteacher, David Jenkins, and staff felt unable to bring their concerns about Mrs Davies’ actions to his attention. It was only when new head, Rachel Webb, took over in 2006, that the atmosphere of the school changed and an investigation was launched in 2008. Headteacher Rachel Webb described Mrs Davies’ behaviour in spraying the children with an aerosol as “unacceptable”.

She said: “It is demeaning, dangerous and embarrassing for a child. Solvent abuse can kill.” Police launched an investigation after a parent of one of the children made a formal complaint that it was an assault. South Wales Police said Mrs Davies would not be facing any charges in connection with the complaints. Mrs Davies of Cilfrew, Neath, was suspended on full pay for 18 months while an investigation was carried out. She was sacked in 2009. Mrs Davies was absent from the hearing in Cardiff, but represented in a personal capacity by former NUT officer Peggy George.

The hearing continues.

While almost all of us will be upset that the lady picked on Asian children in an obvious act of racism. That is not the reason I posted this article here.

What is apparent from the article is that many of her colleagues were aware of the situation, and many others followed her instructions. The excuse being that the previous head master was a tyrant.

My question is:

Should those that did not report her earlier or take action against this lady in spite of the affect on their careers (to protect little children, mind you) be held equally responsible?
If not, why then were Nazi's hunted down and taken to tribunals if they were simply following orders too? They had much more to loose than a job - not obeying would cost their lives!!

From my question, I believe my position is obvious. I believe all should pay for the crime. IMHO, watching a crime and doing nothing about it, let alone performing the crime even under duress, is just as bad and makes you an accessory to the fact.

I would like to hear from you guys.

Levaz

The teacher definitely should pay and so should her assistant who listedned to her and followed like a dummy. I don't know if all should pay though I agree that all of them were enablers especially the parent that laughed it off. I definitely know that the school board should have been paying more attention. Thank God for the parent that did complain.

this is wrong and revolting on so many fronts. It's positively revolting:

besides the fact that it reeks of racism

it also reeks of inhumanity

spraying human being, worst still spraying helpless children with no voice or support structure.

is this how people should be intolerant? WHY?

Where does this intolerance end? Racism aside, if i find the smell of smokers offensive I should spray them? If I find pets offensive, I should kill them or maim them?
So revolting. Where is the humanity?

Perhaps, it is my intolerance these days, as I get older, Hope.

I feel that no one is willing to take responsibility anymore. Chivalry is DEAD.
By chivalry, I simply mean honor towards one another - not even acts of kindness over and above what is considered normal kindness.
Look at how far our technological prowess has in fact regressed us as humans.
How can we let people commit crimes or abuse innocent and NOT do anything about it?

I feel that people who stand by and let crimes occur in spite of "consequences" should be ultimately also held responsible.
Of course, there should be some room to play in case ones life is threatened or that spouses or kids and they were forced to commit those crimes or keep quite for fear of death to their loved ones.
I cannot imagine a parents thinking, "I have to allow the death of my child so that many children will be spared".
I believe that is forgivable, but not, "Oh, I may loose my job" "It is not my concern" etc.
Those are unforgivable and penalty should be extracted from all.

What u say is right Levaz .

I did not comment earlier coz I was turning ur question over in my mind constantly .

At first I felt its not possible. Then I realized its very true. If we want society to become a better one , this is the only way . It sounds ideal and not practicable at first but its the ONLY way .

My friend in Albany had a tree very close to her toilet window . Once the window was open when they were out for the weekend and some leaves blew in and fell in the commode .

It was clogged in a bad way . They ultimately had to call the apartment plumber.

He cleared it all in a most bad tempered way , shaking his head and what not . My friend , a South Indian , apologised and admitted her mistake that while cleaning the toilet she had left the window open by mistake .

To that he told her there was no need to make excuses , he was letting her off this time .But u guys shud use tissue paper , he told her .

My friend was shocked . She understood that he actually believed that Indians were so primitive that they wiped their bottom with leaves , not tissue paper .

Thats the idea they have of us . They express contempt in such ways .

Its a little psychotic too . And hence ......scary .