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Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students Bit
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by tigers9 on October 21, 2008
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http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7692385&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1
Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students Bitten
Last Edited: Tuesday, 21 Oct 2008, 3:35 PM CDT
Created: Tuesday, 21 Oct 2008, 3:35 PM CDT
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BIG SANDY, Texas -- -- Two high school students bitten by a venomous snake in science class are recovering at an East Texas hospital.
School officials in Big Sandy said Tuesday the students were bitten by a cottonmouth snake their teacher had misidentified as non-venomous. They were taken to a hospital Monday when their hands began swelling.
Big Sandy Superintendent Scott Beene said Tuesday the students are OK but remain hospitalized for observation. The snake was given to a nearby zoo.
Beene said the school district would revisit its policies about bringing animals on campus.
Last Edited: Tuesday, 21 Oct 2008, 3:35 PM CDT
Created: Tuesday, 21 Oct 2008, 3:35 PM CDT
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/state&id=6459927&rss=rss-ktrk-article-6459927
Venomous snake bites students in class
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 | 4:18 PM
BIG SANDY, TX -- Two high school students bitten by a venomous snake in science class are recovering at an East Texas hospital.
School officials in Big Sandy said Tuesday the students were bitten by a cottonmouth snake their teacher had misidentified as non-venomous. They were taken to a hospital Monday when their hands began swelling.
Big Sandy Superintendent Scott Beene said Tuesday the students are OK but remain hospitalized for observation. The snake was given to a nearby zoo.
Beene said the school district would revisit its policies about bringing animals on campus.
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by tigers9 on October 21, 2008
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I always felt teachers/school were dangerous to my mental health, now it is physical health too;-)
Z
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by tigers9 on October 21, 2008
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http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20081021/NEWS01/810210272
Article published Oct 21, 2008
Students Bitten by Venomous Snake in a Classroom
By KENNETH DEAN
Staff Writer
BIG SANDY - Two Big Sandy High School science students are in a Tyler hospital recovering from bites from a venomous snake that was misidentified by their science teacher.Scott Beene, the Big Sandy Independent School District superintendent, said the incident happened Monday as the two students were handling what they thought was a rat snake in a science lab where other snakes were also housed.Beene said the biology teacher was leading the class in another experiment, but the students’ curiosity got the best of them and they wanted to look at a snake that had just been brought in to the class Monday morning.
“They were just being high school students who are curious by nature,” he said. “The students were encouraged to bring in wild animals to be identified.”
Beene said the two students were handling one snake when it began fighting with another and that is when they were both bitten. One boy was bitten several times before the other student helped him and was also bitten.
When asked if the classroom broke out in pandemonium Beene answered, “From what I understand it was kind of calm and they told the teacher they had been bitten. The teacher took them immediately to the school nurse and then school personnel drove them to a Tyler hospital where they are being treated.”
Beene would not say which hospital or the exact condition of the students, citing they are both minors. However, he did say he believed both would remain hospitalized for several more days.
“This is something we have never had happened and we are praying for a full recovery for both students,” he said.
Beene said students routinely brought in other animals such as turtles to be classified and the snake, that turned out to be a cotton mouth, was brought into the class earlier in the year.
“I do not know how long that snake had been in the science lab, but the teacher evidently misidentified it as a non-venomous snake,” he said.
Beene said he met with other school administrators and are working to ensure the incident never happens again.
“We are talking about how we will handle students bringing in wild animals, and I believe we will now safely transport the animal to the Tyler Zoo like we did the two snakes yesterday to be properly identified,” he said. “I don’t know if we will allow snakes back into any of our classrooms.”
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by pitbulllady on October 22, 2008
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I can understand, to a certain extent, how someone could mistake a Cottonmouth for a Water Snake, mistake one for a RAT Snake?? That would be like someone mistaking an English Bulldog for a Whippet!
On a side note, we were encouraged to bring various animals to school by my 6th-7th grade Science teacher, and we kept a veritable menagerie in the classroom. Science was FUN,if a bit unpredictable, and students could hardly wait to get to Science class. Now, I'M a Science teacher, and I'm not even allowed to bring shed snake SKINS to my class. The class is boring and sterile, and this is how the district wants it. The students hate it with a passion, and their standardized test scores, nation-wide, reflect that. I'm not defending the teacher's actions here, but I still believe it's a bad mistake to prohibit bringing animals to the classroom under carefully controlled situations, having seen the difference it can make.
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by Chance on October 22, 2008
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Ack, I hope this story doesn't spread around here in Arkansas. I would hate it to ruin my ability to bring snakes into my classroom. Sharon, I really hate to hear that your school is so irrational when it comes to these things. Just as the privileges of all venomous keepers are affected when someone does something stupid, this incident could cause a panic wave through the educational world with teachers who keep reptiles in their classrooms. What a shame... hopefully I'll get a position with a school that's okay with it and entrench myself before a parent goes crazy at a school board meeting.
As far as this particular situation, I too could see a cottonmouth being mistaken for a watersnake, but if that teacher can't tell the difference between a cottonmouth and a rat snake, then he/she really shouldn't allow students to bring animals into the classroom. Last year, I allowed my students to do that and ended up with a nearly daily presentation of our native fossorial species (ringnecks, dekays, earth snakes) and occasionally a black rat or black racer - never a dang hognose like I wanted though! But I digress. Only once did a student actually bring something venomous - a juvenile copperhead - but I quickly confiscated it from him that morning before school started and it stayed on my desk all day and left with me after school. I did use the situation as an opportunity to educate that particular student and many others about the importance of being able to identify an animal before they try to capture it. Potential crisis averted, lots of kids learned something, and maybe one or two even changed their view about killing every snake they see. It would be a real shame if incidents like this were to prevent me from doing things like that in the future.
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by Crotalusssp on October 22, 2008
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I am a biology teacher, and I am lucky enough to have the freedom to do pretty much anything I want. Administration at my school is still easy going, although they have tightened up in the last year. I do not think this unfortunate accident will have any affect on my ability to bring snakes and speak about them. Since my school is so rural snakes are a very common sight around here. I have removed everything from Copperheads in the parking lot to Racers in the locker room. Southern Hognose can be found in classes from time to time. That could be why I don't mind driving 70 miles a day round trip to teach here. =).
Charles
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by earthguy on October 22, 2008
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When I taught at the high school, the principle threatened to make me leave my snakes at home. I told him if that happened they would have to find another science teacher RIGHT THEN. He saw my logic, and my snakes stayed with me for the duration of that tour of duty.
I moved to the college so I could keep rattlers in my office :). I hope this doesn't screw too many people up.
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RE: Teacher Misidentifies Venomous Snake, Students
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by tigers9 on October 22, 2008
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R u sure it was not the trouser snake u were supposed to leave at home as your principal ordered?..;-)
http://www.rexano.org/Images3/trouser_Snake.jpg
PS: I didn't take that picture, it was sent to me by a FEMALE to use for REXANO fun projects. Honest.
Z
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