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The Forum > General Discussion > When the Anti-Discrimination Board discriminates?

When the Anti-Discrimination Board discriminates?

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Jolanda:"This discrimination involved somebody actively going in after hours and manipulating with our children’s test marks, school applications and scores in order to present a negative picture of our children so that they would be unsuccessful."

If this occurred, it is not discriminatory, but it certainly is a breach of the terms of employment of anyone who may have done it. It may also be grounds for criminal action. Do you have proof of this "tampering", or is it merely speculation?

In all honesty, Jolanda, as much as I'd like to take your side, you come across as a doting mother who simply refuses to believe anything other than the most glowing things about your children. We don't do our kids any favours if we don't look at them realistically. Sure, they may be precocious, but so are lots of kids. I was a "gifted" child myself, in an era in which no special services existed. I ended up being promoted to higher grades twice, which was not really a favour because it meant I had no peers of my own age at a time when there is a large difference developmentally between age-groups a couple of years apart.

The more I read of your situation, the sorrier I feel for your kids and the less I see it as being the fault of the school. I'm quite sure that they're a mass of resentments and vague anger, all of it manufactured by your behaviour, I'm sad to say. My mum was very determined to "give me the best opportunity" just as you are and I never told her that I was ungrateful for her efforts on my behalf. Obsessions can be hard to let go, but my recommendation is to try, for their sake.
Posted by Antiseptic, Friday, 12 September 2008 9:23:36 AM
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Anansi.It seems that the DET doesn’t actually deal with matters pertaining to them preferring to focus on discrediting parents and children.

Aniseptic. My children were very unhappy and bored with school. The days and years are long and draining when you already know everything that you are going to be shown. The mismatch between their abilities and what they were being taught was extreme. By age 6 one daughter was given a formal reading assessment by a Registered Psychologist and she hit the ceiling of the test (better than 12.5 years) with 95% comprehension. When she started school they taught her the alphabet when she already knew how to read fluently, given her level of advancement, and it was across the board, she was expected to sit and do nothing for the whole of her primary school years. She became depressed, sick and didn’t want to go to school. By year 3 she was very unwell and withdrawn and I brought the issue up with the teacher/school and the teacher in return started humiliating my daughter in class about her intellect and then took her outside and very aggressively told her that she was getting into trouble because my daughter was bored in school. My daughter was so distressed that she came home in a state of despair. That is when I lodged a formal complaint with the DET – they crossed the line. We had experienced issues for years and we let it go because we were scared that our children would pay the price and just taught our children strategies to cope but it wasn’t working as the kids were becoming depressed. The children were not just academically advanced, they were also advanced in maturity and they struggled to deal with the behaviour of their teachers and age peers.

The schools said that they didn’t have the resources or funding to cater for their identified needs and that when they got to OC and Selective Schools that things would be better. However when the time came the DET wouldn’t let them in.

To be continued
Posted by Jolanda, Friday, 12 September 2008 10:57:36 PM
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Cont....Some of you seem not to understand the fact that I didn’t lodge the complaints of bias and manipulation until after we received documents that showed clear evidence of bias tampering and manipulation. The original complaints were of educational neglect. That you want to blame me is no surprise. The system relies on people blaming the parent. I say to you what I have always said to them. If you do not believe me ask the children if I have ever pushed them or whether it was in fact them pushing me? As them whether they believe the marks that they were given and ask them why?

I have only ever requested appropriate education for my children. They should be entitled to that.

STG. You are of course right in that if discrimination only involves unfair treatment of certain groups and you are not one of those groups then by Law it isn’t discrimination however in reality it is discrimination because it shouldn’t matter who you are or who you represent, if somebody treats you unfairly and in a manner that is unjust then you should be protected by law. The whole problem is that prejudice, malice and spite are not covered by discrimination law when really they should get rid of all the groups and the defining factor should be prejudice, malice and spite and not whether you are gay, or black or disabled etc.

To be continued
Posted by Jolanda, Friday, 12 September 2008 11:00:54 PM
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"...discrimination only involves unfair treatment of certain groups and you are not one of those groups..."

Posted by Jolanda, Friday, 12 September 2008 11:00:54 PM

Yeah, there it is. That's where I figured you were coming from.

All the best for the future of your kids.
Posted by StG, Saturday, 13 September 2008 8:19:40 AM
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Cont.....One would think that if state records have been manipulated in order to inflict harm and oppress that there would be a case to answer but it appears that they are only required to give an excuse and no matter how far fetched it is it will be accepted. Some of the excuses they have given for some of the discrepancies are ridiculous like that my son’s second initial inadvertently slipped onto the next line on the ‘so called’ true and accurate copies of my children’s test results that had errors and inconsistencies. The fact that my son doesn’t have a second name and therefore doesn’t have a second initial didn’t seem to count. There have been so many lies and misrepresentations presented to Selection Committees and appeal panels. They also destroyed the original answer sheets that we had specifically requested to be set aside under FOI so we could verify the marks. You would think that if they destroyed documents that were requested under FOI there would be consequences but they just said that they didn’t think it was necessary as they had electronic details of the results and it was accepted. They destroyed the original documents on the day the matter was for planning meeting at the Administrative Decisions Tribunal for access to those exact original documents.

There is so much more. Truth be told my children have exceeded my wildest expectations from the moment that they were born and all I have ever asked for is for the system to take into consideration their obvious abilities and needs and I asked this because my children were complaining to me and becoming sick and depressed. As a parent it breaks your heart to see your children suffer and to see them being treated so unfairly and unjustly. They deserve better.

Stg. The thing is that this Country goes on about equal right but in reality there is no such thing as equal rights as people can be discriminated against without any means of protection......
Posted by Jolanda, Saturday, 13 September 2008 1:21:14 PM
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Oh and I forgot to say Stg - thanks for wishing my children well.

These responses have been very helpful as it has made me realise that really I should focus only on the manipulation of state records and the failure to provide my children and family with independant and impartial decisions in relation to my children's school applications and in relation to the complaints. It is just hard to accept that the Law would not value a person enough to protect them and instead allow innocent children to be treated in this manner and form and not provide them with any protection.

Truth be told I haven't claimed discrimination as I knew that we just didn't qualify. I did think, however, that if we were treated unfairly because we complained then it would fall under victimisation. I didn't realise that we could be treated like pieces of dirt by Government employees and no matter whether we were good law abiding citizens or not that we wouldn't count or be treated as human beings. I am sure that if an animal was treated unfairly and in a manner that was unjust everybody would jump up and down. It is sad that people do not feel the same way about people. For sure if we were criminals we would get more rights and protection.

In any event I will continue to fight this because if public servants (including teachers) can just change students marks to put them down, mark them down, oppress them and humiliate them just because they think that they are too smart or because they are outspoken then that is a problem that as a society we should address. Society only ever goes backwards when things are not fair.
Posted by Jolanda, Saturday, 13 September 2008 1:46:58 PM
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