First grade teacher Lynn Ellen Field of Waller, Texas received 2 years probation for “criminal mischief” yesterday.
She pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in order to receive a lesser sentence. In reality, Ms Field committed arson and burglary. The target of her firebuggery is her ex-husband and his new wife.
The HoustonPress reports:
Field, a first-grade teacher, did what any one of us would do if we were not thinking very clearly at all: She went to her ex-husband’s Sugar Land house, tried to set a bedroom on fire, threw things around the back yard, and tried to break a window with a propane tank.
She’ll do 60 weekend days in jail, 250 hours of community service, attend weekly mental-health counseling and pay a $1,000 fine and $5,600 in restitution.
She has been on leave from her job teaching first-graders.
At the time of her arrest, the district sent a letter home to parents saying “”Waller ISD employees are expected to serve as role models for our students and demonstrate exemplary behavior.”
“Exemplary behavior” apparently does not include going apeshit when your ex-husband remarries.
The Chron reports:
According to Sugar Land police reports, Field broke into her former husband’s home in the Telfair subdivision on May 1 while he was in Galveston getting remarried. She used a cigarette lighter to set a fire to the mattress of a guest bedroom, which caused damage to the room, a walk-in closet and an attached bathroom.
While in the backyard, she detached a propane tank from a grill to smash a double-pane window, but was only able to break the outer pane. She also dumped numerous potted plants, a power washer and a metal garden cross in the pool, the reports state.
Field originally was indicted by a Fort Bend County grand jury in May on two felony charges: arson and burglary of a habitation.
According to the police reports, she confessed to a detective, saying she was upset after having a few drinks and hearing the news about her ex-husband’s wedding.
The justice system had this woman dead to rights. She was guilty. She confessed.
Instead of sending her to jail for arson, they let her take a lesser offense, “criminal mischief.” I’m not an attorney, but I believe this is what teenagers are charged with who toilet paper fronts lawns, smash pumpkins at Halloween and other acts of petty vandalism.
How does a person go from arson to criminal mischief? Would they have let a man plea to the lesser offense or would he rightfully be sitting in jail for arson?
Furthermore, she’s only on leave from her job teaching first graders. Would you want this woman teaching your 6-year old child? Why didn’t she immediately lose her job? Wouldn’t a male teacher lose his job for the same crime?
In addition to highlighting the glaring double standards in the U.S. Justice system when it comes to sentencing women who commit crimes, Ms Field’s misadventures illustrate just how dangerous high-conflict and/or personality disordered women can be—even after and especially after you believe your relationship is over.
The articles cited above as sources don’t state that Ms Field has a personality disorder, but clearly something isn’t right. I could speculate about possible diagnoses. Let’s see, what kind of personality disorder might be implicated here?
Ex-husband remarries. Ex-wife learns about the marriage on the day of the wedding. Her abandonment/rejection issues get triggered, she becomes enraged, has a few drinks (i.e., Whoopsy—I was drunk and, therefore, not responsible for my actions), she breaks and enters into her ex’s home, sets it on fire and tears up his garden and breaks stuff.
Fortunately, most suspected HCPs (high-conflict people) and/or APDIs (abusive personality disordered individuals; borderline, narcissistic, anti-social, histrionic, paranoid, etc.) don’t go to this extreme. However, they are incredibly destructive in other ways. If children are involved, they perpetrate parental alienation. They engage in smear campaigns. They make false allegations. They deny access to children. They target and go after new spouses and girlfriends.
This is why you must be so very careful about the women you couple with romantically. When dealing with HCPs/APDIs, there seems to be three types of behaviors post-break up.
- Cut-off queens. This kind of woman cuts you out of her life without looking back as she moves on to her next target.
- I can’t quit you. There is no leaving this kind of woman. She won’t let you. She will go to any length to remain connected and engage with you—even if one or both of you are remarried. They often use shared children to do so.
- Intermittent resurfacers. This kind of woman resurfaces periodically. This typically happens when she learns you’re dating or becoming serious about a new woman and/or when her latest target has gotten wise to her and flown the coop.
Why do I post stories about women like Lynn Ellen Field? Because society needs to start taking the danger these kinds of women pose seriously. We also need to start holding these women accountable and give them the same level of punishment as men who commit the same offenses. Police need to start taking these women seriously, too, and quit arresting men when the woman is the violent partner.
