Boy, 13, sues teacher after receiving "Fag" candy heart

March 15, 2001 8:44 PM

Boy, 13, sues teacher after receiving "Fag" candy heart The lawsuit says the teacher rubbed an inoffensive valentine message off the candy heart and wrote "Fag" on it before giving it to the boy in front of his fellow students. Donald E. Miller, a veteran teacher, also had a habit of pretending that a television remote control was a "fagometer" that he pointed at students. He's being probed by the school.
posted by Brilliantcrank (22 comments total)

LOL... I hope they aren't using the "fagometer" to "probe" him...

sorry... couldn't resist.
posted by da5id at 8:53 PM on March 15, 2001

the parents are suing after their initial complaint was greeted with a "that's just Mr. Miller being Mr. Miller" comment by school officials.

apparently, "being Mr. Miller" involves indulging in outright harrassment of your students, especially the ones that are overweight, or have Tourettes, or...

and i thought my highschool teachers used humiliation to keep the kids in line. this is just awful.
posted by gangcandy at 9:10 PM on March 15, 2001

Sounds like Mr. Miller may have some deeply repressed issues that he needs to deal with.

On a side note, this guy sounds like a dead ringer for every gym "teacher" I ever had in high school.
posted by aladfar at 9:20 PM on March 15, 2001

The original URL doesn't seem to load for me...
posted by valerie at 11:02 PM on March 15, 2001

I'm sorry, but I just don't see anything wrong in what this teacher did. And are we sure that was a remote, and not a real Fagometer? I'm sure that when he mocked the overweight female students, he was doing it in an effort to help them lose weight.
Damn I'm glad I'm not in grade school anymore.
posted by Doug at 11:06 PM on March 15, 2001

Actually, I should rescind that "American" comment... I couldn't open the link neither.. I just naturally assumed he was American. Carry on
posted by PWA_BadBoy at 11:25 PM on March 15, 2001

Doug's comment seemed pretty blantantly sarcastic to me. Just where would one find a "real Fagometer"? I'm only asking so that I can get the distribution contract for the U.S. Military. Oh, and the Boy Scouts.
posted by Optamystic at 11:33 PM on March 15, 2001

No, the military uses gaydar.

Does america have a monopoly on bad teachers or bad humor or both?
posted by john at 11:46 PM on March 15, 2001

My understanding is that Fagometer technology is still classified, and is used solely for Navy recruitment.

Gaydar, however, is freely available.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 11:48 PM on March 15, 2001

Does america have a monopoly on bad teachers or bad humor or both?

Hey! How did you know that I was American?
posted by Optamystic at 1:18 AM on March 16, 2001

HA! I mean, that's every fucking pe teacher ever. They all make fun of you, and yes, homophobic remarks do enter into it. I'm happy that he's being sued, for I think it has went on for far too long.

The fuck I care if you were joking, I and I'm sure many other were beaten up every day for being a 'fag'. It's not funny.

And although the thread did go a bit askew, I thought the 'fagmeter' being from the navy and 'gaydar' from the army was funny.
posted by tiaka at 5:35 AM on March 16, 2001

This link might work.
posted by techgnollogic at 6:30 AM on March 16, 2001

It does. hmm.. the boy has Tourette's syndrome?
Makes it all the worse. I hope he's kicked out.
posted by tiaka at 6:49 AM on March 16, 2001

bad teachers are everywhere.
posted by bwg at 6:52 AM on March 16, 2001

I hope the teacher loses his shirt in the lawsuit. The school system deserves a lashing for letting this man stay in his job as long as he did. And people wonder why some kids see guns as a solution to their academic pain?

Listen, my son's a lot like this kid. He's had Tourette's since second grade and when he entered middle school, it morphed into the Obsessive Compulsive zone. Teachers have been understanding and compassionate throughout the years, but he might've well changed his name to Fag in middle school, thanks to cruel male peers.

When you have a neurological disability, you have to fight for every little joy and justice in this world, and I hope this kid and his family find both.
posted by debrahyde at 6:59 AM on March 16, 2001

I hope they hang this teacher by his nuts. This really pisses me off. You couldn't pay me to be 13-years-old again. I was miserable enough without the teachers bullying me.
posted by ratbastard at 8:12 AM on March 16, 2001

Of course, there can also be problems when teachers aren't paying *enough* attention...
posted by metrocake at 9:58 AM on March 16, 2001

This guy is revolting. I wonder if being around 13 year-olds for so long diminished his emotional and intellectual capacity to their level (actually lower). I had a teacher who pushed me around when I was younger than that...(6th or 7th grade I think) I immediately got transferred out of the class after speaking to my parents. (this was circa 1984, so they've around forever)
posted by tj at 1:00 PM on March 16, 2001

America certainly does not have a monopoly on bad teachers. But I never heard any of my PE teachers make homophobic jokes. Maybe that is an American thing?
posted by davidgentle at 1:28 PM on March 16, 2001

I remember once, me and my buddies went to a Village People concert with our fagometer, just to see what would happen. I guess I'll never know, as the damn thing kept asking for additional RAM.
Seriously, this is terrible. However, I do have a gay male who is a friend, and while laughing about the fagometer, he wants me to ask if anyone knows how to pick one up. He needs one for the guy that works at the local mexican restaurant.
He loves those crazy latino boys.
posted by bradth27 at 2:51 PM on March 16, 2001

I heard that the US was never going to convert to the fagometric system anyhow, so I don't know why this buttknob was teaching it.

Yes. ButtKNOB.

Yes. Brass.

Yes.

KY is better, but I'm guessing he uses Jergens.

Yes.

Yes. Very slippery.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe at 3:22 PM on March 16, 2001