Jeremy Hollinger, Special Education Teacher, Allegedly Mocks His Students On Facebook (VIDEO)

Jeremy Hollinger, a special education teacher in Mobile, Ala., is facing criticism after allegedly posting material on Facebook mocking special needs students, WALA-TV reports.

According to WALA-TV, one of the pictures posted on his Facebook page shows Hollinger, a teacher at Eichold-Mertz Elementary School, wearing a helmet that belongs to one of his second-grade students.

"My son wears a helmet for seizures during P.E.," Celeste Dennis told WALA-TV. "He had a picture of himself with my son's helmet on, making fun on him like that was some type of a joke."

An official from the school told WALA-TV that "the appropriate measures were taken," although Hollinger still works at Eichold-Mertz Elementary School.

Hollinger isn't the only teacher to find himself in trouble over comments posted to Facebook.

Viki Knox, a special education teacher in New Jersey, is currently under investigation for posting anti-gay comments to Facebook.

And in March, Christine Rubino, a teacher in New York, found herself under fire after posting inflammatory comments about her students to Facebook. A day after a Harlem girl drowned at a New York area beach, Rubino suggested that her students should take a beach trip. "I hate their guts," she wrote, according to the New York Post.

Watch the video at the top and click over to WALA-TV for the full story.

Comments

[Rickyrab]

08:41 AM on 10/20/2011

It's not nice to make fun of students in a demeaning way.

[Atwill]

07:46 AM on 10/19/2011

All of you cry babies will not be happy till we have monitors in our homes for the "Speech police" to monitor us all the time. that way if you are at home and you say or do somthing your boss does not like, he can fire you. You WANT 1984, right now. so much for freedom of speech. well, i can and will continue to say and do what i want and it that mean coping or imitating a handicapped, i can and will continue to do it. there is nothing, right now, you can do about it.

[mchcallow]

10:06 AM on 10/19/2011

Atwill, so if you don't see anything wrong with imitating (mocking) someone who is handicapped (disabled) should freedom of speach include mocking and making fun of someone who is LGBTQ identified. The harrassement of LGBTQ folk that you and I have addressed over the years often begins with this very behavior in provate spaces. Children in many cases view the target group as less worthy of respect and as a result those who are percieved to have a disability or to be LGBTQ identified are often made fun of in very public spaces. Overt forms of oppression and disrespect are often hampered and suppressed in public spaces or at least many attempt to hide and conseal how they feel, but often the person on the recieving end internalizes the interaction and is unable be clear on why they felt bad after sharing space with some folk. I'm saddened and disappointed that you feelt the way that you do on this subject and while I respect your ability to hold your views I will no longer fan or follow you...

V/R

[Atwill]

10:02 PM on 10/19/2011

making fun of an mocking is not what i do when i imitate tehm or tellstories of what my jobes were. mocking is doen in a mean spirit. i do not do that. if you have never worked int he field, you dont know. most people 1. have no clue how to work with DDs. 2. aretosoft to work with them. 3. dont have the real heart to do it. 4. dont have the stomach for it. people can love others and still have fun with them, that is the difference, fan OF or fun WITH. i am sadden that you dont understand this

[Kurtis Michelfelder]

08:36 PM on 10/18/2011

Some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a long time. This guy had every right to blow off steam on his personal facebook page. Once again, whiny parents getting into the private lives of teachers where they don't belong. It isn't like the child would have ever realized he was being used a joke. I love how he is being judged so much by this when we have no idea how he is within the classroom. So many, so quick to judge.

[Atwill]

11:21 PM on 10/18/2011

I totally agree.

[RoseOC]

01:08 AM on 10/19/2011

That says it all right there. The child was being uesd as a joke. Not funny.

[Kurtis Michelfelder]

09:02 PM on 10/19/2011

Clearly a dull a sense of humor. Children are the biggest walking jokes on the entire planet. Almost everything they do is funny and these kids are even funnier. No one deserves special treatment just because they have this or that. He can laugh at them all he wants, as long as it isn't in the classroom with the students.

[rebeccablunt]

12:58 PM on 10/18/2011

I actually think that this guy did all of this on purpose. He probably hated his job and wanted a way out. I mean, no one is that stupid to post comments like this on Facebook anymore. Especially in the age we live in where pretty much all your employers are checking your Facebook to "check up" on you. This guy definitely wanted out of his job.

Still though, it's not cool to do what he did. Those special needs kids can't help it and why the heck would he have a special needs job if he hated it that much?

http://easyscholarshipstoapplyfor.org

[bb467590]

09:38 AM on 10/18/2011

The last time I checked, teachers were afforded the same rights under the Constitution as everyone else in society.

