Survivor: Kindergarten Edition

When I heard about all the controversy surrounding Kid Nation, I recall thinking that teaching children that reality shows, in any way, resemble reality, couldn't possibly be a good thing. But perhaps I should have worried less about tough, adaptable kids, who are often smarter than one expects, and a little more about the people placed in positions of power over kids.

You see, it seems one Wendy Portillo has turned her classroom into Survivor: Kindergarten, and the first child not to survive, so to speak, is a little boy in the process of being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome. Alex Barton has frequently had disciplinary problems, and one morning last week after he returned from the principal's office, Ms. Portillo led the class in telling Alex what each student didn't like about him, and then took a vote. By a vote of 14-2, Alex was voted out of the classroom.

Take a good look at the picture at the top of this blog. Does that little fellow look "disgusting" or "annoying?" I don't think so, but that sweet little blond boy sure does-- thanks to a teacher who allowed classmates to apply those epithets to him. He's five years old. Far too young to understand that some classmates do not know that his developmental disability means sometimes he does things hard for neurotypical kids to understand, or that sometimes the things he does may be seen as disgusting or annoying, but that he, Alex Barton, is a person wholly separate from others' perceptions.

Alex now says "I'm not special" repeatedly to himself, and has trouble sleeping at night.

Oh, and, by the way?

The authorities found no evidence of emotional child abuse. No charges will be filed, except the civil suit Melissa Barton is considering.