Germany edition

Teacher fined for pointing out cleavage with pencil

Published: 25 Aug 12 16:11 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/education/20120825-44575.html

A German teacher who warned one of her teenage students about her provocative clothing has been fined for sticking a pencil down the girl's cleavage to make her point.

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She agreed to pay a €400 fine to the Wiesbaden district court in Wiesbaden in return for the prosecutor's office dropping charges of causing personal offence, a spokesman said.

The teacher had wanted to draw attention to how inappropriate the student's clothing was for school, he said.

The 15-year-old girl's clothing had become such a distraction for boys during class meetings, that she had been told to dress more moderately, the Wiesbadener Kurier newspaper reported.

But she refused to change her clothes – and her mother backed her up when school officials approached her.

After the pencil incident, the girl tried to start a campaign on the internet for the teacher to be made to leave the school banned from working as a teacher, the paper said.

"I will finish her," the girl was reported to have posted. As a result, the student herself was also judged to have crossed the line. She was made to do 10 hours work community work and has been moved to another class.

The state education office is still examining whether the teacher's behaviour should have further consequences.

DPA/rc

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

Your comments about this article:

17:46 August 25, 2012 by zeddriver

The 15-year-old girl's clothing had become such a distraction for boys during class meetings, that she had been told to dress more moderately.

But she refused to change her clothes and her mother backed her up when school officials approached her.

That illustrates a lot of issues that society has with troublesome teens. When you find an irresponsible teen. Look close bye. One will usually find a parent that tries to act like an irresponsible teen themselves or just doesn't give a crap. I bet in this case the mom dresses like a tramp as well. Which of course is the adults right. But not for a minor that is distracting the public schools class with her tits.

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17:57 August 25, 2012 by marvin john

hello readers, i am disapointed about the german rules of discipline,. why should the teacher be fined, the teacher is 100 percent right for her action in correcting a useless student who decide to be immoral and useless to the society. if she came from a responsible home, i don´t think a student will come to class exposing her cleavages..

What is the society turning into, it because of the laxity on the government on the part of the german government in tackling this moral decadence among our young students, that is while we have alot of unwanted pregnancy at a very tender age. i must say the way children are been treated with kid glove in germany call for attention. children don´t have respect for there parents, you see 12 years old kids smoking and geting pregnant., is a big shame on the society,. the teacher should be apoligised to by the state and compensated for doing a nice job, not scolded.

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19:18 August 25, 2012 by Englishted

Well done comments 1 and 2 ,absolutely correct.

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19:26 August 25, 2012 by uber1337tom

I when to both public non-uniform schools and in private uniform schools. One of the things I prefer about private schools is their uniform policy.

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19:39 August 25, 2012 by tommy2shoes

Before school begins, send paperwork to parents that have to sign and return copies of signed docs to support a conservitive view....There, CASE CLOSED....(*_*)

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20:56 August 25, 2012 by yourkeau

A school is not a church, and the court is absolutely right: it's not of the teacher's business to tell the student how they dress. The teachers should concentrate on teaching. That's it.

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21:36 August 25, 2012 by trevor999

If ANY teacher sticks a pencil down the front of my daughters shirt an ambulance will be needed for them and a police car for me.

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21:40 August 25, 2012 by zeddriver

@yourkeau

Correct. A school is not a church. It is a place to learn. And if a majority of the students are distracted by the girl showing her boobs. There probably isn't a lot of learning going on.

I would ask you. How can the teacher teach. When all the boys in the class are either staring at or making jokes about the young girls boobs that are on display. If the teacher isn't even given enough authority to stop a girl from showing her boobs. How in the world can she control and therefore teach the boys that are distracted by them.

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22:48 August 25, 2012 by Lblaney

My public school had a policy that offensive or revealing clothing had to be covered up by a ratty old t-shirt provided by the administration. Having to wear the t-shirt was far more embarrassing than just dressing appropriately in the first place. That said, there was still plenty of room for self-expression, just no excessive skin or profane language or violence allowed on clothing. I'm sure I found it oppressive at the time, but in retrospect, it probably protected me from a lot of competition with other girls on who could dress the sexiest and garner the most attention. Sometimes school should just be about school.