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OMG Dr T, where do you find them?
I’m afraid to say I think my SO’s one is likely to hang around like a bad smell. Guess it will be interesting the day we decide we want to get married…
A regular reader sent me the link to the news item.
Can you imagine it? It’s your wedding day. You’re with your spouse, friends and family, celebrating the occasion and get notified by the cops that your crazy ex tried to burn your house down.
If my child was in this woman’s class or scheduled to be this fall, I’d demand they dismiss her permanently or pull my kid out of the system. NUTZ.
Some women will do anything to keep the focus on themselves and make it all about them.
Dr.T you say: ” Why do I post stories about women like Lynn Ellen Field? Because society needs to start taking the danger these kinds of women pose seriously. We also need to start holding these women accountable and give them the same level of punishment as men who commit the same offenses. Police need to start taking these women seriously, too, and quit arresting men when the woman is the violent partner.”
Thank you.
The system is inept. After 22 years of marriage I am getting divorced from an histrionic/alcoholic/AD/blah blah blah..
In 2005 I told Social Services that she had a mental disorder which I had identified as BPD on my own. I was close as she got diagnosed with histrionic. Same bag of ducks. Today social services have taken a 6 year old of mine saying I wasn’t protective of her enough. 9 years ago they asked me to be supportive of my wife by letting her go to her AA meetings and whatever she needed( as if I wasn’t supportive, I suppose that is the song my wife sang them behind my back). I was arrested 3 times over 10 years things were so crazy. After my first arrest for DV I searched hard to figure out her behaviors. Today SS doesn’t take any responsibility for it and reproach me to have endured the situation and furthered her mental disorder and alcoholism for 8 years since their involvement. The court system was nice and sealed two of my records. Nonetheless I was ruined professionally which furthered our marital difficulties. My credit is shot as well and I can’t find a job in Finance with a 10 year hole on my resume ( I did do construction/labor work but got in a car crash in 2009 and broke my back so no more of that). Thank God I am figuring out a business to start with three friends.
Cops? They don’t know sh*t and don’t care as long as they bag one. and playing hero in the triangle of hero-victim-perpetrator, cops want to be the hero and the guy the perp. They rescue the victim Crazy and are not slick enough to figure they are being Bamboozled. Easy. This thing has ruined my life, my soon to be ex-wife’s life, three kids’ lives and the extended family as well. The hard part for me is to understand she’s mentally handicapped, love her since the better days, and watching her walk out to a lover/accomplice/ drunk. She now forms a nice drunkle with her new toy. I don’t know if any good ever comes out of these situations but I hope so. I didn’t go to Iraq or Afghanistan, but I was at war for 14 years. I often wished I had a gun instead! ah ah!
The economics? social assistance for 8 freakin years. I got higher education to make things better for everyone and I liked going to work in the corporate setting (IT). Instead I ended up in jail 3 times, DV classes twice, counseling galore etc… a nightmare.
Overall I wished my wife had burned the house down 14 years ago. She would at least have been caught to productive ends for something else than extramarital sex.
I know many folks often tell me I should have left etc. Well I couldn’t leave my kids with this nut and I have no family in this country. so I tried to endure, understand, fix, fight, hope etc… and got damaged, and even social services reproach it to me. I drank the whole bottle of fuckitall. That helped. Now making money to get my daughter back through legal means is my main focus. That helps not think about the past so I should achieve just from assiduity.
Thank you for being.
She looks so happy in her picture! Was it taken before or after the house burning?
Looks like it may have been taken at the school that still employs her, where she sets an example for the young minds she is shaping.
Clearly the actions of a deranged individual. The restitution should be followed up with a civil case claiming serious emotional distress against her.
Proper behavior would be for her to make her case in the proper venue, which is the court system. But this too is heavily pro-women, where false abuse claims abound (but eyes are slowly being opened to this). She went vigilante and this decision is what the courts should clearly deter against.
I agree. If the criminal courts won’t mete out real justice, go to civil court.
My ex did a variation on the “cut-off queen” and “I can’t quit you”. She’d leave drunken telephone messages, lamenting the end of our relationship, but whenever I tried to talk sensibly to her about reconciliation, she’d pull back.
