Little Alex Barton has touched my heart and many others. If you haven't heard about this story Little Alex was voted out of his Kindergarten class by a 14-2 margin, as a form of discipline from his teacher (who sees that she did nothing wrong). Even his closest and dearest little friend, Spencer, was persuaded by the teacher to vote little Alex out of the class. There is also a video clip from the story here too. See Alex, is being tested for Asperger's, which is a mild form of Autism. Sure he has issues, but what child doesn't. But is this discipline?

One reason that this story has just absolutely touched me is, my little brother went through some shame and humiliation in 3rd grade. You see my brother, who is now 36, is dyslexic. When he was in 3rd grade, it was an unknown and un-understood learning disability. When we were living in Nashville, his third grade teacher would put him in the corner, humiliate him and blow smoke in his face. He was a lost little soul. Also, when my mom took off of work to have lunch with my brother to get a feel for what was going on, the principal told my mom that we must have Family Problems, because when my brother saw my mom, he ran up to her and gave her a hug. The Principal sited that it "wasn't normal for a 3rd grade boy to do that". He became physically, emotionally and mentally ill. My parents, rightly, pulled him out and put him into a Christian school (I followed the next year).

Is this what public schools call "socialization"? Is this how we are supposed to prepare others for the "real world"? And why is it that they are "drilling" anti-bullying techniques and classes to the students, but yet teachers are getting by with this. This isn't new folks. Then you have all the molesters taking advantage of the children.....

If you are touched by this story and would like to help out, there is a Card campaign going on for this special little guy. You can find out more details from Mommy Life.