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#10

23:22 August 25, 2012 by MrOlsen

@zeddriver

If the boys can't concentrate because of how a girl dress, it's them beeing a problem, not the girl.

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#11

23:48 August 25, 2012 by zeddriver

@MrOlson

No. I think it's about how undressed she is. And yes! If a fifteen year old girl goes to school with her boobs showing. She as well as the boys are part of the problem.

So I take it you thinks it's fine and dandy to send your fifteen year old daughter to school with her boobs showing. And it's up to everyone else to not notice them. Try to remember back when you were fifteen and were suffering from a Priapism like condition.

I suppose you and your pals ONLY talked of current events and trigonometry. And never pointed out the cute girls to each other or how certain parts of said girls were sticking out more than they were last year.

@trevor999

I guess I would ask you the same. Do you send your 15 year old daughter to school with her boobs showing?

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#12

23:56 August 25, 2012 by raandy

@ MrOlsen, obviously you had little interest in the female species . Maybe the boys were more of interest.

Right on zeddriver, total agreement.

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#13

00:06 August 26, 2012 by yourkeau

@zeddriver

>No. I think it's about how undressed she is. And yes! If a fifteen year old girl goes to school with her boobs showing.

In Germany, this is the problem of the boys, and this is what the court verdict shows. Those, who cannot control their penises, are called rapists and in civilized society they end up in jail.

Fortunately, Germany is a normal, civilized country, where people can walk in the street either naked or in burqa, and nobody gives a damn about this.

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#14

00:27 August 26, 2012 by zeddriver

@yourkeau

Yes! Boys as well as girls should be able to control them selves. But to try and push the boys to the limit by going to school undressed is an unnecessary act. It should not be her place to test the boys in a school setting on their ability to ignore her exposed boobs. They are in school to learn the curriculum that the school board sets forth. Anything that can create a needless distraction should be discouraged.

I'll ask you the same question as the others. Would you let your 15 year old daughter go to school with her breasts showing?

When the girl turns the legal age of adulthood. She can go naked all she wants to. I just happen to think that a public school is not the place to try out the nudism experience.

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#15

02:41 August 26, 2012 by woohoo

I couldn't agree with the idea of showing cleavage in school, regardless of age. I mean, she can show it after school, if she really wants to show it so desperately.

But I couldn't agree also that the teacher sticked a pencil in it. I would say both, the teacher and the girl, were a bit overboard.

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#16

08:17 August 26, 2012 by matchstickmann

It's "Hammer, go Hammer, MC Hammer, yo, Hammer"

And the rest can go and play

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

You can't touch this

Yeah, you can't touch this

I told you, you can't touch this

Too hype, can't touch this

Get way outta here, you can't touch this

MC HAMMER - U CAN'T TOUCH THIS

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#17

08:31 August 26, 2012 by Shirazz

I say all three went overboard, girl, her mother, and teacher.

What happened to common social etiquette rules? If there weren't any then the school should implement some.

A lot of times there are no legal restrictions but we know where and when to wear suits and gowns, and where and when to wear shorts and bikinis.

Whereas in schools where children spend much of their growing years, guidance and discipline with reasons are essential.

It is just as the duty of the parents as it is of the teachers to give proper guidance.

But to intrude personal space with pencil touching the body is not conveying that. It was more like the teacher was trying to win the situation out of frustration or humiliation she had in front of other students, that she was not able to control the girl.

It is the school administration's responsibility to see to this and come up with a feasible solution for all.

When at home you have house rules, when in school you have school rules, as in when in society, you follow society rules as well. It may sound restricting to one's rights, but In time one understands that it's nothing more than common courtesy and respect we show to others.

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#18

11:02 August 26, 2012 by zeddriver

_{Comment removed by The Local for breach of our terms.}

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#19

13:53 August 26, 2012 by MrOlsen

And The Local always find a suiting photo, a little bit over the top... Do people really think this is how the girl dressed for school? In that case, where would the teacher put the pencil?

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#20

14:00 August 26, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles

Seen those tits somewhere else recently. The photo is of someone famous. A model or an actress if I remember correctly.

