http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2012/03/15/lawsuit-filed-over-suspension-of-5-year-old-for-f-word Comments On: Lawsuit filed over suspension of 5-year-old for F-word by Max Brantley en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Fri, 24 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Fri, 24 May 2013 15:00:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss
Much as Mr. Swindle was home ill when they explored the concept of paragraph breaks.

There is an Adult way to handle what is, after all, an entirely common and expected situation: children uttering inappropriate words.

Then there is the Parental way, which occurred here. Give POWER to the word, and to the act of saying it, by immediately turning it into an emotional and "important" drama that simultaneously embarrasses, confuses, shames and "punnishes" [sic] the child in front of his peers.

Exactly the WORST possible reaction from the standpoint of education and child psychology.

An Adult simply takes the child aside, privately, and caringly asks where he learned the word. Asks if he knows what it means. Calmly explains it in terms a five-year old can understand. Explains how most people consider it a "naughty" word. Explains how it's not appropriate to use "naughty" words in public.

Instead, because of the "grown-up's" own psychological immaturity, now ALL the children have had their curiosity aroused about saying "fuck." Look at the stir it caused! "Don't know what it means, but it drives 'em nuts when I say it!"

Ah, sweet childhood memories. Last a lifetime.

P.S. Glad you're suing.
Posted by Norma Bates]]> Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:28:03 -0500 Arkansas Times Cheney to Leahy
Posted by CyberBiker]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 23:49:47 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by kenswindle]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 22:47:36 -0500 Arkansas Times
"appeal to the school board" is one thing.

A lawsuit is an appeal to the court.

Is Mr. Swindle appealing or suing?



Posted by mudturtle]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:56:38 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by kenswindle]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 21:27:55 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by plainjim]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 19:17:27 -0500 Arkansas Times
Conjugate fuck

I fuck
You fuck
He, she, it fucks

But We and they have an orgy.
Posted by Citizen1]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:38:09 -0500 Arkansas Times
Just whip the "Fuck" out of him.
Posted by Citizen1]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:18:25 -0500 Arkansas Times sigh,
anyway...
Fuck is the best word in the English language.

Here is the perfect scene from The Wire that demonstrates the versatility of the word.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sNZ7ulO1RQ

Posted by the real any*mouse but login hates me]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 17:06:16 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by dottholliday]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:45:44 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by Hackett]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:21:47 -0500 Arkansas Times
The Oxford English Dictionary states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of native Germanic words with meanings involving striking, rubbing, and having sex

Flen flyys and freris
The usually accepted first known occurrence is in code in a poem in a mixture of Latin and English composed some time before 1500. The poem, which satirizes the Carmelite friars of Cambridge, England, takes its title, "Flen flyys", from the first words of its opening line, Flen, flyys, and freris (= "Fleas, flies, and friars"). The line that contains fuck reads Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk. Removing the substitution cipher (here, replacing each letter by the next letter in alphabetical order, as the English alphabet was then) on the phrase "gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk" yields non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli, which translated means, "They are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely".[3] The phrase was coded likely because it accused some Church personnel of misbehaving; it is uncertain to what extent the word fuck was considered acceptable at the time. (The stem of fvccant is an English word used as Latin: English medieval Latin has many examples of writers using English words when they did not know the Latin word: "workmannus" is an example.) (In the Middle English of this poem, the term wife was still used generically for woman.)

Etymology Via Germanic
The word has probable cognates in other Germanic languages, such as German ficken (to fuck); Dutch fokken (to breed, to strike, to beget); dialectal Norwegian fukka (to copulate), and dialectal Swedish fokka (to strike, to copulate) and fock (penis). This points to a possible etymology where Common Germanic fuk– comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to strike", cognate with non-Germanic words such as Latin pugnus "fist". By reverse application of Grimm's law, this hypothetical root has the form *pug–. In early Proto-Germanic the word was likely used at first as a slang or euphemistic replacement for an older word for intercourse, and then became the usual word for intercourse.

Yet another possible etymology is from the Old High German word pfluog, meaning "to plow, as in a field". This is supported in part by a book by Carl Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, in which he discusses the "primitive play of words" and the phallic representation of the plough, including its appearance on a vase found in an archaeological dig near Florence, Italy, which depicts six ithyphallic (erect-penised) men carrying a plow.

The original Indo-European root for to copulate is likely to be * h3yebh– or *h3eybh–, which is attested in Sanskrit यभति (yabhati), Russian ебать (yebat' ), Polish jebać, and Serbian јебати (jebati), among others: compare the Greek verb οἴφω (oíphō) = "I have sex with", and the Greek noun Ζέφυρος (Zéphyros) (which references a Greek belief that the west wind Zephyrus caused pregnancy).

