topic Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately? in Community Chat

Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

SydneyH — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:18:07 GMT

This story is making the rounds in talk radio this morning. Embarrassing a 6 year old child seems heavy handed imho.

http://koin.com/2015/02/26/school-policy-under-fire-after-1st-grader-tardy/

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

hyacinth003 — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:27:17 GMT

Having kids late to school is disruptive to the other kids.

However, in this case, the child is only a first grader.

In first grade, the PARENTS are responsible for him being there on time. He is not old enough to be held responsible.

Too bad the parents didn't have to sit alone for lunch!

Hyacinth

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

SydneyH — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:30:02 GMT

I agree, that tardiness needs to be addressed but this particular approach strikes me as cruel and unproductive. To compound matters, the mother posted a picture of him in distress on FaceBook and then it went viral.........

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

brii — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:31:33 GMT

Why do these things have to get posted to FB? I bet the superintendent is going to get threats now?

Get your kid to school on time. If you have a problem with their policy, bring it up to the district.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

Lion — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:34:31 GMT

The "supervised additional learning time in a non-distracting setting" shouldn't be done in a lunch room during lunch time.

That's a distracting setting, along with being humiliating.

There have to be other times and ways to give him additional learning time w/o hurting him.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

SydneyH — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:34:41 GMT

I understand the mother being frustrated, but it was an unwise move imho. She should have put more effort into resolving why they were constantly late.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

TaxyLady — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:34:58 GMT

I don't believe this mother for a minute. She kept calling her first grader baby. Now that is embarrassing to a child. Rules must be obeyed and punishment given for breaking the rules, Otherwise there is chaos. Unfortunately it is the parent to be blamed. I am sure also we don't know the whole story. Is this a private or public school?

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

nunya — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:52:10 GMT

I feel for the little boy, but school starts at the same time for everyone. His parents are responsible, not him.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

qualitygal — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 20:59:31 GMT

If this is about that little boy being separated at lunch time.......that's just plain crazy. Honestly, I don't know what this world is coming to. If the parents got him there late, it's their fault. The child can't make the parents DO anything. Holy smokes.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

RedHeadedWench — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:00:50 GMT

The parents are the issue here, not this poor boy.

If you have a health issue, and you know that it will take you more time to get your child to school....get up earlier. Don't use it as an excuse. If it is that debilitating, then perhaps your child needs to ride the bus or get in to a car pool.

ETA:

The principal is wrong here...you don't use a method of punishment that is going to humiliate the child. That is teaching him nothing, and just causing him to feel bad about himself....and this is not his fault.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

Lion — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:03:27 GMT

If you read the article, the school's policy is *not* meant to be a punishment.

It's supposed to give additional learning time to the student to make up for missing class time, and it's supposed to be done in a non-distracting atmosphere.

A busy, noisy lunch room is definitely distracting and not the place for additional learning time. It also blatantly singles out the child for humiliation.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

RainCityGirl — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:04:18 GMT

I taught in a school where the kids were the main reason many of them were tardy. They were teens. After so many tardies, they went into in school suspension in a room adjacent to the school library. Of course, the teachers were punished in a way because they had to send a week or three day's of assignments that could be done in that room when many other things were covered in the classroom. The room had a study proctor and had partitioned study carrels, and students were not allowed to talk to one another during their stays in that room. They worked, had bathroom breaks, and ate their lunches in that room as well. They got credit for the assignments they did, but they were responsible for making up what they missed in the classroom. Most of the parents supported this, but you always get some who think everything is the fault of the schools no matter what it is. I personally see no logic in having a punishment in a cafeteria during lunchtime. Ridiculous. There must be more to the story.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

NoelSeven — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:04:47 GMT

The principal is a sadistic bully. The punishment not only did not fit the crime, but that kind of humiliation only teaches a child to hate school.

Disciplinary action should be taken against the principal. I'd suggest making him sit alone in the cafeteria during his lunch break for a week.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

chrystaltree — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:04:58 GMT

Of course not, the child is 6 years old. He has no control over when or even if he shows up at school. So, why humiliate a little boy for something that isn't his fault? I think the "bully" word is terrible over used today but in this case, it's appropriate. The man's a bully.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

SydneyH — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:23:00 GMT

I'm under the impression the Principal is female, the Superintendent is male.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

missy1 — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:24:03 GMT

Isn't there a lunch detention room at the school? Here they have one. The student could have went there. So many tardies, you lose a recess here.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

brii — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:25:28 GMT

Whose policy is it for kids who are late to sit in the lunch room alone - the principal or the superintendent?

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

Marienkaefer2 — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:25:30 GMT

Here are my thoughts: If the mom has trouble getting him to school on time because she has osteoporosis (as she stated in the interview), then she should talk to school.administrators about it, and seek some kind of accommodation for him to arrive, say, ten minutes late every day. This way, the teacher knows, can be prepared for it, and it's an "excused" tardiness, so to speak. That being said, If the mom is ill, then why can't the dad, or grandma (who posted this on FB), take over making sure he gets to school on time? Now, on the other side of the coin, perhaps the school has reached out to the parents about this many times over a long period of time, with no resolution. I DON'T agree with what they did, however, it seems a pretty drastic move designed to get the parents' attention on this matter. I know for a fact that parents can be contacted numerous times about issues with their children, and many times they never respond. Just being a couple minutes late on a regular basis, combined with the other issues that teachers address over the course of a day, can be very disruptive. I don't agree with what the school did, but we also don't know the background leading up to this, and I fault the parents more. They KNEW the school policy, and their child BEGS to be on time every morning. They should have taken it more seriously.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

SydneyH — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:28:36 GMT

On 3/2/2015 brii said:
Whose policy is it for kids who are late to sit in the lunch room alone - the principal or the superintendent?

From what I can tell, the Principal's, but one the Superintendent 'supported' until they came under fire.

Re: Did This Principal Act Appropriately?

brii — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 21:30:57 GMT

On 3/2/2015 SydneyH said:
On 3/2/2015 brii said:
Whose policy is it for kids who are late to sit in the lunch room alone - the principal or the superintendent?

From what I can tell, the Principal's, but one the Superintendent 'supported' until they came under fire.

Thanks.

I can't imagine this punishment is effective.

The parents and the principal should be working together to find some sort of solution without humiliating this little boy, IMO