Posted by TAMARAW on May 13, 2006 at 18:04:25:
From: Perrydiaz@aol.com
Date: Sat, 13 May 2006 01:58:44 -0400
Subject: [Fil-AmNetwork] Readers' Comments on 'Uproar Over Spoon and Fork'
Dear Readers,
The outcry against the maltreatment of Luc Cagadoc has been overwhelming. The school board has invited the parents of Luc to discuss the issue. However, Mr. Bergeron, the principal, has not yet apologize for his abusive manhandling of the incident. The following are more comments from readers. I encourage you to send an email to the principal, Mr. Normand Bergeron, at direction.lalande@csmb.qc.ca to demand for an apology to Luc Cagadoc.
The original article is printed below for your reference.
All the best,
Perry
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To: Jette, Pilon and Bergeron,
Your letter released intended to pacify and reinsure 45,000 students and families and proudly speaking of diversity in your school is pure unadulterated administration cop out. Where is the APOLOGY to the child victim and the parents which are the most important thing?
You even had the audacity to mention the hurt imputed on your staff due to this uproar. What about the BOY for God sake! It seems to me your leadership should be questioned when your principal and administrators are a bunch of weaklings and can't even admit when a mistake was made and an apology must follow. Now you are being callous, Now I see it as a cover up. Go ahead and stew in your own juices.
I read there is a delicacy in France loved by the natives for breakfast, eating pig snouts, ears and innards. Sound gross. Using fork and spoons is gross? Now will you advise the Chinese not to use chopsticks, the Arabs and Middle East and the rest of the world no to use hands? How about using the old feet to stomp the grapes. Tell me when do you use spoon?
In closing you folks need retraining in diversity, honesty, a sense of reality, fair play and brain scrubbing. Long winters do some odd things to people.
Oscar Apostol
Roseville. California
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While reading the ' UPROAR Over Spoon and Fork' article, I felt sad and concerned for the young boy's emotions. This innocent Filipino boy didn't do anything and this has NOTHING to do with the spoon and fork issue.
As an educator, Norman Bergeron should know that even Diplomats, President or Ministers from different countries, Princess Diana, Military Officials, Prince Charles, and other dignitaries from all over the world USE spoon and fork on formal settings.
NORMAN BERGERON USED the opportunity to CALL the boy a PIG. Is the fork and spoon NEW to you? I feel SORRY for you.
Additionally, NORMAND BERGERON just DOESN'T LIKE the Filipino boy simply because Luc Cagadoc is NOT white. He is racist and has a problem with different cultures. He is in a position of trust. That TRUST should be extended to EVERY student under his charge, no matter what their background is.
NORMAND BERGERON does NOT care about the well being of this young Filipino boy and I bet for any other Asian students too. This school principal is NOT ignorant. He is EVIL, no conscience, and he is NOT a good role model to be working at the school.
What BERGERON did to the boy tells me that he is NOT well -cultured, NOT well - informed or even NOT well-expose. YOU, Norman Bergeron and the school staff, should have been RESPECTFUL to the young boy. Because your pay check is also coming from Luc Cagadoc's family.
Even if the boy was mis-behaving, what you did was NOT right. The school board CLAIMED that the situation was a disciplinary problem. If it was, shouldn't there be a parent / teacher meeting, letter to the parents or any other form of communication with a subject of disciplinary issue?
Lastly, NORMAND, you shifted your story during the press interview. WHY? Be real if you are NOT strong enough to acknowledge and accept your beliefs towards the discrimination issue. I would suggest you GRACEFULLY EXIT from your job before it gets TOO big. Because you are a SHAME as an educator.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Suarez Schlaak
Colorado Springs, CO
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Dear Mr.Jette and Mr. Pilon,
I appreciate your response and explanation. However, you did not elaborate on the specific situation on how ' the child was consuming lunch that day'.
All you said was you want to keep the matter confidential as it involves the parents and the student.
Please enlighten us as to why we should not have reacted mostly in a negative way. You say that you 'want to demonstrate your sincere concern'.
As a Filipino-American and on behalf of the many Filipinos around the globe we are concerned that we understand the matter well, and that all benefit from the outcome of this experience.
I would like young children to grow understanding and appreciating different cultural perspectives and that their cultural background is respected and treated with sensitivity and dignity.
It is not a safe and caring world out there anymore. The more that we have to exercise tolerance and patience, and reach out with care and respect to one another.
Thank you for your corrective action and sincere concern about young Luc's situation.
Sincerely,
Celia Vasquez, RN, MPH
Houston, Texas
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Hi Perry:
This is an outrage, the letter did not resolve the cultural gap regarding table manners, so what is the point of writing the letter when it did not address the issue? The letter was not even sensitive to the cultural uproar it created. What was the resolution that the school proposed? NONE!
Europeans eat with spoon and forks, so what's is the problem?
Gloria Esplana
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Mr. Bergeron, since you work in the field of education as a principal now and previously as a teacher, one must assume that you are an educator.... well, then, educate yourself!
