Student suspended for "relieving himself" in class

**ZeoBandit** · 05.01.07, 11:30 AM

Student suspended for "relieving himself" in class
POSTED: 1:17 p.m. EDT, May 1, 2007

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- School officials on Monday suspended a 14-year-old boy who said he had to urinate in a bottle after his science teacher refused to let him use the restroom. The teacher was being transferred to another school.

"I can't believe they don't believe me," student Michael Patterson said in a telephone interview after he was given the five-day suspension. "I have no reason to lie. What I said happened, happened."

The suspension notice said he was barred from class until May 8 for "relieving himself in the classroom, which caused a school disruption."

Patterson said he went into a corner of the classroom on Tuesday and urinated into an empty Gatorade bottle after his teacher repeatedly refused to give him a pass to use the restroom and threatened to have him suspended if he left the classroom.

"He said, 'Do what you got to do,"' Patterson said. "I said, 'I've got a bottle' and he said, 'Go in the corner.' So I just handled my business."

The teacher, Peter Stanzler, has been placed on paid leave and was being transferred from Goethe Middle School to another school, said Marcus Walton, a spokesman for the Sacramento school district. He said officials were finishing up an investigation Monday.

Stanzler, reached by telephone late Monday, said that news accounts of the incident have been one-sided, but that he was advised by his principal and union not to discuss it.

"I can confirm one thing," he said. "It was not a race issue whatsoever."

The boy's mother, Kelly Jacko, and the local chapter of the NAACP have demanded that the district fire him. Patterson is black and Stanzler is white, but Jacko said she had had no indication that the incident was related to race.

Jacko said she didn't know what recourse she had to protest the suspension, which begins Tuesday. "I don't know what it is I can do," she said. "I'm kind of caught off guard."

**onefootoutthedoor** · 05.01.07, 11:42 AM

Sacto? Any info. on this you can give us?

**chefcraig** · 05.01.07, 11:48 AM

Originally Posted by ZeoHalen

...The boy's mother, Kelly Jacko, and the local chapter of the NAACP have demanded that the district fire him. Patterson is black and Stanzler is white, but Jacko said she had had no indication that the incident was related to race.

Uh-huh. Surely it's a race issue.

Sadly, we do not have all of the details of exactly what went on in that classroom. Such as the behavior of the student prior to the incident, ect. Yet since the teacher is white, and one can be certain that a black child certainly can do no wrong according to the child's parent (or so it would seem, as in every underage conflict with the police televised or written about in South Florida), it's now a matter for the NAACP.

And the teacher's rights are where in all of this?

**SuckaInA3Piece** · 05.01.07, 11:51 AM

I knew this kid named Shane who pissed in a freshman's school bag during class on freshman day. He was expelled the same day.

**jimmy812** · 05.01.07, 12:08 PM

If the student had the balls to go in the corner and piss into a bottle, how come he didn't have the balls to simply walk out of the classroom to the bathroom? Both actions would be rebellious, yet walking out of the classroom would be the more respectable route.

**FORD** · 05.01.07, 12:22 PM

I would have pissed in the bottle, then thrown the bottle at the teacher.

**MikeL** · 05.01.07, 12:43 PM

Whatever happened there was pretty messed up. Any 14 year old would have to be mortified to piss in a bottle in the corner of a room full of his classmates.

During a law school orientation, someone asked our professors what they should do if they have to use the bathroom during class. This is a room full of people who are supposed to be pretty bright, and someone actually asked that question. One of the professors deadpanned "the custodians would probably appreciate it if you got up and went to the restroom."

**onefootoutthedoor** · 05.01.07, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by MikeL

Whatever happened there was pretty messed up. Any 14 year old would have to be mortified to piss in a bottle in the corner of a room full of his classmates.

During a law school orientation, someone asked our professors what they should do if they have to use the bathroom during class. This is a room full of people who are supposed to be pretty bright, and someone actually asked that question. One of the professors deadpanned "the custodians would probably appreciate it if you got up and went to the restroom."

You got it right there.

**billy007** · 05.01.07, 01:26 PM

Originally Posted by MikeL

Whatever happened there was pretty messed up. Any 14 year old would have to be mortified to piss in a bottle in the corner of a room full of his classmates.

I dunno, we have kids doing the "no-no" in front of their classmates, so what's a little pee in a bottle?

**MF5150** · 05.01.07, 01:28 PM

Originally Posted by jimmy812

If the student had the balls to go in the corner and piss into a bottle, how come he didn't have the balls to simply walk out of the classroom to the bathroom? Both actions would be rebellious, yet walking out of the classroom would be the more respectable route.

Very true...great point...

**MikeL** · 05.01.07, 01:35 PM

Originally Posted by billy007

I dunno, we have kids doing the "no-no" in front of their classmates, so what's a little pee in a bottle?

Maybe things have changed, but when I was in eighth grade certain people would brag about sex, and if anyone took a whiz in the classroom they'd have been teased quite a bit. I don't know any 14 year olds, but I don't imagine that's changed. Has it?

**onefootoutthedoor** · 05.01.07, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by MikeL

Maybe things have changed, but when I was in eighth grade certain people would brag about sex, and if anyone took a whiz in the classroom they'd have been teased quite a bit. I don't know any 14 year olds, but I don't imagine that's changed. Has it?

It could depend on the situation. The other students may have seen it as a way for that particular student to egg the teacher on or call his bluff, so to speak.

**billy007** · 05.01.07, 01:53 PM

Maybe so, but bragging about sex and actually displaying your technique are two entirely different things!

**Wickett** · 05.01.07, 02:23 PM

Originally Posted by jimmy812

If the student had the balls to go in the corner and piss into a bottle, how come he didn't have the balls to simply walk out of the classroom to the bathroom? Both actions would be rebellious, yet walking out of the classroom would be the more respectable route.

Remember now, 14 YO's are not known for their common sense (trust me, I have one under the roof to confirm that

). Ever since "Jackass" was on TV, peeing in a bottle in a corner is more to giggle about for most boys that age instead of taking the other route. I can see the kid saying "I have a bottle," then the teacher going "do what you have to do." The kid has just been challenged (in his mind, anyway).

**Limecuda** · 05.01.07, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by jimmy812

If the student had the balls to go in the corner and piss into a bottle, how come he didn't have the balls to simply walk out of the classroom to the bathroom? Both actions would be rebellious, yet walking out of the classroom would be the more respectable route.

Ding ding we have a winner. As a middle school principal I have had this incident before. In my instance the kid was a problematic troublemaker who was pushing the teacher's buttons.