It seems 3 previous posters must be younger than me because they are not aware of how things were at the time of the making of this episode. (The > to the left of a line means that was quoted from a prior post from someone else.)
> lyraaqb3 from Ireland wrote: >the horrible schoolteacher, Miss Frank, who psychologically brutalises Ilse. There is even an undercurrent of a repressed desire to inflict physical punishment on the child >as she generally picks up and clutches a ruler as she questions the girl. Miss Frank never gets her comeuppance nor is her cruelty ever recognised
At the time this episode aired, that was not considered abuse or cruelty, just stern and appropriate authoritative control. Teachers not only raised rulers to their students but were allowed to hit children with them at the time. They considered it "discipline", not abuse - my teachers "disciplined" several students in everyone's view with the standard (for the time) wooden rulers that had the sharp metal jutting out the side simply for not memorizing something they needed to know for a test. (I don't condone their actions, just stating the attitude of the time.)
> jcravens42 from Portland, Oregon, wrote: >Like many episodes, some of the biggest fiction is how officials are portrayed and emergencies supposedly handled: for instance, how a law enforcement officer deals with a >traumatized, suddenly-orphaned girl -- medical exam? psychological exam? social worker visit? They are never mentioned. He just brings her home to his wife, no >problem.
They did mention getting a medical exam. As for psychological exams, that wasn't really done at the time unless there were serious behavioral issues (e.g. the person appeared to be a danger to him/herself or someone else, or appeared to be what they considered at the time to be insane). As for a social worker, agencies like CPS (Child Protective Services) didn't really come about until sometime between 1974 and 1980 (11 to 17 years after the airing of this episode). In 1974, efforts by the states culminated in the passage of the federal "Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act" (CAPTA; Public Law 93-247) providing federal funding for wide-ranging federal and state child-maltreatment research and services. In 1980, Congress passed the first comprehensive federal child protective services act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-272). As for taking in an homeless child without any paperwork or real authority, I knew several people who did that and it was considered charitable, not unlawful.
>planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida, wrote: >Oddly, all of these folks look too old to do such an experiment--as they look to be at least middle-aged. >you, too, might find yourself wondering what makes the freaky school teacher tick---she's pretty intense (i.e., not child-friendly) and has an odd back story that is never fully >explained.
When Ilsa (actress Ann Jillian) is age 13, the actress portraying the woman she's living with had just turned 40 (just a couple weeks earlier) and actresses played roles of females younger than their actual ages so she was probably supposed to portray someone in her 30s, appropriate at the time for the role of a mother (adoptive, guardian, etc.) of a 13 year old.
I explained above about the teachers actions and attitude. She wasn't meant to be portrayed as not child friendly, she identified with Ilsa (she explains she was also trained as a child to be a mute telepath) and didn't want the little girl to feel like a lab experiment instead of a typical child. She was offering "tough love" as a way to help Ilsa learn to speak and become educated. (Again, I'm not condoning the actions and such, just stating the attitude of the time.)
> lyraaqb3 from Ireland wrote: >the horrible schoolteacher, Miss Frank, who psychologically brutalises Ilse. There is even an undercurrent of a repressed desire to inflict physical punishment on the child >as she generally picks up and clutches a ruler as she questions the girl. Miss Frank never gets her comeuppance nor is her cruelty ever recognised
At the time this episode aired, that was not considered abuse or cruelty, just stern and appropriate authoritative control. Teachers not only raised rulers to their students but were allowed to hit children with them at the time. They considered it "discipline", not abuse - my teachers "disciplined" several students in everyone's view with the standard (for the time) wooden rulers that had the sharp metal jutting out the side simply for not memorizing something they needed to know for a test. (I don't condone their actions, just stating the attitude of the time.)
> jcravens42 from Portland, Oregon, wrote: >Like many episodes, some of the biggest fiction is how officials are portrayed and emergencies supposedly handled: for instance, how a law enforcement officer deals with a >traumatized, suddenly-orphaned girl -- medical exam? psychological exam? social worker visit? They are never mentioned. He just brings her home to his wife, no >problem.
They did mention getting a medical exam. As for psychological exams, that wasn't really done at the time unless there were serious behavioral issues (e.g. the person appeared to be a danger to him/herself or someone else, or appeared to be what they considered at the time to be insane). As for a social worker, agencies like CPS (Child Protective Services) didn't really come about until sometime between 1974 and 1980 (11 to 17 years after the airing of this episode). In 1974, efforts by the states culminated in the passage of the federal "Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act" (CAPTA; Public Law 93-247) providing federal funding for wide-ranging federal and state child-maltreatment research and services. In 1980, Congress passed the first comprehensive federal child protective services act, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-272). As for taking in an homeless child without any paperwork or real authority, I knew several people who did that and it was considered charitable, not unlawful.
>planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida, wrote: >Oddly, all of these folks look too old to do such an experiment--as they look to be at least middle-aged. >you, too, might find yourself wondering what makes the freaky school teacher tick---she's pretty intense (i.e., not child-friendly) and has an odd back story that is never fully >explained.
When Ilsa (actress Ann Jillian) is age 13, the actress portraying the woman she's living with had just turned 40 (just a couple weeks earlier) and actresses played roles of females younger than their actual ages so she was probably supposed to portray someone in her 30s, appropriate at the time for the role of a mother (adoptive, guardian, etc.) of a 13 year old.
I explained above about the teachers actions and attitude. She wasn't meant to be portrayed as not child friendly, she identified with Ilsa (she explains she was also trained as a child to be a mute telepath) and didn't want the little girl to feel like a lab experiment instead of a typical child. She was offering "tough love" as a way to help Ilsa learn to speak and become educated. (Again, I'm not condoning the actions and such, just stating the attitude of the time.)