does this seem like an appropriate punishment for kindergarteners?

[CaoilinnsMom]

My daughter has told me several times that her class has to walk laps during recess for bad behavior. Sometimes it's the whole class, sometimes it is just the boys, one time it was every student but my daughter. This just does not seem right. It seems like a bad idea to make walking a punishment, sends the wrong message about exercise I think. It also seems wrong to take recess away from 5 year olds, they only get 20minutes/day to begin with. Just wanted to see what others think, I am thinking of having a conversation with the teacher.

 

[low-key]

I dont think its bad, but Im old school

 

[Turn the Page]

My daughter has told me several times that her class has to walk laps during recess for bad behavior. Sometimes it's the whole class, sometimes it is just the boys, one time it was every student but my daughter. This just does not seem right. It seems like a bad idea to make walking a punishment, sends the wrong message about exercise I think. It also seems wrong to take recess away from 5 year olds, they only get 20minutes/day to begin with. Just wanted to see what others think, I am thinking of having a conversation with the teacher.

I'm not sure. I see your point about perhaps giving them the idea that exercise is punishment but on the other hand at least the teacher isn't taking away recess completely. They are still getting outside and moving they just aren't allowed to do what they want to do. It may be effective. Whether or not it's the best way to go is something I just can't say for sure.

What I will say is that different methods work on different kids. There is no one magic method that is effective for all kids. Perhaps the teacher has found that this method works best on her class. Let's face it teachers are pretty limited when it comes to disciplinary methods they are allowed to use these days. Maybe she just feels this works best for her?

 

[Jennasis]

Not sure I'd take the word of a 5 year old as gospel. Perhaps you could ask the teacher directly what is happening.

One year when i was teaching my horse-back riding summer camp, I had a dad approach me on the last day of camp (which was parent day) and ask me about a lesson I had taught during the week. his child had informed him that I put gasoline on a stick and shoved it up the horse's butt.

I had them watch me put Vaseline on a thermometer so i could take a horse's temp. LOL.

Luckily dad was pretty sure her wires had gotten crossed somewhere!

 

[wilkeliza]

It depends.

I don't see it as an appropriate punishment unless the whole class or groups who are being punished did something bad. I can see they make the kids walk laps because it requires them to be active for the 20 minutes set aside for that but it isn't necessarily something they would enjoy.

I remember my pre-k and kindergarden teachers would just take recess away all together if we weren't behaving and we had to spend the extra time on lessons. I don't think they are allowed to do that any more.

 

[Diznygrl]

OMG Jennasis that is hysterical.

 

[Coonhound]

I've seen this before.
Making a child stay in from recess used to be common, but now we know kids need to be kept moving, making a child sit inside during recess will only make them more likely to misbehave because they're antsy.
Walking during recess is meant to "take away" recess (can't play on the swing set, can't play with their friends) but still gets them the physical activity they need.
I don't see the problem with it. Child is allowed to get all their energy out, but by being prevented from talking to friends and playing as normal, they understand there are consequences to their behavior.
I wouldn't try to take this away. Teachers are very limited in what they can even do anymore to have control over their classroom. This isn't that bad.

 

[MSSANDRA]

A few thought from someone that has taught 5 year olds:

First, remember that your child is 5. It would be pretty unusual for a kindergarten teacher to discipline all the children but one. Your child COULD have been the only one not involved, but I would not be so sure.

I'm not a fan of group punishment. If every child truly was outing out, the teacher has a problem with control.

Walking is a fairly common practice for discipline, but using it for kindergarten is less effective, they need to run wild for a bit at recess whenever possible. Yes, they are getting exercise, but not really releasing built up energy.

20 minutes is too long for 5 year olds. Five minutes is long enough.

It is always appropriate to question the discipline methods of anyone that cares for your child. Ask respectfuly and state your concerns and listen to what she is saying.

 

[jodifla]

Not appropriate. Is this teacher so unprofessional she already has no control of the class?


I would absolutely be double-checking this with the teacher.

 

[low-key]

First, remember that your child is 5. It would be pretty unusual for a kindergarten teacher to discipline all the children but one. Your child COULD have been the only one not involved, but I would not be so sure.

, anit that the truth

 

[Cantw8]

Not sure I'd take the word of a 5 year old as gospel. Perhaps you could ask the teacher directly what is happening.

One year when i was teaching my horse-back riding summer camp, I had a dad approach me on the last day of camp (which was parent day) and ask me about a lesson I had taught during the week. his child had informed him that I put gasoline on a stick and shoved it up the horse's butt.

I had them watch me put Vaseline on a thermometer so i could take a horse's temp. LOL.

Luckily dad was pretty sure her wires had gotten crossed somewhere!