Go, you teachers, go! Keep up your honesty and opinions! I admire you for it!

[thepianokid]

10:31 PM on 10/17/2011

People need to stop overreacting. . . Statuses like "why oh why oh why is there pee on my floor?" and "Apparently paper and crayons are on the menu today" is not necessarily mocking anyone. That picture shows nothing. What's the caption for it say He's stating things in a clever way, for his friends. Because guess what? People like to joke about things that are frustrating and stressful because it helps calm them down. I do it. Everyone has probably done it. If the guy didn't like working with special ed. kids, why would he put up with all of that? We aren't even getting his side of the story. . .

[nbb]

07:05 AM on 10/18/2011

Maybe as you travel through life, young man, you will have the opportunity to understand why this kind of thing is painful and abhorrent to so many of us. Apparently it's going to take some life experience to give you that perspective.

To me, paper and crayons on the menu sounds a whole lot like a poor excuse for humor at the expense of someone(s) who have substantial limitations. Let's see if you can recall this: Inasmuch as ye have done it to these, the least of my brethren, ye have done it unto Me.

[thepianokid]

08:05 AM on 10/18/2011

Was he trying to be mean though? Maybe it was in poor taste, I don't think so, as my mom teaches kindergarten and occasionally gets a special needs kid (autism, or OCD, or diabetes) and tells me stories. Of course she puts jokes into the stories, but she doesn't mock the kids. Again, we need to hear this man's side of the story. Did he mean for it to be mean or was he just putting humor (albeit clearly not your kind of humor) into a rough day at work?

[KelaMa]

04:20 AM on 10/21/2011

Members of any profession that deals with the public say some mean stuff in private to deal with the stress and frustration. I'll say it again, this teacher's biggest error was in having a public page.

[danzig621]

04:07 PM on 10/19/2011

Last comment, I swear. I gotta say I think the crayon joke is funny. I hope that all of the people who are calling for the head of people who use humor as a coping mechanism are out there volunteering for Special O, working for non-profits who provide good care for individuals with disabilities, have children with disabilities. Unless you are, I don't want to hear it.

[Parade Keegan]

07:36 PM on 10/17/2011

As the aunt of an autistic child with severe seizure disorders, as a sister of a 20 plus year special education teacher I have to say that I don't get the "making fun of", "humiliating of" this particular student and I don't think that's the case here. I KNOW many parents of special needs children feel "victimized". The requirements needed to get services for their children is time consuming but in the U.S. luckily the taxpayers DO pay for services and assistance for special needs children, most countries don't. I appreciate the over protectiveness of these parents as if they don't advocate for their children who will. I appreciate the difficulties faced by parents of special needs children too. I don't appreciate those who decide the "worse case scenario" as factual with out evidence and I think this is what's happening in this situation. The teacher wasn't fired, suspended, transferred and that should be an answer for the "victims".

[nbb]

07:16 AM on 10/18/2011

I don't think you know much about health services of other nations. In the US, the health service delivery system works fairly well for those with good resources, but God help you if you don't. The teacher's dad is superintendent of schools in neighboring county. I suspect that the father's stature in the area coupled with his professional connections have much to do with the fact that young Jeremy has not been let go. It's called cronyism.

[Mindy Czech]

06:38 PM on 10/17/2011

It is one thing to be exasperated with the kids you teach, which I would think would be more challenging when you have to teach special needs kids. It's another thing entirely to openly mock them in a public forum. That is unbelievably cruel.

[Atwill]

08:04 PM on 10/17/2011

to tape it and post it , yes, but to do it at home, no. and we dont know if he is mocking unless you were there and knew what was going on ,you cant tell,. far to many people who do not work in this line of work see things differently then those of us who do. What might look like abuse to you can really be redirection to us. I dont defend this guy for taping it or posting it and putting on the helmet, that is sick. but dont judge him just for this. for all you know he could be a great teacher. I worked for years as a RN in a 51/50 unit with violent patients and if you walked in at the right moment, when we are just doing a take down, it might look to you as if i were attacking a poor helpless mental patient. when i reality i am doing it for his safety , the other patients safety and my safety. A take down can look scary to someone who doenst work in it or know what it is. 4 or 5 of us grabbing a guy and taking him down the floor. I have done that hundards of times. it's not pretty. and i wouldnt want you to judge me for it. though i have been and called all kinds of names from nazi to ... well i cant type them. dont be so quick to judge.