Etymology Via Latin or Greek
Other possible connections are to Latin futuere (almost exactly the same meaning as the English verb "to fuck"); but it would have to be explained how the word reached Scandinavia from Roman contact, and how the t became k. From fūtuere came French foutre, Catalan fotre, Italian fottere, Romanian futere, vulgar peninsular Spanish follar and joder, and Portuguese foder. However, there is considerable doubt and no clear lineage for these derivations. These roots, even if cognates, are not the original Indo-European word for to copulate, but Wayland Young (who agrees that these words are related) argues that they derive from the Indo-European *bhu– or *bhug– ("be", "become"), or as causative "create" [see Young, 1964]. A possible intermediate might be a Latin 4th-declension verbal noun *fūtus, with possible meanings including "act of (pro)creating".
Greek phyō (φύω) has various meanings, including (of a man) "to beget", or (of a woman), "to give birth to".[8] Its perfect pephyka (πέφυκα) can be likened[citation needed] to "fuck" and its equivalents in other Germanic languages.

One hopes this was edifying for you, SH, and not a waste of your time reviewing your Kindergarten notes, SH.

Posted by dottholliday]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:20:55 -0500 Arkansas Times
As always, the ones most in need of being taught sense aren't the children. It's the grownups.
Posted by arkansasmediawatch]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:17:15 -0500 Arkansas Times

Yes, dbi, maybe the parents overreacted; but we learned early on in our child's school days that parents who didn't 'overreact' or otherwise let the school know who was ultimately in charge of our child's education/life lived to regret it. For example, I had no idea that our schools (elementary) allowed spanking unless parents sent a written note opting out; and I learned this by seeing a young boy's black/blue butt on the tv screen.

I'm all for discipline, but not humiliation or hitting. And I'd argue that if my child is acting out enough to deserve suspension or a spanking than it's imperative that the parents and the school work together to correct the problem. I will NEVER give permission for another to strike my child...especially given what I know about many of our school administrators.
Posted by zelda]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 15:14:48 -0500 Arkansas Times
To teach acceptable language, we first use only acceptable language in the presence of the learners, we reward acceptable language and we give as little attention to the unacceptable language as is possible without ignoring it. We do want to explain to ALL the children present that the language used was unacceptable and why. There are all sorts of teaching techniques which will help children to want to use acceptable language. Even if positively and non-punitively challenging the child for the unacceptable language results only in his or her use of it in future, but outside the hearing of their supervising adult, then as much as punishment has been accomplished... but no harm done.

Suspension from a classroom cannot be replicated as a learning environment unless a teacher is in suspension with the child. Useless as a teaching tool for acceptable use of language, in-school-suspension can only be redeemed by paying for an extra teacher. Neither outcome makes sense. The only justification for removing a child from classmates and a teacher would be disruption to learning by others and then only 1 minute removal per year of age. But save your breath, I already know that most people are delighted by others' misery and to suggest that a child not "suffer" more than 5 minutes is blasphemy. It won't make me wrong, though. Punishment's beneficiaries have always been the punishers. Something righteous feeling about making others hurt when our sense of power and control have been challenged.
Posted by Gordon]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:43:26 -0500 Arkansas Times
AngryBlackLady, who is both black and Jewish, has the latest nutter posts on Sandra Fluke, and her "socialist Jewish" boyfriend, Adam Mutterperl. They also posted pictures of Mutterperl's parents.

I don't know if Malkin has been out to the Mutterperl residence yet to see if they have granite counter tops like she did the family of Graeme Frost, but I'm sure it's on her to-do list. After all, if they can afford granite counter tops, they can afford to foot the bill for their son's girlfriend's contraceptive needs.

TBogg has stuff up also.

http://angryblacklady.com/2012/03/15/sandr…

http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2012/03/15/vi…

http://crooksandliars.com/2007/10/09/graem…

Have I said before that these people are just insane?
Posted by the outlier]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 13:11:41 -0500 Arkansas Times
"Don't re-nig in 2012"

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphot…
Posted by eLwood]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:30:04 -0500 Arkansas Times
Wingnuts love "spare the rod, spoil the child" discipline.
Posted by bejeeus]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:06:52 -0500 Arkansas Times
I was playing with the other couple's boys who were a little younger than I and for no reason I can remember I used the F word and one of the boys ran and told on me. Next thing I know I'm hauled in next to the card table and put under extreme interrogation. I remember feeling stupid for using a word I didn't know the meaning of but proudly said it again when Ma asked me what I said. All the color drained from the faces of the adults at the card table. I was forced to tell that I learned it from my girl cousins...which of course later got them in trouble and caused us to be carefully watched when we played together from then on. 50 years later I still regret saying that word and causing such a family crisis. But IT MEANT NOTHING.