When I finally confronted her with “exactly what do you want”, she decided to file a false police report, and that’s when the no contact started. I’m sure her decision to stop the “I can’t quit you” was heavily influenced by the fact that she was in another relationship.
Classic.
OMG! This is literally the town next to me!
And my husband’s crazy ex-wife is also a school teacher. Go figure!
I think it’s disgusting how light this woman got off.
A lot of these nutters are school teachers and nurses. Very strange.
Both professions play into their need to control…and what easier subjects to control than sick people and children.
My ex-girlfriend was a personal trainer – yet another “giving” and “helping” profession, which helps these nutcases firm up their public persona of being “giving” and “helpful” people. And also gives them ammunition against you if you ever try to accuse them of being cruelly selfish and unempathic.
Hey Gang,
OMG!!!! This sounds familiar. As I had shared before my psycho ex showed up banging on my door at 3am threatening to “Burn my House Down”. Also to kill me, cut my balls off etc etc. Sometimes I think these crazies have some secret club where they gather to discuss how ALL ex’s must be made to PAY for having the unmitigated gual to break up with them.
It is like they all use the same play book. Maybe if I could cross dress & learn their secret handshake to get into a meeting I could get a copy of that thing. It would be a dangerous mission that could result in my death if they found out I had a penis….but so worth it….lol
The plea bargain itself is something that has become the norm in today’s crowded court system male or female. Time was though when they had a lot of evidence + a confession where the perp might be offered 20% less time & that was about it. Still I suspect even with a plea bargain a male would have received jail time.
I also believe that any male teacher would have been dismissed. I would never allow a teacher who does this to teach my child. I realize in some districts it is hard to get a teacher fired due to fear of civil suits. This woman would be just the type to file one. After all,all wrongs against her must be punished. If I was giving the benefit of the doubt to the school district that is all I can think of. Otherwise fire this crazy who has a HUGE influence on our children.
Love your comment on the cut off queen. Why couldn’t I have run into that one instead?….LOL Sadly I got the “I can’t quit him”. Even sadder she latter met & married from all accounts a nice guy. He left her for abuse then she did all the exact same things to him, including the false charge of assault. Only she due to her Dad being a Sheriff Deputy, didn’t even get a slap on the wrist. NO CHARGES HAVE EVER BEEN FILED AGAINST HER!!!
I just know one will eventually be & it may be murder of her next victim. She has already learned she is above the law so it would be the next step. The woman in this story may do the same. When punishment is minimal or non existant the message goes out that she can do it again.
Very Sad
Ron
2 years probation? If this was a man he would get 10 years at least.
I guess the “IN” Justice System forgot about old Betty Broderick. The above loonies antics are close to Betty’s. My daughter had a crazy Kindergarten Teacher who threatened to cut off the kids heads and fingers with a sword if they stepped out of line. I raised Holy Hell. They moved her to the third graders and hired a person to watch her. I would have picked the 8th graders to drive her nuts, and then I would have had grounds to not rehire her if I was the principal, but then I am a realist and like to protect the innocent. The person they hired to watch the crazy teacher told me that she got tired of trying to be her clown to cheer her up and help her not get stressed after a few years so she quit. Every excuse was made for that teacher. It was pathetic.
The B’s get away with it because people don’t want to judge, can’t handle that evil people exist, God will save them, and/or don’t want to get the payback from them for doing the right thing. I sometimes can’t blame people on the later. It isn’t worth it in the end a lot of times because the laws clearly protect them. Rehabilitation is well known not to work with this group for most of their behaviors; yet it is the mainstay in the law and with a lot of clinician’s. I have seen people treat them, and they got the White Glove Service. It was sickening. I thought I stepped over into The Twilight Zone and entered the Reverse Universe.
They probably gave her a lesser offense so “her” life isn’t harmed. I agree that smashing pumpkins, wax on windows, etc. is criminal mischief. I call her offenses arson, assault, and her behavior is more than enough to get committed for being a danger to herself and others in a psyche ward for a long time. I truly believe that other countries need to detain psychopathic people like England does and monitor them once properly diagnosed for life.
Exactly, people keep making excuses for them and prevent them from experiencing the consequences. The victims end up experiencing the consequences. The only good thing is at least the couple wasn’t in the house. The HCP gets off lightly and the couple has to clean up the mess she made, deal with insurance to cover the damages. Not to mention, they probably don’t feel safe in their own home with this psycho running loose. She should be jailed and fired from her teaching job.