Belen Gabato
President, Philippine Nurses Association of Nevada
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Mr. Bergeron,
Your behavior which was uncalled for towards a 7 year old Luc Cagadoc who eats with spoon and fork was simply outrageous and for us Filipinos especially, it was indeed lambasting and apalling! Evidently, you have no respect for other people's culture - you have angered all of us Filipinos all over the world. We have no room for forgiveness for people like you and you should be ashamed of yourself ,more particularly considering yourself an educator, a professional.
Charito Benipayo
Alameda, CA.
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Dear Perry,
In the letter of Pierre Jette, he mentioned...
It was strictly limited to the way a child was consuming lunch on that particular day and had nothing to do with the way of eating or the utensils used.
Could Mr. Pierre Jette please clarify how the child had consumed his lunch on that particular day that the lunch monitor found disgusting that needs to be punished in such a terrible way. Is that an abusive use of power? How has the Philippine Embassy reacted? How do they define bullying in school? Has the boy's human right been trampled upon? What is the stand of the boy's church?
I just hope this case would be settled in an honorable and civil way? My son would be going to Quebec next year as part of his school curriculum. I am worried this may happen on him. God forbids.
Sincerely ,
Gerardo Fernando
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Dear Perry,
I am glad that the school authority had the courtesy to reply. I hope that when Lu�s parents go to see and talk face-to-face with Mr. Bergeron that they can articulate themselves well enough and that they conduct themselves in a dignified manner. One thing should be stressed to him that people attend school to learn, not to be ridiculed, vilified or scorned. Educators especially of his stature as school principal are expected to help in the learning process. If at all, he should set himself as a role model of exemplary behavior that Luc and others can look up to and try to emulate.
They should also take the chance to ask Mr. Bergeron to issue a public apology to Luc and his parents.
If for whatever reason, Luc�s parents are not able to articulate themselves in English, I suggest, they ask someone to accompany them who can act as their interpreter or spokesperson. That way, further misunderstanding can be avoided.
Congratulations for championing Luc�s plight.
Sincerely,
Armando Aspiras
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Is this for real? Obviously I don't know you and have only a few pieces of the story, but if even a small percentage of the story is accurate you ought to be removed from your position as the school principal.
It doesn't matter what country you are from, Canada, the US, or the any place else, you have no choice but to respect another person's space and individuality. In this situation you apparently have stepped beyond your limits.
I am appalled that a Canadian would have respond in such a way. Until now I held a very high regard for them. ( Canadians ) I would have expected this from Americans, but for some reason, my grandmother perhaps, I have always thought higher of Canadians. If you care at all about the image that you are portraying of both yourself and your country, you will swallow your pride and apologize to not only the kid, but to his family... and need I suggest you do this publicly.
What a disgrace... you're as bad as our politicians down here.
Jim Kinsey
A white American guy.
P.S. Do try to find yourself some education.. may I suggest traveling outside your country a little, you might find it very enlightening. Just to clarify, I mean, go somewhere where the culture is different from your own.
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Mr. Normand Bergeron, demand an apology to Luc Cagadoc, his parents, the global Filipinos, and people of a culture distinct from yours. You have no real or acceptable excuse. Your name is associated to meaness and bigotry. E-mails about your infamy will never end until you apologize wholeheartedly. The statement from your school is not enough. You should know that Filipinos are sensitive people and thay can guage sincerity, on a face-to-face setting or in written format.
Presy Guevara
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...can we also say that Philippine's education standard is higher than Canada (?) coz this shows that a Principal (imagine a principal...where did he got his degree?...from a pig pen...coz he knows a pig uses fork probably) couldn't think well compared to a child (in Philippines we could handle this well). Maybe we can compare that a High School graduate from Philippines' intellectual is higher than this Principal's.
You think so? I am so furious and mad about this principal's behavior, let's teach him a lesson. I would consider a strike/rally against his oust on the position he handles.
Ron Puno
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Hi Perry,
Hope all is well. Though everything is well with me at at home, I am saddened by Cagadoc's experience because it hits home. While watching the issue be televised on Balitang America and eating, I could't help but be so conscious on the way I eat nor can I imagine the effect this whole experience will have on a child.
Well I just wanted to share with you what the Commision Scholaire had to say on behalf of Mr. Bergeron and staff.
Being in America, what else could I do? Writing my response did not seem to get a word from Mr. Bergeron nor did it teach him and his staff about having plain respect to another human being no matter if utensils were or were not an issue.
I have attatched a document they sent me. Please share this with the others. Thanks Tito Dan. Although the struggle still continue, I hope to never forget where I came from and this Luc's issue reminded me to appreciate being a Filipino.
Take Care,
Joy Penano
Adobo Six - 'Its all Good'
Ating Tao - KABATAAN, 'BAHALA NA!'