[RoseOC]

02:04 AM on 10/18/2011

You know you keep saying this. However, to me, whether it's done privately or out in the open makes no difference. If I do something wrong and don't get caught, does that make it ok?

[nbb]

07:33 AM on 10/18/2011

Atwill, it's hard for me to put a benign construction on Hollinger's taped activities, whether or not they were taped and published. Replicating the behavior of his students? If Hollinger is stressed, frustrated, he needs to find a hobby that takes his mind away from all that-- or he ought to find something to do with his life that doesn't produce so much angst.

Regarding take downs on the mental ward, I know more about that kind of thing than I'd wish and I'd assert that procedure is way over used, by at least half. There are techniques that can be used to tamp down a situation and there are surely ways to escalate a bad scene. Staff on the psych ward are not so skilled as might be desired in diminishing what may be perceived by the paranoid as a threatening situation. Indeed, until recently here in NC, there were staff on the ward floor who came in with no training at all. I have reason to think that's being changed.

[danzig621]

05:28 PM on 10/17/2011

We are underpaid and overstressed in a way that is hard to imagine. I'm not defending them for their actions. It was clearly stupid to post work things on facebook. A big no-no. But tell me anyone who doesn't go home and gripe about their sucky day. Parents, try to imagine your child X 20 ALL DAY LONG! People are stupid, but also human!

[nbb]

06:11 PM on 10/17/2011

Sign on for other work instead!

[danzig621]

07:42 PM on 10/17/2011

Who exactly do you think is knocking down doors to be underpaid for taking care of people with disabilities? There are millions of people who have no problem saying the "R" word. In casual talk, on TV, in movies. If you want to go after someone, start there.

[Atwill]

07:46 PM on 10/17/2011

said by someone who has never worked in the field. typical. go do the work and see what it is like before you judge.

[Hillary Wentz]

05:27 PM on 10/17/2011

If you don't have the maturity and sympathy to work with special ed, don't do it. It's very hard, and requires a very special kind of person. Obviously "appropriate measures" weren't taken if he's still working at the school. I understand that he may not do this to the children's faces, but what happens when one of them sees this teacher that they look up to and love making fun of them on the internet?

[danzig621]

07:44 PM on 10/17/2011

The "special person" argument is insulting. It takes a person. A human being.

[Hillary Wentz]

11:23 AM on 10/18/2011

How exactly is that insulting? Not just any human being can successfully and adequately do that kind of job. Obviously.

[cupidusgrillus]

08:08 PM on 10/18/2011

Oh please. Why would a school fire a perfectly good teacher over something as harmless as a venting session? I'd rather him vent on facebook and come to class with patience. Teachers do not get paid nearly enough to be perfect 24/7.

[Atwill]

11:25 PM on 10/18/2011

you andi are the only ones making sense on this story.

[Jnce]

02:23 AM on 10/19/2011

There is nothing perfect, nor good about a teacher that mocks and makes fun of his students. You are making a large assumption that he ever exercises patience, much less behind closed doors with these students. If he is that devoid of patience to need to mock and make fun of, cyberbully, his students, he should not be in the classroom.

[elmmaestro]

03:08 PM on 10/17/2011

I'm sure there is something in his contract allowing for his termination if he fails to provide a safe, constructive environment for his students. At least he'll have more time to devote to facebook.

[Atwill]

04:54 PM on 10/17/2011

where do you see he didnt provide a safe enviorment? ok, i can kind of seeing you saying that due to his puttin the helmet on. that is true.

[Jnce]

02:26 AM on 10/19/2011

Mocking does not make anyone feel safe, much less for someone with already vulnerable from special needs. Taking the helmet of the child and distorting it by putting it on his own head is another intrusion. Publishing the picture with the helmet, identifiable as this student's helmet is another intrusion into this student's privacy.

[cupidusgrillus]

08:09 PM on 10/18/2011

Not all teachers have contracts, and even if he had a contract that said that, how is posting a video on his own facebook affecting his classroom? The parents who facebook stalked him to find the video should have been spending quality time with their child instead.

[Jnce]

02:27 AM on 10/19/2011

So now it is the parent's fault for looking at the information this guy publishes on his facebook page????

[GibbsSlap]

03:05 PM on 10/17/2011

If he is still working at that school that the "appropriate measures" were not taken.

[cupidusgrillus]

08:11 PM on 10/18/2011

I know people love to see other people get lynched, but honestly, this guy didn't do anything wrong at work, nor did he do anything that would justify taking away his credentials. Teachers should be hired, fired, and evaluated based on their performance AT WORK, which this was not.