In my entire life before & after I never heard Ma use the word. I was 22 and married when I heard my father use that word while talking to some men at work. So no one can pin the label White Trash on my family just because I was a goofy little kid who had picked up on a new word for which I knew not the meaning. The other times I just merely cussed Ma had a bar of Dial soap that nipped it in the bud in 30 seconds.

This school overreacted, this parent overacted and doesn't that just sum up life in America today. We got adults openly campaigning against the birth control pill lo these many many years later. We're a nation of Scrooge McDucks, Charles Mansons & Tailgunner Joe McCarthys and we're helpless to help ourselves out of this mess. We cannot simmer down now. We're FK'ed.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:37:10 -0500 Arkansas Times Societal laws and school administration discipline policy especially at an elementary school are two different things.

In the adult world, the financial consequences of a $200 speeding fine means only something to those who can't afford it. I believe some in society are so selfish that If they had $200 to blow, and speeding to get to their destination sooner was worth it, then they'd take the risk of getting caught and pay the fine.


Posted by Ron Rizzardi]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:34:10 -0500 Arkansas Times
This is how communists get a grip on young people's minds. They begin with small incremental acts of defiance. Then they manipulate another person into their defense. In this case the father.

Next the little commie will be sabotaging the plumbing. By the time such malicious characters reach their late teens they're organizing theft rings. Then they organize riots to break down social structures while influencing others to do the same and they blame it on society's overbearing rules and restrictions. Is this what you support??

So, if you want complete social breakdown then give this boy a free ride. But if you want a prosperous, free and law-abiding nation with security for all this lad deserves
no less than 10 lashes and THAT will be a teachable moment the little future saboteur
and revolutionary will never forget.

Obedience is the only path to freedom and security for all! But many of you will dispute that until it's too late. Just don't say holmes didn't warn you!!
Posted by eLwood]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:31:16 -0500 Arkansas Times
So if Mr. Swindel had said, "Overreaction, and I've spoken with the administration", who who have known the kid had a potty mouth and the school was fed up with his behavior"? About a dozen folks.

But if you file a lawsuit, knowing you will get local, regional, and perhaps national coverage, who will know about it.?

Yeah, Mr. Swindel make get his name out to the public, but at the cost of waving his son's misbehavior to the world.
Posted by mudturtle]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:28:21 -0500 Arkansas Times
Perhaps my use of drugs/fighting was a little strong, but I honestly had trouble coming up with crimes that a 5-year-old could be guilty of that would deserve suspension, much less more severe punishments. Good gosh we're talking about a 5-year-old saying a word he probably doesn't even know the meaning of--which is common for children that age.

It was overkill...and if that was my child I'd be fighting back, too. And, of course, teaching my child not to use that word in public or in front of his parents...which leaves him room to practice his potty mouth and freedom of expression in private. I am, however, a strong believer that words are innocent victims of human's extreme desire for conformity and in Free Speech. If the worst thing our schools ever face from students is youngens trying out new-found bad words, we'd he a healthy society.

Whatever...you obviously know what the fuck you're talking about...and AMEN!
Posted by zelda]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:19:20 -0500 Arkansas Times
Lets revisit the proper uses of the word "Fuck."

"Fuck" can often be used as a verb, adverb, adjective, imperative, interjection, and noun. It has various metaphorical meanings. To be "fucked" can mean to be cheated (e.g., "I got fucked by a scam artist"), or to be broken or ruined (e.g., "my computer is fucked") as well as to be sexually penetrated. As a noun, "a fuck" or "a fucker" may describe a contemptible person. "A fuck" may mean an act of copulation. The word can be used as an interjection, and its participle is sometimes used as a strong (not necessarily negative) emphatic. The verb to fuck may be used transitively or intransitively, and it appears in compounds, including fuck off, fuck you, fuck up, and fuck with. In less explicit usages (but still regarded as vulgar), fuck or fuck with can mean to mess around, or to deal with unfairly or harshly. In a phrase such as "don't give a fuck", the word is the equivalent of "damn", in the sense of something having little value. In "what the fuck?!", it serves merely as an intensive. If something is very abnormal or annoying, "this is fucked up!" may be used.

In our next lesson, we will practice conjugating "fuck."
Posted by Whatever]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:07:46 -0500 Arkansas Times Posted by HardHowitzer]]> Thu, 15 Mar 2012 10:06:23 -0500 Arkansas Times