Has anyone seen “Letter to Zachary”? It’s absoulte heart wrenching. Shriley Turner was a HCP woman who was repeatedly allowed to get away with stalking behaviors and left a trail of carnage behind her.
The problem is no one takes the HCP women seriously, especially when they’re targeting men, until it’s too late. When there are murders, there was usually plenty of stalking/harassment leading up to it.
This type of story doesn’t entirely surprise me; however I am glad that you brought this to the surface. I would be interested in what your thoughts are on the Anthony Wiener “scandal” are. Now a “former” female adult video model is coming forward playing victim that she was coerced to lie. All the while having Nancy Pelosi by her side for support. And this is after over 100 emails were exchanged between the two of them. I’m not saying that Wiener would not benefit from some outside help, however I feel that our culture is really blowing this out of proportion. Is it because he’s a man? Yes, he lied about it, however when self-preservation is at stake, I don’t think anyone else would of done anything different.
Personally, I don’t think the photos were all that scandelous. I’ve seen way more provocative photos on the web. Apparently women from across the globe are up in arms over this. A more balanced perspective would be welcome.
gooberzz–I don’t know if Wiener showed his wiener to her or not. I don’t believe any person in authority should be doing that period. If he did, he should man up and admit to the truth. This is hugely lacking in our society, and getting caught is not an excuse to have no backbone. It’s a good way to set yourself up to have zero credibility. If it were a woman, than she should woman up. The part that gets to me is that the woman I heard about does porn movies and then expects to be treated with dignity and respect. Give me a break lady.
People in “authority” should be more worried about our broken economy than what someone does on their personal time…albeit whether you think it’s distasteful or not, nothing illegal was done here….This is just another distraction to keep the American people from the real issues that are not being addressed.
Why does it have to be a one dimensional locus of change? Why can’t morality and finances both be the target? By the way, if a person such as him is going to do something like that on his time, he is going to screw with you on your time. It is a paraphilia and these behaviors belong to larger problems such as personality disorders almost all the time. You shoot yourself in the foot with your black and white argument in another way. You apparently want women held accountable such as the school teacher above who torched her husband’s bedroom on her own time; yet you defend Wiener. It is clearly an illogical biased argument with not a lot of grounding.
Your putting words into my mouth. I did not say that I defend his actions, I only question the reaction of the mass media and those who support their opinions.
If you read my comment again, I said explicitly, “I’m not saying that Wiener would not benefit from some outside help, however I feel that our culture is really blowing this out of proportion.” And to add…Wiener did not light someone’s house on fire after a night of binge drinking. Which not only put herself in danger, but the people who lived around that property in danger. Sending pictures of yourself of you in your underwear to porn stars does not lead to fatal consequences, or really compare to that of someone setting someone else’s house on fire.
My point has more to do with society’s reaction to when men go bad vs. when women go bad. To add, former female “porn stars” are portraying themselves as victims when they consented to over 100 emails and are not accepting their share of accountability, but instead are playing victims with a martyr complex. I smell book deal, and there are plenty of man-hating, femi-nazi, she-devils that will eat this crap up like a pack of piranhas.
I encourage you to consider my point as I intended. Whether you agree, or not, is not up to me, however I was more so soliciting Dr. T’s perspective and not looking to “expand an argument.” I am not here to solicit your displaced anger, or have words put into mouth…or fingers.
Whether a congressman or a first grade teacher these are two professions that are supposed to serve the public good. I am not trying to negate accountability for either of them, just trying to understand and get a broader perspective from a trained and experienced professional in these matters.
Female porn stars seem to be popping up in almost every scandal these days.Sandra Bullock/Tiger Woods…there sure are not many male porn stars out there getting headlines.There seems to be a trend that is trying to make porn stars mainstream and on par with legit entertainers.It certainly is not the most healthy thing happening today.
Personally, I don’t care what politicians do with their person lives as long as they don’t try to impose their morality on others in the name of “family values”. I have to admit, I enjoy watching the family values types squirm.
