This is so absurd and fucked-up: CityNews Exclusive: The Mother, The Child, The School Board And The Psychic

Colleen Leduc already had a lot going against her. The Barrie woman was holding down a job while struggling to raise her autistic 11-year-old daughter. She couldn't afford to give the child the intensive therapy she needed, and was forced to send her to a public school in the area.

So she was completely unprepared for what happened to her and the youngster, an almost unbelievable tale of red tape involving a strange claim from a teaching assistant, a bizarre decision by a school board, a visit from the Children's Aid Society (CAS) and most improbably of all, the incorrect pronouncements of a psychic.

Leduc's weird tale began on May 30, when she dropped young Victoria off for class at Terry Fox Elementary and headed in to work, only to receive a frantic phone call from the school telling her it was urgent she come back right away.

The frightened mother rushed back to the campus and was stunned by what she heard - the principal, vice-principal and her daughter's teacher were all waiting for her in the office, telling her they'd received allegations that Victoria had been the victim of sexual abuse - and that the CAS had been notified.

How did they come by such startling knowledge? Leduc was incredulous as they poured out their story.

"The teacher looked and me and said: 'We have to tell you something. The educational assistant who works with Victoria went to see a psychic last night, and the psychic asked the educational assistant at that particular time if she works with a little girl by the name of "V." And she said 'yes, I do.' And she said, 'well, you need to know that that child is being sexually abused by a man between the ages of 23 and 26.'"

...

But things got worse when school officials used the "evidence" and accepted the completely unsubstantiated word of the seer by reporting the case to Children's Aid, which promptly opened a file on the family.

"They reported me to Children's Aid," Leduc declares, still disbelieving. "Based on a psychic!"

...

And so a case worker came to the Leduc home to discuss the allegations of sexual misconduct, only to admit there wasn't a shred of evidence that anything had ever happened at all. They labelled Leduc a "diligent" mother doing the best she could for her child under difficult circumstances, closed the file and left, calling the report "ridiculous."

Do they send a note saying that it isn't getting funded?

Yeah, I actually just got the note recently -- the projects have five months or something to get the funding? I do feel bad for ones that don't have any outside oomph behind them -- I mean, if you're a poorly-paid teacher in a low-income school, I'd guess the odds that you have enough personal connections to get the project funded is prety low, and the odds of someone stumbling across your project have got to be even lower.

And so a case worker came to the Leduc home to discuss the allegations of sexual misconduct, only to admit there wasn't a shred of evidence that anything had ever happened at all. They labelled Leduc a "diligent" mother doing the best she could for her child under difficult circumstances, closed the file and left, calling the report "ridiculous."

I suppose it's too much to hope that the psychic in question was at the very least fined for wasting child protective services' time?

the odds of someone stumbling across your project have got to be even lower.

THIS is true. It's easy enough if you have people who will get your back. Or you know how to search, but highlighting the projects on the main page don't work so well, since they only highligh 5 or 6.

They have orgs that sponsor or double funds. I can't figure out how to get selected to do that though.

The trick seems to keep your proposals low in cost, so they have a chance of getting funded. Or at least partially funded. So I need books for class. If I divide my needs into three proposals, then I have a good chance of at least getting some of what I need.

I suppose it's too much to hope that the psychic in question was at the very least fined for wasting child protective services' time?

Seriously. I understand wanting to take claims seriously. But I also think that there should be some LOGIC to the claims.

The trick seems to keep your proposals low in cost, so they have a chance of getting funded.

Yeah. I have to say, when I was browsing through, I got snotty about the projects that were for computer labs or Broadways shows or other expensive things. Not that they wouldn't be awesome to have/do, but when other teachers are looking for books or one overhead projector, or other basic/smaller needs, I'm much more drawn to those, with my limited funds. I'm sure if I were looking to donate thousands of dollars, I would feel differently.

The whole model fascinates me, really.

I understand wanting to take claims seriously. But I also think that there should be some LOGIC to the claims.

Well, if you believe in psychics, would it then be logical to accept the claim? I dunno.

OK, here's another story of school-related idiocy: "Just kidding."

OCEANSIDE, Calif. - On a Monday morning last month, highway patrol officers visited 20 classrooms at El Camino High School to announce some horrible news: Several students had been killed in car wrecks over the weekend.

Classmates wept. Some became hysterical.

A few hours and many tears later, though, the pain turned to fury when the teenagers learned that it was all a hoax — a scared-straight exercise designed by school officials to dramatize the consequences of drinking and driving.

Maybe the school officials should have said, "But a psychic told us there were car accidents...."

Perhaps they could arrange for the child to be tutored by the teacher who was fired for performing "magic" in the classroom?

I suppose it's too much to hope that the psychic in question was at the very least fined for wasting child protective services' time?

I don't care about the psychic, it's the people at the school who bear the blame.

Agh, tommyrot, that's awful.

When Emmett broke his nose a couple of years ago, his teacher managed to make a complete hash of explaining why he wasn't there to the rest of the class, and a couple of kids became convinced that he'd died in an accident and went into complete hysterics. I literally can't conceive of anyone deciding to do something like that to schoolkids on purpose. That's a world of WTF.

Also -- how effective as a "scared straight" technique did they think that was going to be in the long run? I can't believe it occurred to absolutely no one involved in the planning of this kerfuckery that the students wold likely walk away thinking not so much, "Gee, it would be awful if my friends really and truly died," as, "Grown-ups will lie about fucking ANYTHING to get you to think they way they want you to."

Which is, in itself, not an un-valuable lesson, but probably, just barely, not quite what the planners intended.

What a bunch of completely shitty people.