Remind me not to go riding with you

 

[NCDisneyMom]

I don't remember if it started as young as Kindergarten, but my kids' teachers have used walking laps during recess for as long as I can remember. Sometimes the whole class, sometimes just individual students. These teachers' hands are really tied when it comes to punishment...I'm sure they get flack from parents no matter what they try to do. Once my older child reached middle school, they no longer had recess, so it was no longer an option.

With all that said, my kids have never had any lasting effects of having had to walk laps (other than complaining that they didn't get to play during recess that day, which is the point of the punishment).

 

[CPT Tripss]

Not appropriate!

http://www.shapeamerica.org/advocac...der.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=4737

 

[TraderE]

My daughter has told me several times that her class has to walk laps during recess for bad behavior. Sometimes it's the whole class, sometimes it is just the boys, one time it was every student but my daughter. This just does not seem right. It seems like a bad idea to make walking a punishment, sends the wrong message about exercise I think. It also seems wrong to take recess away from 5 year olds, they only get 20minutes/day to begin with. Just wanted to see what others think, I am thinking of having a conversation with the teacher.

Man times have changed. When I was a kid, if I acted up and my punishment was to walk a couple laps, I would have gotten on my hands and knees and Thanked God.

I don't mean to be rude OP, but this not something worth complaining about. And if I was a teacher and a parent came to tell me to stop doing this, I would end the conversation right there and refer her to the principal.

 

[disneydee6]

If you're concerned, you can ask without being accusing (not saying you are! just saying that it's best to get the story of what's going on from the adult in the situation) It's still the beginning of the school year, you want to set up a good line of communication with the teacher. Just let her know you're a little concerned and want to understand what exactly has been happening during recess.

In my school district, there are monitors for recess activities (it's usually lunch for the teacher), is the teacher responsible for the 'laps'?

 

[summerblue]

This is the tactic used as punishment at DDs school, though it is not for the whole recess, it is anywhere from 3-10 minutes, depending on the infraction. The student has to "walk the fence", which is walk on the front fence line for the allotted amount of time. They do this as to not deprive the child of needed physical activity, but yo nit let them just go play.

As far as thinking it is appropriate, after almost four years, I'm still not 100% sure how I feel about it, on one hand keep them in (especially in DDs case) would just make them antsy, on the other there is not any shade on the fence, where there is quiet a bit on the rest of the playground. Of course I also feel that on extreme hot or fold days they should be inside in the gym. The schools view is they don't care how hot (they had them out the other day in a heat index of 106) and as long as it is at least 34 they are outside. When I was in school it had to be at least 40 or we were inside and if temps got over 90, including heat index we were inside.

 

[PollyannaMom]

This is probably the best compromise she can come up with. Teachers have it so tough with classroom control these days, because someone objects to everything. The only thing left to some of the teachers I know is taking away recess, and they don't want to stop the kids from moving all together.

 

[Happy Snowman]

Just some unsolicited advice --but given that this is a message board--it's sort of solicited...

What kids tell you happens at school isn't always correct..sometimes it is, sometimes it is not. Before you go flying off the handle like some often suggest here, get both sides of the story. There are a lot of factors at play, mishearing the teacher, a child bending the truth so they don't get into trouble, or maybe the kids were so unruly that the teacher needed them to burn off energy. It's all in how you ask the questions.

Your child comes home and says that they had to walk laps because they were naughty, or whatever. Ask more questions....what were the kids in class doing that was naughty? What did the teacher say before she had you walk the laps? What were you doing when the teacher told everyone they had to walk laps? You will probably get to the bottom of the story by asking more questions vs taking a statement at face value.

Just an example--our son came home from pre-school and when I would ask about his day he would tell me about what they did but also went into great detail about what they had for lunch, who he sat by at the lunch table, what other kids did in the lunch room. I was greatly confused by this because he was only in preschool for 2 1/2 hours and nothing was ever said about eating lunch at school. Finally parent/teacher conferences came up and nope, they didn't eat lunch. They did go SEE the lunch room once though .

If you remember this, your life as a parent of a school aged child will be much easier and far less embarrassing down the road

 

[sunshinehighway]

You are over thinking it.

Listen to the other posters who are saying the story you are getting is coming from a 5 year old and likely not 100% (even if it is I really don't see a big deal about making the kids walk for recess). Also remember that your kid is probably telling some strange tales about things that happen at home too.
Don't believe everything you heard. If something does concern you, ask questions but don't jump to any conclusions.
In this case, I'd have more of an issue with how my child was behaving in school if the class keeps having to walk than with the punishment.

 

[KerriSue]

My DD had a teacher that made kids walk laps. It was known from the get go that if a child was in trouble for any reason they were going to do laps at recess. I thought it was great.