Snape's abuse (Re: Would an "O" for Harry vindicate Snape?)

[mochajava13]

No: HPFGUIDX 131747

> Tonks_op.
In a group situation like a classroom the kids are there for a
purpose. A teacher should not have to spend a lot of time on
*maintenance* issues. They are all there for a task. It takes away
from the task at hand when a teacher has to first *earn their
respect*. Under the old school of thought, you are there to
learn.. Shut up, sit down and listen. Treat your teacher with
respect. It doesn't matter *who* the teacher is. They are the person
in authority and you treat them with respect (polite behavior),
because you are the student and they are the teacher. This is social
conditioning, the type that the older generation had and why, even
today, the older generation are more respectful of others in
general. I see nothing wrong with this system. And from what I hear
here about U.S. schools and what I see in the behavior of young
people today, a little return to the old ways would be a damn good
thing!!


Sarah:
I think that this is still the system in place.  Does this mean that 
it happens?  No; a teacher needs to control the situation in some 
way, shape, or form, or the class gets out of hand.  Children, 
especially teenagers, will get out of hand and rowdy if allowed to.  
This is NOT sometyhing only true of the younger generation, but of 
the older one as well.  Every generation has complained about 
the "youth" of the time.  In every time  period, there are some 
elders who complain that the youth are snot nosed little brats who 
have no respect for their elders and that thigns were not like that 
when they were younger.  So not true!  My grandparents complained 
about the hippies, their parents complained of zoot-suiters, etc, 
etc.  The behavior of young people really hasn't changed all that 
much, it's just that the old people have forgotten what it's like to 
be young!  Sure, not everyone was a snot-nosed brat as a teen, but a 
good chunk of us were, and thought that we weren't.  

Now onto Snape's abuse.  I work for child protective service.  And 
Snape is abusive.  Sorry.  He's emotionally abusive (yes, there is 
such a thing), neglectful, and physically abusive towards Harry in 
OotP.  Umbridge is abusive in her punishments, but she is not nearly 
as bad as Snape is.  (At least in her duties as a teacher before she 
tried the imperious curse.)  

Let me deal with Umbridge first.  She's a nasty person, and a very 
poor teacher.  Her pen is the only thing abusive about her.  In my 
opinion, she is like the old school teachers that used a ruler to 
rap kids on the hand.  Not permissable anymore, and it hasn't been 
for over 20 years.  (When I started elementary school.)  She's mean, 
and not a good teacher, but in terms of abuse, the only thing she 
needs to stop is the pen thing.  The children never reported her 
behavior to authorities, so we really don't know if she would have 
been stopped.  I'm not saying that she's good, nor am I saying that 
she's not abusive.  In public schools in the US, she'd be fired in a 
heart beat if the kids had ever reported her to the authorities.

Now on to Snape.  First of all, Snape is a bigot and a "reformed" 
Death Eater.  As a Death Eater, he has probably been asked to kill, 
torture, maim, etc innocent people for their ancestry or beliefs.  I 
think most readers tend to forget that he was a Death Eater, and 
what being a Death Eater entails.  Remember, Sirius' brother was 
killed when he tried to back out for what he was being asked to do.  
Snapes behavior towards Hermione is neglectful at one point: he did 
not allow her to get medical treatment for her teeth after Draco's 
spell hit her.  Not taking a child in for medical treatment is 
considered medical neglect.  She went in spite of Snape, but it was 
Snape's duty to have someone take her to the hospital wing.  (Just 
as it was Hagrid's duty to take Draco to the hospital wing when 
Draco was injured by the hippogriff.)  His behavior to Harry, 
Neville, and Hermione in class is emotional abuse because he 
consistently belittles them, calls them names, and threatens them 
(he has threatened to drug Harry).  The belittling and calling them 
names is a gray area (one that no adult should really cross), but he 
crossed it when he threatened Harry with the veritaserum.  Finally, 
Snape was physically abusive towards Harry in OotP.  Snape grabbed 
Harry hard enough to cause Harry pain in the arms (and Harry is used 
to pain), threw Harry to the ground, and threw things at Harry.  In 
the US, Snape would be arrested for assault and battery for this.  
Unacceptable behavior.  I very much doubt that Dumbledore would 
permit this if he knew, but Harry didn't tell anyone about the 
physical abuse.  And whatever Harry did, he did not deserve this; 
Snape took his anger out on Harry .  

In my opinion, Snape is  much, much  more harmful to the children 
than Umbride is.  Umbridge is incompetent, and abusive, but her 
abuse is much less harmful to the children in the long run than 
Snape's is.  (Not saying that Umbridge is not abusive!  She is; 
however her problems are with her punishments, which is a lot easier 
to rectify in the real world that Snape's types of abuse are.)   
Snape's main problem is that his troubling behavior is not misguided 
punishment, as Umbridges are.  Umbridge's behavior in trying to use 
the cruciatus curse is when she crosses into Snape level abuse.  
Snape, however, is one nasty piece of work.  

And really, who knows if Dumbledore even knows about Snapes 
behavior?  We've found out that Dumbledore is a lot less omnipresent 
than Harry originally believed.  (Typical of children realizing that 
adults are humans, which is one of the reasons that teens are such 
brats, because they've realized that adults are only human!)  
Harry's never reported Snape, so who knows what Dumbledore knows? 

Just my two cents on the topic.