As for the women claiming Weiner started talking suggestively first, well unless you work for the dude (in which case it may be sexual harassment) or a child (in which case it’s highly inappropriate, and may be illegal), there’s always the option of hanging up the phone, ignoring the text, blocking him on email/Facebook (and I imagine Twitter, but I don’t Tweet, so I’m not familiar with it). If you keep talking with him and follow the suggestive lead, you can’t play victim or “innocence abused” I have no respect for people who come forward about things like this as if they’re taking some sort of higher ground.
I live in the NYC area, so as you can well imagine it’s dominating headlines. All’s I can say is my inner junior high schooler is laughing like Beavis & Butthead over all of the puns the papers are coming up with.
I’d rather not express my political views because many people split others who don’t agree with their own political views.
However, I will say that as far as congressional and senatorial malfeasance goes, consensual sexting doesn’t make my top 10 list of things that bother me. Politicians who take legally sanctioned bribes and campaign contributions from lobbyists of the wealthy top 1% to continue to destroy the environment and continue the Wall Street casino bothers me. Denying healthcare and treating it like a privilege of the wealthy instead of a fundamental human right bothers me. Weiner sexting a bunch of bimbos and lying about something that’s no one’s business except the individuals directly involved does not bother me. The media coverage and faux outrage of politicians and certain talking heads bothers me.
Very well put. Thank you.
Wow! If a guy committed the crimes that this woman did, he’d be locked up in prison serving hard time! There would be a special on Nancy Grace talking about the violence of men against women. He’d lose his job and likely not be allowed to teach in that state again. As a society, we need to learn that a crime is a crime no matter which gender commits it. It certainly doesn’t make it any less of a crime just because a woman commited it.
ahh…men have a new potential plea for particular kinds of violent crimes, they can claim they were “temporarily female.”
huh…on the flipside…in my current custody proceedings, i have actually considered requesting the court recognize me as the emotional mother of our children. i haven’t done it, because of well, how “odd” it seems, as true as it is.
This is a little off subject but not by much. The fact that she is a teacher reminds me of something we have seen a LOT of in the last 10-15 years. That is, female teachers have sexual affairs with teen & in some cases preteen students.
The punishment issued out is laughable. When it is a man the punishment is pretty sever. I have no problem with that. It should be sever. But when it is a female offender they usually don’t get jail time at all. They are at least usually fired but the punishment the courts issue is DIRECTLY related to how attractive they are. The more attractive the lower the punishment.
I saw a D A on TV defending a case where the woman got probation…That’s ALL she got. The BOY was 15 years old. The DA’s defense of it was, “well this was a boy not a girl she had sex with & boys at age 14 are already sexually charged”. WHAT????? Does a 14 year old boy have the ability to make adult decisions? Does a 14 year old boy have the ability to realize that he is HEAVILY influenced by the actions of an adult who is placed in his charge? NO!!! What about the woman who had several sexual encounters with female students. She got probation as well. It is time that we had 1 standard of justice. Not one for men & one for women.
One thing I’ve noticed is that when a male is the perpetrator in these cases the media refers to them as “child molesters” (rightly so) but when it’s a female perpetrator the situation is referred to as “an affair”.
You are correct Beesley.How many female rapists have you read about lately?
By the way,check out the happy,smiling “mug shot” of Lynn Ellen Field (she even is using the hip/cool,use my middle name star treatment). Why is this women smiling?
Because she just got a hand slapping for what should have been an attempted murder charge?
Opps 15 year old. The 14 year old was Mary Kay Laterno’s victim
Note to all crazy grade school teachers out there: When filled, a standard outdoor grill propane tank weighs 60-70 pounds. Find something else to heave through the window.
You’re welcome.
🙂
What kind of medication was the judge on during the trial?
This crazy lady should have faced a charge in the line of attempted murder.
What if she had locked them inside the house and then set it on fire?
It is plain to see that the dual standard is still alive and well.
A man would be spending his days in an orange flannel suit if he was caught setting fire to someones house.
Thank you for putting this article up there.Thank the editor of the newspaper for having the guts to print it….certainly would not hear this story on the Opra Winfrey Network.
These types of felonies are unacceptable in our society. The fact that she got off so lightly and still influences children is scary. Men are viewed as being in majority power and not needing any specific private or governmental help to prevent grievous oversight like this. This is simply not true. I wish I knew how to handle setting up some sort of organization like that, I’d definitely support one if I could find one.
