My daughter is in special education classes and I would not want him as a teacher for her. I feel so sorry for the kid that received that award.

I have mixed emotions up over the punishment. Clearly, he should not be allowed to coach. Just as clearly, his actions make it hard for any normal parents to entrust their kid to his care, especially in light of the fact that he is a special ed teacher. I do, however, think that firing him from his teaching slot may go a bit far. I guess that I would say ultimately that a 5 day suspension w/o pay from the teaching slot, and termination as coach, would probably be pretty appropriate. Knuckleheads can learn, and losing the $1,300 from the coaching job and a week's pay might prove to be a good learning experience.

I agree. If this were my kid, I'd flat out beat his a$$. Nothing crazy... wait, what am I talking about. I'd be out of my mind. Cursing and beating, beating and cursing. I probably wouldn't even remember any details.

Some might say you'd go after him like a tornado - with arms, and teeth, and . . . and . . . fingernails!

http://www.pitt.edu/~mrmst55/caray6.jpg

Fire him, I feel no remorse for this guy, I will not call him coach. As a coach, we are fighting for respect from these young people and their parents, while they are reading articles about sexual misconduct and things like this. Everytime something like this hits the papers, I have to be even more concerned about every little step I take because people are looking at their kid's coaches with a microscope.

I don't blame a parent for their scrutiny, they should, but what will happen is good coaches will be accused of things that just are not true because of the heightened sense of distrust caused by these bad apples. In that last sentence hold your tongue with you hand and say Apples.

I just want to know where I can get some of these "trophies":

<img src="http://www.batt.cc/images/crybaby.jpg" width="320" height="240" border="1" alt="Cry Baby Award">

I know a few coaches who I would like to give one to!

Gee, I wonder how long it'll be before he comes up with a "Top (slur for mentally handicapped person that begins with r)" award for his special ed class?

Pleasantville Middle School coach James Guillen

Guillen, 24, a special education teacher at the school

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Notice the age of this guy. He is barely old enough to drink. Is it really that surprising that someone so young would pull an immature stunt like this?
Make him apologize, pay for a counselling session or two for the kid, suspend him from coaching for a couple of years until he grows up, but firing him from his teaching job is an overreaction.

Hold the Banquet again?????
 

I think holding the banquet again would create resentment from other parents and players, possibly targeted towards Terrence. I would rather see a press conference where the coach makes a public apology and presents Terrence with the same awards given the other players.

Here is the latest...

'Crybaby' Coach May Shed A Tear
PLEASANTVILLE, N.J., May 5, 2004


A basketball coach will be ordered to make a public apology, banned from coaching and sent to sensitivity training for giving a 13-year-old player a "Crybaby Award" at a season-ending banquet, officials said Wednesday.

Whether he loses his job remains to be seen.

James Guillen, 24, a third-year special education teacher at the Pleasantville Middle School, had a trophy made up showing an infant atop a pedestal, with a plaque bearing the inscription of player Terrence Philo Jr. and the words "Crybaby Award."

Terrence was spelled "Terrance."

After summoning the boy to attend the April 24 banquet, Guillen gave him the trophy, humiliating the boy in front of about 25 teammates and parents.

On Tuesday, the Pleasantville Board of Education voted to fire Guillen, rejecting Schools Superintendent Edwin Coyle's recommendation for lighter sanctions.

The nine-member board did so against the advice of its own attorney, who said state law mandates that hiring and firing recommendations come from the superintendent, not board members.

As a result, the vote to dismiss Guillen wasn't valid, according to Frank Belluscio, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

"It's not binding. It's not proper procedure," Belluscio said.

Coyle, who said dismissal would be too severe a punishment, said he would ban Guillen from ever coaching in Pleasantville schools and order the sensitivity training and public apology.

In addition, Guillen will be ordered to hold the banquet again and give Philo the trophy other players received. A veteran teacher will be assigned to mentor Guillen, Coyle said.

Coyle said he would ask the board a second time to authorize a five-day suspension without pay and the forfeiture of a $3,000 pay raise due Guillen.

Others want stiffer penalties.

"He should be fired," said Gina Jones, 43, of Pleasantville, a parent who attended Tuesday night's meeting. "You should just have better sense. He needs to publicly apologize and take some of the burden off little Terrence."

The boy's father, Terrence Philo, said he would leave the penalty to school officials.

"I just want what's right. I want my son to have a trophy and certificate like everyone else got. No less, no more," he said.

Guillen, who has yet to speak publicly about the incident, remains on the job as a special education teacher at Pleasantville Middle School.

A man who coached in a summer league in which Guillen played as a teenager defended him before the school board, saying the crybaby term was used to motivate players.

"'Crybaby' means you argue too much and to focus more on your play. It has to be taken in context," said Vernon Walker, 40. But he said what Guillen did showed poor judgment.

School Superintendent's resolution
 

http://www.nynewsday.com/news/nation...-crybaby-award,0,7728038.story

According to the AP: "A middle school basketball coach who presented a "Crybaby Award" trophy to a 13-year-old player has been fired from his coaching job, and the board of education wants him out entirely, officials said Wednesday.

James Guillen, 24, must make a public apology, attend sensitivity training and hold a second banquet to give out a proper award, School Superintendent Edwin Coyle said. But he said he opposed firing him as a teacher...

On Tuesday, the Pleasantville Board of Education voted to fire Guillen, rejecting Coyle's recommendation for lighter sanctions even though the board's own attorney said hiring and firing recommendations must come from the superintendent.

Coyle called Guillen's actions "totally unacceptable" but said an outright dismissal would be too severe a punishment. He said he would ask the board a second time to authorize, instead of firing, a five-day suspension without pay for Guillen and the forfeiture of a $3,000 pay raise. The board meets again next Tuesday."

So the coach is a jerk, and this never should have happened...lost in all of this is the quiet dignity of the father and son...now-a-days most people would have already filed the law-suit, but this dad and his son are handling things differently. I have a tremendous amount of respect for this guy...

Lawsuit for what?
I agree that from what I have read the father has handled to whole matter very well, but I see no grounds for a civil suit.
I don't believe that it is against the law to embarrass someone. I also don't believe that what the coach did was either libel or slander. Unless you can show me some right of this child's that was violated, I don't believe that there is any reason to seek redress.
While our country may be court-crazy, I just don't see it in this instance.

I'll also note that it seems from the latest articles that the coach's penalty will be almost exactly what I wrote above.

I am not sure of the legalities of everything, but when I read this, I thought to myself that I would probably be looking at a lawsuit here. and I am pretty much against all the trivial lawsuits you see going around. But when an adult authority figure invites a 13 year old to a banquet with the intent of publicly humiliating him, causing God knows what psychological damage, I see this as pretty clear lawsuit material. This is done maliciously and with forethought. And I find it hard to believe that there wouldn't be grounds for it.

How about defamation of character?

But to *ell with the courts, I would have just taken care of it myself with my big mouth back at him at the banquet!

You don't really keep up with the lawsuits filed against educators, do you??? Having had one filed against me after making a student sit in the back of the class for too much talking and disrupting other students (no, it didn't go anywhere and I didn't lose any money, but did lose a lot of sleep and several years of life-expectancy), I think it's safe for me to say that many parents would have filed a lawsuit over this event...this dad didn't and I commend him for the way he is trying to make it a growing experience for his son...now if the coach turns up in the hospital in the next few weeks, I would commend the dad for that also!