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#21

15:05 August 26, 2012 by sally#

In this case, both sides are wrong. The girl student dressed so provocative that it disrupted the class by distracting the boys. The teacher had told her to dress properly but she turned a deaf ear to the warnings. However, the action of the teacher is also inappropriate. A teacher is to teach students how to do the right thing not to embarrass them by punishment.

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#22

15:47 August 26, 2012 by Shirazz

I agree about the photo.

Is The Local not confident that people would read the article with just the headline and some of the more realistic news related photos?

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#23

16:12 August 26, 2012 by puisoh

A fifteen year old who would say 'Ich mache sie fertig!' about her teacher, one can almost imagine the kind of spoilt brat she is, eveidently so since 'her mother backed her'.

Really, this society is lacking something call, respect.

The good old days took its value along with it.

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#24

16:24 August 26, 2012 by zeddriver

Let me rephrase that to get past the PC police at the local.

This girl pushed and pushed with her defiant attitude with the teacher while in the class room. Thereby creating a distraction not only by her attire. But simply due to the battles the two were having. And when the teacher pushed back, Went to far. The girl even started a campaign to get the teacher removed from teaching altogether. That is a serious bad attitude to try and goad the teacher into a mistake to get her fired.

Makes me wonder how serious this girl is about getting a good education. But then having ones photo taken as a career doesn't require a lot of education.

@MrOlsen

Judging by that photo. I'd say it would be in her belly button.

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#25

20:17 August 26, 2012 by tercel

Well I don't know what the laws are over there in Germany but over here, the teacher committed a misdemeanor of simple assault. A fine of less than $100.00 and maybe some community service for the first offense. The student student committed a more serious misdemeanor of public indecent exposure (especially if any part of her nipples were exposed), depending on what she said to the teacher she could have committed verbal assault (another misdemeanor), if she is creating that much of a disturbance in class she could be charged with being a public nuance (another misdemeanor) all resulting in a fines of over $1000.00 and some jail time up to 3 weeks.

I like the way Lblaney's school handled the same type of situation. In this case, if the girl refused to put on the t-shirt than suspend her for a week. Upon coming back if she still dressed inappropriately and refused to put on the t-shirt a 3 week suspension is in order. The third time expel her for the year. I'm sure her parents would like the fact that their daughter had to repeat a year of school because she could not dress appropriately. If the girl is so insistent on showing her tits she should go to the city of Warnemunde they have a great topless beach and she could show her tits to all willing to look.

trevor999 is good example of the gene pool being infected with stupidity. Based on his statement he committed at least 2 felonies, assault and battery and assault with the intent to commit murder, not including the possibility committing of several misdemeanors. trevor999 is looking at 15 to 20 years in prison and the possibility of parole after 80% of time served, and then a civil lawsuit when he gets out.

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#26

22:37 August 26, 2012 by Lisa Rusbridge

Is there a dress code? If not, it's the teacher's job to maintain order and discipline in the classroom, not to deflect her job responsibility by blaming it on adolescent boys. The girl was shown little respect and made to be the blame for the boys' response and the teacher's lack of classroom management skills. What a sad society is to blame the female for the male's actions. Going back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, aren't we??

PS: The image is silly. Maybe next time use an image of Dolly Parton or someone larger than an A-cup to get your point across about breasts being a distraction.

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#27

22:48 August 26, 2012 by zeddriver

@Lisa Rusbridge

Interesting. I suppose if one of the boys wore a pair of bicycling spandex pants to class. And one could clearly see the boys private bits. And the girls were point and saying EEWWW!! I can see his thing. Would they reprimand the girls for looking at him or the boy for putting his privates on display?

The girl had been told to dress more moderately and refused.

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#28

23:41 August 26, 2012 by Berlin fuer alles

I am all for a dress code or uniform at school. It stops a lot of one upmanship amongs young boys and girls and makes it easier for teachers to concentrate them on their learning.

I am still trying to figure out where I saw those tits before. I know I saw them on some article about a famous actress or mode. I have trawled the usual websites I visit and cannot find them. It will come to me eventually and hit me like a tonne of bricks.