I’m not an attorney but from my military justice classes, you charge against what you know you can prove. For example, there’s a big difference in charging someone with Unauthorized Absence vice Desertion. In the former, you only have to prove the person wasn’t where they were supposed to be. In the latter, they had to be gone 30 days and show they had no intent to return.
My guess is the burden of proof on the felony charges was significantly higher than the misdemeanors she got hit with. The prosecutor probably felt that if he/she went the felony route, a sympathetic jury would let the woman off entirely. Also, if she’s as whacked as she appears to be, there’s a good chance she’ll violate the terms of her sentence and get tossed back in.
The scary thing is she may get worse and next time somebody might get hurt.
As a social worker, I’ve seen many court cases. There are so many variables that can affect the outcome – I saw a judge have a youthful offender handcuffed for making a face at his mother, and I saw another judge give a lenient sentance out of sympathy for someone who led a law-abiding life until she turned to drugs during hard times.
I’ve seen defense attorneys work out plea deals because they knew they’d lose at trial, and wanted to get the lightest possible sentence for the defendant. From Dr. T’s post, this sounds like what happened. The evidence was overwhelming, her lawyer knew he’d get his ass kicked at trial, so it was better to plead out. The DA gets a conviction, and the defense attorney gets the best possible outcome for his client. Conversely, I’ve seen prosecutors offer deals just to move things along, usually in City Court where they tend to have a docket full of assaults, drug arrests, burglaries, etc.
At the risk of comparing apples to oranges, a lot of town/village courts in my area reduce moving violations to parking tickets simply because the parking ticket revenue stays in that municipality, whereas the money from most moving violations goes to the county or state.
How many social workers have you seen act as enablers of abusive women? I’m quite certain that this is very common.
At least lawyers act publically and have some (although limited) accountability.
Hard to say. HIPAA regulations prevent me from knowing the details of caseloads other thanthose of the people I supervise.
It’s easier to see in the context of office dynamics. My agency has its share of PDed people and the negative advocates who latch onto them.
In addition to my earlier comments about how she should be fired & locked up, why is there nothing about alcohol treatment or staying away from alcohol or drugs? Mental health counseling may be part of that. But since she claimed she had a few drinks before she did this, she apparently has a substance abuse problem. People who commit assaults or get into accidents under the influence of alcohol or other drugs often are sentenced to mandatory treatment and have to be monitored via urine tests. Why isn’t that happening in her case?
I would love to hear more about “Cut off Queens” sometime.
I’m confused about the “cut off queens” post-breakup behavior. Isn’t that the healthiest route in many cases? What is the healthiest post-breakup behavior? (Obviously it’s not Nos. 2 or 3.) Thanks! I love this blog and share it often on Facebook.
Dr. T’s site has been an incredible source of personal growth and awareness for me. For better or for worse, I have come to recognize many of my wife’s characteristics after reading the numerous articles. It has been a real eye-opener.
Attached is a link to a very recent article from the Los Angeles Times on a BPD female’s apparently false accusations of rape and assault against her former boyfriend (the father of her son), from whom she was attempting to wrest sole custody. This man barely escaped a criminal conviction and prison based on this woman’s accusations, which were ultimately reveled to be meritless.
This article is consistent with Dr. T’s forum and discussion on how these “high conflict” women will go to frightening and extreme lengths in the effort to push men out of their children’s lives.
Here is the link to the news story:
——————–
In this assault case, the puzzle pieces don’t fit
——————–
A detective can find nothing to place Las Vegas banker Louis Gonzalez III at the scene of a vicious attack at his ex-girlfriend’s house in 2008.
By Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times
June 27 2011, 5:53 PM PDT
Second of two parts
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-accused-20110628,0,7173125.story
Well, as a prosecutor, I have to say that a crime like this would almost always be pled out in a similar fashion. When your docket is crammed with child molesters, rapists, and murderers, a case involving property damage is likely to be low in priority. Especially in a place like Houston, where there are so many cases.
As to her employment, that is another story entirely. Frankly, her school should be inundated with letters, emails and telephone calls stating that she should be fired. She could certainly try to sue, but since Texas is an at-will state, the school district would be fine to fire her for any reason, a criminal conviction being the least of which.
Unfortunately, education is one of the places where people like this thrive. Kids are REQUIRED to give unconditional obedience to the teacher. I believe this is why my wife has been able to be a kindergarten teacher for so long.