wwyd - school related

[jkjs]

My son has been training for eight weeks for a sporting contest in which he has the opportunity to set some age-based state records. Because it is age-based, this is his last chance to set the records. The contest is Saturday.

He just started his gym rotation at school on monday. Today was his second day of gym. They are playing soccer for gym. Because of the (slim) chance of injury - twisted ankle, hurt knee, fall and break arm - we asked in a note to the teacher that he be excused from gym today. It would have been a real shame if he missed this chance because of a freak injury. We said if it presented a problem to please call us.

We never received a call and my son had to perform some baseline running drills (presumably to show progress, we don't know). We are upset that my son had to do gym against our wishes and that we never received a call.

How would you handle this?

 

[Kristibo42]

My son has been training for eight weeks for a sporting contest in which he has the opportunity to set some age-based state records. Because it is age-based, this is his last chance to set the records. The contest is Saturday.

He just started his gym rotation at school on monday. Today was his second day of gym. They are playing soccer for gym. Because of the (slim) chance of injury - twisted ankle, hurt knee, fall and break arm - we asked in a note to the teacher that he be excused from gym today. It would have been a real shame if he missed this chance because of a freak injury. We said if it presented a problem to please call us.

We never received a call and my son had to perform some baseline running drills (presumably to show progress, we don't know). We are upset that my son had to do gym against our wishes and that we never received a call.

How would you handle this?

When that happened to our daughter. We had a doctor write the note. Our school would not take a note from the parents.

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

How old is he? How many days is the rotation?

No one will agree with me here, but since I have older kids now, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes bending the rules is ok. If this is a once in a lifetime deal, and you don't pull him out of other things at the drop of a hat, and it is worrying you, then insist. Call. At worst, can you go pick him up for that hour? It is going to be a non-issue in two more days, right?

I am sympathetic because when my son's baseball team went to Cooperstown, we had families investing thousands of dollars in this trip, and we only had 10 kids playing and my son was a pitcher. I worried myself sick before we left.

 

[BobbieD]

Sometimes it has to be medical in nature for the child to be excused...otherwise they are required to participate or be marked down grade wise.

I would just call or email the PE teacher and ask about it.

 

[LuvLDM]

I wouldn't do anything. He wasn't injured was he?
I think requesting a call from the teacher during school hours was unreasonable on your part.

 

[handinpocket]

You know, a freak accident could happen anywhere.......he could step in a hole outside and break his leg. I would not have asked for him to be excused in the first place and I would let this go.

 

[jkjs]

How old is he? How many days is the rotation?

No one will agree with me here, but since I have older kids now, I have come to the conclusion that sometimes bending the rules is ok. If this is a once in a lifetime deal, and you don't pull him out of other things at the drop of a hat, and it is worrying you, then insist. Call. At worst, can you go pick him up for that hour? It is going to be a non-issue in two more days, right?

He (13) only has gym Mon and Wed each week.

If we knew our request was going to be ignored we would not have sent him today.

 

[BobbieD]

I wouldn't do anything. He wasn't injured was he?
I think requesting a call from the teacher during school hours was unreasonable on your part.

I didn't see where they asked for a call during school hours..they simply asked to be notified if there were questions/concerns about the excuse note. That could have been done by the teacher before or after school or via email.

 

[Kristibo42]

He could get hurt just waking down the halls, riding in a bus or car. Maybe you should have kept him home that day.

 

[DopeyDame]

Does he have PE the rest of the week? If not, I'd let it go.
If so, call the school and speak to someone directly to make sure they know what you want. Of course, be prepared for his PE grade to take a hit due to lack of participation, but that's probably not a big deal.
Good luck to him on Saturday!

 

[LynneIL]

I think it would depend on how the note was written. If you asked that he be excused from playing soccer – then they did that. If you asked that he be excused from gym – then they didn’t do that.

I would make a phone call and ask that there be better communication in the future. If there was a problem with your request, then they needed to alert you.

 

[BobbieD]

He (13) only has gym Mon and Wed each week.

If we knew our request was going to be ignored we would not have sent him today.

How was the note sent to the teacher? Do you know for certain they even received it or that it isn't sitting in their mailbox or interoffice envelope somewhere?

 

[ColoradoMom!!]

He (13) only has gym Mon and Wed each week.

If we knew our request was going to be ignored we would not have sent him today.

So no more gym before Saturday? Let it go and count your blessings.

Let us know how it goes Saturday - how wonderful for him!!

 

[jkjs]

My son gave the note to the teacher.

We asked that he be excused from gym (not specifically soccer).

A lower PE grade versus having a State Record. We'll take the State Record.

Yes, freak accidents could happen anywhere. In this case, we thought it prudent to remove one risk by not having him do gym for a day.

 

[trip]

Not sure what can be done after the fact. At least he wasn't hurt.

What was the sporting contest?

 

[dakcp2001]

At the age of 13, what was HIS reaction when asked to participate? Did the teacher force him to do it with threat of punishment, or ask him and he agreed? I would want the full story before jumping to any conclusions.

 

[Ceila]

You know, a freak accident could happen anywhere.......he could step in a hole outside and break his leg. I would not have asked for him to be excused in the first place and I would let this go.

He could get hurt just waking down the halls, riding in a bus or car. Maybe you should have kept him home that day.

You two honestly think that a kid is just a likely to twist an ankle walking down the hall as he is in gym class? You must have some seriously dangerous hallways!

OP, for a once-in-a-lifetime event such as your son has coming up, I can understand being extra cautious. It's a shame that the school did not honor your request, but since it's said and done, I wouldn't bother to address it. Good luck to him this weekend!!

 

[BobbieD]

My son gave the note to the teacher.

We asked that he be excused from gym (not specifically soccer).

A lower PE grade versus having a State Record. We'll take the State Record.

Yes, freak accidents could happen anywhere. In this case, we thought it prudent to remove one risk by not having him do gym for a day.

You know for certain he gave it to the teacher and didn't just toss it on his desk or something? Not to be difficult but stuff happens and kids are not the most forthcoming about that kind of thing.

The thing about the grade vs the record..it likely would have been your son who made the choice to run vs the lower grade. The teacher isn't pushing them around the track to run but might have said "no excuses..you will be marked down" and as such he ran instead.

If it was me I would simply want to know if the teacher had the note and if so why he ran. Non confrontational via phone call or email to get the details and go from there. At this point he will not have gym again until after his competition so it's just a matter of understanding what occurred so that in the future if this comes up again you know possible issues (like if it has to be a medical excuse vs parental excuse or if they have a preferred way to receive the notes..etc).

 

[soccerdad72]

Sounds like the gym teacher translated the note based on the spirit with which you sent it -- in other words, keeping your son away from contact and anything that would have likely gotten him hurt. He/She probably felt like your son should be doing something physical during PE, so they had him running by himself. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

 

[BobbieD]

Sounds like the gym teacher translated the note based on the spirit with which you sent it -- in other words, keeping your son away from contact and anything that would have likely gotten him hurt. He/She probably felt like your son should be doing something physical during PE, so they had him running by himself. Doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

That's a good point..it could simply be an interpretation thing based on how the note was worded. Did the note state "absolutely no activity in gym class at all" or was it worded to indicate no contact type things like football? Running could be considered relatively low risk vs soccer or football and the teacher just used their best judgement based on how they understood what was being asked.