FALL 2000
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These people from Quebec never got it! I guess that's from eating snails (escargot) and frogs legs! They are hopeless, they to live in a world they create for themselves, and defined by them as to what is acceptable and unacceptable. Am I glad to be an American and live in America.
Rawley Soberano
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May 5, 2006
PerryScope
By Perry Diaz
Uproar Over Spoon and Fork
Recently, a seven-year old Filipino boy found himself in hot water -- and in the limelight -- over an incident at a Roxboro, Quebec, Canada elementary school. The �incident� is his habit of using spoon and fork when he�s eating his lunch, a habit which the school�s lunch monitor termed as �disgusting.�
This year, second-grader Luc Cagadoc had been punished more than ten times for eating the �Filipino way� -- spoon and fork -- instead of the European style of eating with fork and knife. Luc told his mother on April 11, �My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.� He told his mother that he was too embarrassed to eat his dinner.
The apparent harassment on her child upset Maria Theresa Gallardo and she confronted the lunch time monitor the following day. On April 13, Maria Theresa called the principal, Normand Bergeron. What Bergeron said shocked her: �Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.� Bergeron further stated, �If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we�re going to do it every time.� His condescending -- and asinine --reply was in reference to the punishment that Luc got from the lunch monitor every time he uses a spoon and fork instead of just a fork -- the lunch monitor moves Luc to a table by himself.
Bergeron -- a goateed man in his late 30�s or early 40�s -- told Maria Theresa, �I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time�� Not only is Bergeron prickly arrogant, he is a babbling ignoramus, a combination ill-suited for the job of a school principal. Regardless of whether he has seen it done or not, a seemingly educated person of his stature should be broadminded enough to realize that Luc�s eating habit is a matter of cultural tradition. All he had to do was ask Luc in a polite way why he was using a spoon and a fork. I am sure that the bespectacled Luc should be able to tell this bozo why Filipinos use spoon and fork. However, instead of doing the right thing, Bergeron maltreated -- nay, abused! -- the poor child.
But when the press got hold of the story, Bergeron took a different direction. He told the press that Luc �sometimes acts up during the lunch hour and has been known to make a mess at the table.� He claimed that �misbehaving� children are moved to another table to sit by themselves and that in Luc�s situation, it has nothing to do with the child�s nationality. Makes me wonder if spilling a few bits of rice on the table would constitute �misbehaving.� Heck, we do that all the time, don�t we? Isn�t that why people use a place mat?
On April 18, Luc�s parents filed a complaint with the school board, however, the school board�s reaction was not sympathetic. Adding insult to injury, the school board spokesperson, Brigitte Gauvreau, said, �The story at the school�s level is that it�s a disciplinary problem� We will continue to discuss with everybody so that everyone has a good understanding of what happened.� It sounds like the school officials are now washing their hands of any act of racial discrimination. Suddenly, Luc�s case is now a �disciplinary� issue. What a cop out! How would Bergeron explain his use of the word �pig� in describing the way Luc eats? A Filipina, Perla Casundo, posted online: �Do pigs eat with spoon and fork?� I think Bergeron has found himself wallowing in a pig sty with no way out.
What is appalling is that here is a school principal who has a militaristic mindset on how his students should eat. Would he force Oriental children not to use chopsticks with their lunch? How about left-handed children? Would he deem it inappropriate for left-handed children to eat with their left hand?
Luc�s parents have demanded a public apology from Bergeron. However, at press time, Bergeron has not responded to their demand. Meanwhile, public outcry against Bergeron is mounting. Letters and emails from Filipinos from all over the world demanding for Bergeron to apologize are snowballing. A large number are demanding for his termination from his position as school principal. Indeed, he is a disgrace to his profession. Educators are expected to be the epitome of wisdom, not the model of ignorance and prejudice.
Melanie Luriz said it succinctly with her online posting: �In the Philippines, we never tell someone �you�re in the Philippines� you should act the way we do.� I don�t take it against the school but against the school principal himself, so I think the school management should impose disciplinary actions on that principal� not Luc. Luc is an innocent child. Mr. Bergeron did not realize the effect of his words to the child.�
I agree with Melanie. What Bergeron has done to Luc has irreparably wounded Luc�s psyche. This is child abuse of the worst kind. Only an insensitive, imbalanced, and unconscionable individual would do such a thing.
Maribel Arcena posted a challenge to all Filipinos: �So what are you going to do about this? This is the question I am asking of you Filipinos in Canada. For us Filipinos living here in New Zealand and Australia, we will definitely rise up in arms to this kind of racism, ignorance and intolerance to other cultures.�
Yes, the Global Filipinos need to stand up to Maribel�s challenge. Send an email to the school principal Normand Bergeron and tell him how you feel about his despicable treatment of Luc. Luc deserves respect, no less. Bergeron�s email address is: direction.lalande@csmb.qc.ca.
Send comments to PerryDiaz@aol.com
PerryScope is available online at http:///www.MyPinoyWorld.com
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