My daughter has ADHD and has difficulty with learning & communicating and teacher insinuated she was a racist.

Question

For three days my 12 yr old (6th grd) daughter & classmates worked in groups in the library learning to use research materials & conducted research in different subjects. At the conclusion of the 3 days the teacher asked if anyone wanted to share what they had learned. My daughter raised her hand & started to tell about Harriet Tubman carrying a gun & how she helped slaves. She said, "She would shoot them if they turned black, I mean back." She then covered her mouth & let out a short giggle out of embarrassment. Her teacher then said, "That is the most racist comment I've ever heard. Take your books & go to the office." My daughter received an in-school lunch and that class suspension and a suspension from the class for one day. The teacher said during the time in the library my daughter's group had been disruptive. If so discipline is appropriate. She is on medicine & has enough difficulty without the teacher insinuating my daughter is a racist. What should I do?

I spoke with the vice-principal and the teacher. She said that she was offended by what my daughter said. FYI my daughter is anything but racist. That is what made it so much shocking. She has been diagnosed with ADHD a long time ago. It is in her school records and I have personally met with each of her teachers to ensure they are aware of problems which may lie ahead. I think it doesn't matter how much a child talks in class to call a child's comment "the most racist comment I've ever heard" is strong wording and inappropriate. The teacher said that everything I'm saying here is correct and that she used those exact words. I am passive and a true believer that the teacher is always right, but I feel this time the teacher crossed the line. The students were educated earlier that day that teachers are not suppose to label the students & then that afternoon this happens. It is quite the talk in the halls & my daughter is devastated. I am calling the principal to talk Monday.

The only reason I say she has ADHD and the difficulty is because it is in her files and testing she has had completed that shows she does have tongue/word flips frequently because as she is talking she is usually thinking ahead and sometimes puts her forward thoughts into the speech.

I appreciate all the answers so far, however let me be clear, my daughter is 100% not a racist and does not discriminate. Not a thought as to the otherwise. To go into the thought of her being a closeted biggot does NOT answer or help with my question being answered. I know that it was accidential. Please it does not assist me otherwise. Secondly I feel that there was a more appropriate way for the teacher, who has been professsionallly trained to handle the situation. That is the reason for my question. Thank you.

Answer 1

You need to talk with the principal about what happened. The principal may have only heard the teacher's side of the story, and the teacher obviously misunderstood your daughter's reaction to making a mistake. Your daughter deserves an apology in front of her peers, to heal from the pain of being falsely accused in front of the class.

Answer 2

I personally don't see how her ADHD has anything to do with the situation you're describing. If I were you, I wouldn't even bring it up in future discussions about it. If anything, it will only make you come across as a parent trying to get her child out of trouble.

Your daughter crossed the line first by making the comment she did. Of COURSE your daughter is going to tell you it was a simple slip of the tongue- she'd already gotten in trouble at school. The last thing she'd want to do is hear it from you too. That doesn't mean she said it intentionally; it also doesn't mean she said it accidentally.

The teacher's comment WAS inappropriate unless she's been living under a rock up until that morning when your daughter spoke. It does not, however, mean the punishment was out of line. If the vice-principal felt the offense warrented suspension, you and your daughter should just roll with it. I've yet to have a student suspended, even though the students' behavior warrented it. I know this sounds weird, but you're lucky your child's administration cares enough to set boundaries and follow through with discipline.

Chalk it up as a learning experience. If your daughter truly and honestly slipped up and wasn't trying to show off or be a class clown, then she should tell the teacher she's sorry if the teacher mistook what she said to be racist. This way your daughter isn't admitting fault and is still smoothing things out with the teacher.

Answer 3

As a former teacher, I think that there are other issues here. Your daughters commments are historically accurate in the sense that Harriet Tubman did suppposedly threaten to shoot anyone who turned back but more important (from a parents eyes) they miss the gestalt of the importance of Harriet Tubman. She pulled out a specific detail about Harriet Tubman rather than giving an answer that gives us the gestalt of why Harriet Tubman is an important historical figure in America's. If your daughter has ADHD most likely she also has weaknesses in comprehension and language processing. You need to get these remediated. Medication will not solve this issue. See someone that specializes in sensory cognitive development. Another clue that your daughter may not have been comprehending things is the fact that she was disruptive. A child naturally wants to be engaged and if the material is too hard they will find something else to be engaged in. Sounds like poor teacher management too (if they were disruptive why did she do something early on?). If she does have comprehension weaknesses you would notice it in other ways. For example, following directions would be hard, recall and retention of information would be difficult, difficulty in expressing oneself, recalling bits and pieces and being able to give the gist of a story would all be symptomatic of a comprehension difficulty.

