The Knuckleheads of the Day award

Today's winners are Taneshia Gregory and Kisha Anderson. They get the award for the following.

One scene shows a man getting his arm hacked off with a machete. Another shows a pistol-whipping. Bullets fly as rampantly as the F-word is used -- 94 times -- in the movie Waist Deep.

But this R-rated film is what adult counselors at Miramar's city-sponsored day camp took the 12- to 15-year-olds in their charge to see.

''It's shocking to me,'' said Christina Ortega, whose 12-year-old daughter saw the movie June 27 while in the city's care. ``No one wanted to stand up and be an adult and say this isn't right?''

So vexed that her daughter saw the edgy movie while at Miramar's camp, Ortega complained to the city staff and an internal investigation was launched. In all, six staffers have been disciplined, with two counselors getting suspended without pay.

''It's not what the kids were supposed to see,'' said Phil Rosenberg, Miramar's Human Resources Director. ``R-rated movies are off limits.''

On the bus ride home from the the movie, the students made a pact not to tell their parents they had seen it. But because her daughter broke her silence, Ortega said she has had Gatorade poured over her head and was cursed out by the other kids.

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Tuesdays are movie day at the city's day camp, which charges $125 a week, when the group goes by bus to Flipper's Hollywood Cinema.

City staffers said the kids were supposed to see the animated Pixar movie Cars, which spins the tale of a hot-shot race car who finds friendship in a dusty old town. But on June 27th, the camp counselors took about 50 kids to Waist Deep, a movie about an ex-con whose son gets kidnapped during a carjacking. The main character, played by Tyrese Gibson, uses 'hood tactics to reclaim his son.

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Six employees, half of them full-time, were disciplined.

Lead counselor Taneshia Gregory, 25, who works part-time, was suspended this week from the $9.62-an-hour job for five days without pay. Lead Counselor Kisha Anderson, 35, was suspended without pay for three days. She earns $10.94 per hour. Anderson's punishment will begin next week, city officials said.

Of the four others, three got written up and one was verbally reprimanded.

A very dumb and foolish choice by all the Miramar city employees involved. Along with their suspensions, Taneisha Gregory and Kisha Anderson get today's Knucklehead of the day award.

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