[GibbsSlap]

04:52 PM on 10/25/2011

If you cannot see the depth of the wrong this teacher committed, I cannot explain it to you.

[Kelly Kirkwood]

02:47 PM on 10/17/2011

He's making fun of people while he's outside of work.... Unfortunately it's about the people he works with. The special needs children who look up to him. Does he treat his students well in the classroom? Probably but the article doesn't say. Does he abuse these children verbally, emotionally or physically? Probably not, but again, the article doesn't say. We know this is morally wrong, regardless of your profession, to make fun of less fortunate in any degree. Apparently he does his job and he does his job well otherwise he wouldn't have a job anymore.

[Atwill]

04:55 PM on 10/17/2011

finally some one who makes sense.

[nbb]

06:09 PM on 10/17/2011

Hmmmm.... so if you had a relative with some limitation you wouldn't have issues with his/her teacher holding that up to ridicule? Ya think? I'll bet this Hollinger guy is a hoot doing his rendition of a persistent vegetative state.... or the lurching gait of any number of diagnoses.

[Atwill]

07:49 PM on 10/17/2011

if he did them at home, away form the work, and did not post it or tape it, i see nothing wrong wit it. i have done that many a times. when i worked with these kinds of kids/ patients. it was not mocking, it was showing how they act. and i did it at home, and never infront of a kid or parent or in public. this guy went to far, i agree.

[Vivicca Whitsett]

01:21 PM on 10/17/2011

Wow... that's pretty pathetic. This teacher should attend sensitivity classes since he obviously failed at having/showing empathy and sympathy for his students. He made the decision to not only become a teacher but to specialize in teaching kids with disabilities. I think his punishment should be to allow all of the parents of his students to each take a turn at slapping the taste out of his mouth. smh

[cupidusgrillus]

08:13 PM on 10/18/2011

Those parents should worry less about this teacher's life outside of school and more about minding their own children.

[Atwill]

08:46 AM on 10/19/2011

true

[Atwill]

01:15 PM on 10/17/2011

i understand judging him for taping it and posting it. That was wrong. but you have no right to judge him for DOING it. if he is in his own home, with friends and family and didnt tape it and post , it is none of your business, even if it were your kid. OK, I agree, if he didnt post it, you'd never know. I can go home and bad mouth or cuss out or make fun of anyone I want, even a handicapped person or DD or who ever, it is called freedom of speech. Might not be nice, I agree, but it is not nice what Fred Phelps and his inbreed clan do to gays, yet or some reason they are protectd by the constitution. same thing here.

[angel66dkc]

01:51 PM on 10/17/2011

It absolutely IS my business. If this 'teacher' thinks it is okay to mock the very children he is supposed to care for on a daily basis and I, as a parent of one of those children, are required by law to LEAVE my child in his care, it damned well IS my business.
This isn't about freedom of speech. This is excusively about an uncaring teacher that takes care of children during the day that can't express if he is abusing, neglecting or mocking them WHILE they are there with him.
'Freedom of speech' is taken away from certain people in certain jobs, teaching happens to be one of them. Just because before facebook and other networking sites allow us to finally see what disgusting people are out there, doesn't mean that 'if we didn't know about it' it would be okay. If what we say was this teacher screaming at one of those kids, mocking them, would that still be okay because of freedom of speech? Or would it just be okay if we DIDN'T see it happen?
For me, it isn't that he wanted to vent, needed to say something not so nice about a particular student, was so stressed that 'mocking' was his way of 'relieving stress'. For me it is if he thinks this is okay to do at ALL and especially in FRONT of a camera on a public networking site, what is he doing when no one is watching?

[Atwill]

02:55 PM on 10/17/2011

to do infont of the camera is wrong. to post it is wrong. to just do it in the privacy of his own home, where no one but family and firends can see, is not. And how do you know if he is negelcting them or mocking them at work? where is this evidence? Freedom of speech is not taken away from teacher or , in my case, nurses. i worked on a childrens ward and often came home with stories about the kids. and, if they did something funny. i might act it out. Most nurses i know do this. true i dont post it or do it infront of a kid. that is wrong and stupid. but i'll be damned if you or anyone else can tell me what i can and can not do in my own home. He did not do this TO a kid. it is different it if was TO a kid or infront of a kid. his only mistake was to tape and post it.

[elmmaestro]

03:07 PM on 10/17/2011

Your understanding of free speech is as flawed as the op's. Just what free speech rights do you think are taken away from teachers, and by whom are they taken??

[elmmaestro]

03:01 PM on 10/17/2011

You don't have the slightest understanding of free speech.