Another possibility is that there is a high occurence of learning disabilities with children that have ADHD. This can impact reading, spelling, and organization skills. If your daughter has a weakness in phonological processing she can have difficulty with articulating words. For example, a student may say "black" for "back," "stream" instead of "steam" or vice versa. Basically, the person will either insert or delete a sound within a word. Regardless, this does not rule out that your daughter could have prejudices against black people and it could have slipped out because of the impulse control issues related with ADHD (medication doesn't always help with this in my experience). Racist implies she has the power to oppress people through institutional and social means. If you twelve you old daughter does have that level of power, that is impressive.

Seriously though, you need to assess objectively your family values and whether or not prejudices do exist in your family. If you do value racial tolerance then you need to address it. How diverse is the school? If it is diverse how racially divided is the student population? The elementary school I taught at was fairly diverse but rife with racial tension. From a teacher's standpoint, the teacher really lost a teachable moment where she could have used what your daughter said as a segway to address the issue of racism in America (past and present). Suspension seems pretty harsh. I would have pulled the student aside after class; especially if they had ADHD. Of course, I would much rather see a proactive administration rather than an inactive one. I taught under a principal that refused to discipline kids for taunting other students with racial epithets...

Answer 4

Make sure you get the full story from the teacher. Its difficult in a room full of 20 or 30 students to know at all times whether a child is intentionally disruptive/rude or if she made a mistake, etc. I agree the teacher should not accuse your daughter of racism, but you do need to consider her situation in attempting to teach children while dealing with behavior problems (because there are some in every class). If your daughter has been officially diagnosed with ADHD, then maybe the teacher just needs a kind reminder and a chance to apologize (so don't be too hard on her without making sure you fully understand the situation!)

Answer 5

Could be a misunderstanding but the teacher has to error on the side of correctness. Inappropriate comments, intentional or not have to be addressed.
And while your daughter may or may not be racist, the ADHD does NOT rule it out. An ADHD person can still have any of the prejudices other people do.

Answer 6

as a mother of a child who has severe adhd i can understand exactly what you are saying. Trying to get a teacher or school to understand is like pulling teeth somtimes. A person young or old who has adhd doesnt think like a "normal" person. (these days normal is hard to come by) My child has a hard time when he is put on the spot or excited saying what he means. for instance he was jokeing around with my cousin who happens to be a lesbian and was trying to say psych and it came out dyke. My cousin was offended but my child is almost 7 and has never heard the word before he just got mixed up when he got excited. I asked him if he had ever heard that word before and he said no i was trying to say psych.
When a person with adhd gets excited, aggrovated, uncomfortable, etc... words that rhyme or sound alike are mixed up. you need to tell them to look at there brain as a fileing cabinet. when searching for files in a hurry you may pick up the file before the one needed or after...but it will be close to the file needed.
when searching for the right word a similar word may be said. Its no different for a person who stutters. I would ask for an appology for my daughter and myself because that also looks bad on your part because They may be thinking where would she be getting racial tendencies from. And as for her being disruptive that goes along with the territory.

Answer 7

Yeh that's insane.
She was referring to the black race with Harriet Tubman so It was an EASY mistake that she said black instead of back.
Could have happened to anyone.
I don't even think it was because of her ADHD.
I wouldn't stand for it, that is ridiculous.
I would definetley take a stand and say that honest mistakes can't be punished like that especially for a little 6th grader. She didn't do anything wrong.
Fight it!!

Answer 8

If I were you I'd talk to someone (a principal, superintendent) because, at least judging by this story, you daughter was wrongly accused of being racist. That's not a small deal. That sort of accusation is a huge matter and it carries a stigma, too. I think the TEACHER needs to be talked to and he or she needs to be more sensitive when tossing out such accusations. Good luck with this.

Answer 9

Aristotle.... what good is suing going to do? You would deprive the other students of educational funds because the school did something you didn't agree with? You are what's wrong with America and with the Educational system.

Answer 10

I would be raging mad. Id also go talk to the principal about this certain teacher, or just talk to the teacher about it. Then again I'd be really upset, so it'd be best to talk to the principal.