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#29

03:28 August 27, 2012 by Lisa Rusbridge

@zeddriver,

I believe the girl gawking at the boy in the spandex cycling shorts would be reprimanded and made to fall back in line via order and discipline modes. She would be told to pay attention and get back to her school work. The boy's attire would not be corrected and you can be damn sure the teacher wouldn't be poking at his genitals with a pencil bringing attention to his "distraction".

The best tool to handle this case would to have a uniform or at least a dress code. Otherwise it's just arbitrary nonsense. I attended a private school with a uniform *and* a dress code for how students were permitted to modify and add to their uniform, e.g., color of cardigan, skirt length, shoe style. This was the best thing ever. It allowed the teachers to do their job and get on with educating the students.

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#30

07:54 August 27, 2012 by zeddriver

@Lisa Rusbridge

While I do agree wholeheartedly with school uniforms and the teacher not poking at a students naughty bits.

I would still maintain that if there is a distraction in class being caused by one person. You would correct the one causing the distraction. Just as if their were a student joking around. (Lets say a boy was belching loudly) I have never heard of a rule against belching. And even though it's a normal bodily function. When taken to extremes would absolutely become a distraction. But I suppose at your school. They would just issue earplugs.

Even if this school does not have a dress code. I would venture to say they do probably have a rule about not causing a distraction in class. A no distraction rule can and should be used for such things. Including if the teacher came to class looking like the women in the stories photo. That absolutely would be a distraction for a hormone filled 15 year old boy.

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#31

13:42 August 27, 2012 by FigN

Well, that just shows lack of imagination from the teacher.

Here is what I woud have done: Everytime the girl showed up showing too much cleavage, I will make her sit in front of the class, but not with her classmates instead next to me facing the class. That way I would be sure to have the class attention all the time.

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#32

03:00 August 29, 2012 by franconia

To bad. Many of you side with the Girl even though you know how most German School Girls dress, and smoke and drink and puke and and and.All of you have never been near them, never observed them at School, at Disco etc. And I mean 12 year olds included. So, Shut up !!!

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#33

11:44 August 31, 2012 by theRealOssi

I am just curious why "The Local" used a picture of Cheryl Cole in Cannes for this article. Surely the student in question would have been happy to pose for a picture in the offending attire?

http://www.kk.no/869808/her-er-den-nye-klofta

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#34

17:21 August 31, 2012 by Acechaser

She's 15 and should NOT be dressing that way. Given her attitude toward the teacher, this little girl does in fact seem to be a spoiled little princess brat. The teacher DID cross the line, though. She should've simply had her removed from class.

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#35

18:12 September 1, 2012 by docofftheblock

Would it not have been more appropriate to send the girl home rather than to stick a pencil in her cleavage? Maybe a little more thought on the part of the teacher would also have been appropriate. You don't have to be a jack a** to make a point.

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#36

19:21 September 1, 2012 by Zubair Khan

For long term solution why not to consider introducing uniform in educational institutions.In UK students all over look so nice and graceful while roaming around in uniforms. This step will solve lot many social and ethical problems. Please do not call it stepping in persoanl freedom of individuals.

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#37

00:49 September 2, 2012 by Almirante

This is ballooning all out of proportion.

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#38

09:44 September 26, 2012 by pjnt

Post 1 and 2 really nail this issue for me.

The problem obviously starts at home with either careless or overly liberal parents. When the school approached them everything should have been resolved.

Sticking a pencil between the young lady's cleavage was less than appropriate. The teacher has been scolded. That said, from the sound of things this girl will probably end up striping off the rest of her clothing for a living. So why make such a point out of a pencil?

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#39

06:34 September 28, 2012 by wendyb

I do not understand how dress in the school system has managed to become as promiscuous as it has. I sell books to schools and i am in schools almost everyday. This year it seems to be shorts. Girls wearing shorts that are so short and so tight that I'm surprised they can comfortably sit in them all day. What is going on. Why aren't school boards doing something to curb this trend? I agree that this teacher probably got a little carried away with her response, but I sense her frustration. In Canada some schools are taking action. One school that I was in has over sized tee shirts that girls are asked to put on if there tops and bottoms to not cover enough. I personally think that parents should be fined if their children come to school inappropriately dress. It isn't just an offense to the boys it is an offense to everyone.

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