OT - 2nd grade discipline?

[jinia]

Again thanks for the responses - God knows why I asked for them. I have never - not once - said anything to or in front of DS negative about his teacher so I am not undermining his teacher. I did not go over her head - I requested a conference and she didn't respond. I absolutely believe that school and parents should act as a team and we always have. Been at this school for two years and well aware of there discipline and have fully agreed with it until this. Under no circumstances do I believe it is okay for him or any other child to be punished in a way that makes him physically sick. Besides feeling sick the day the heat index was 94 it has accomplished nothing at all. It has not in anyway stopped him from talking. Of course that is being punished with the elements - if he were being punished with inactivity then he could wait under the tree or on one of the benches that are in the shade and be allowed to get a drink when the rest of the second does.

Will continue to deal with the school on this and use positive reward for recieving stickers from school and withholding tv for not getting stickers...best I can think of.

 

[Erin1700]

I really dont think the punishment was "miss recess and stand in the sun", I think it was "miss recess". I would let this one go.

 

[Schmeck]

How do you know that the standing in the sun for 10 minutes did him in, not the rest of recess time when he was running around in the heat index of 94'?

I've got to echo the sentiments above - you are melodramizing this situation to the maximum. Unless you can prove that standing in the sun for 10 minutes caused your son to feel sick, and there were no other factors (didn't play during recess, didn't walk home in the sun, didn't wait for the bus in the sun) involved, I'd stop making a mountain out of a molehill.

If he was my son, I'd tell him to stop talking out of turn in class or he's going to get sick every day from standing out in the sun...

 

[jinia]

How do you know that the standing in the sun for 10 minutes did him in, not the rest of recess time when he was running around in the heat index of 94'?

I've got to echo the sentiments above - you are melodramizing this situation to the maximum. Unless you can prove that standing in the sun for 10 minutes caused your son to feel sick, and there were no other factors (didn't play during recess, didn't walk home in the sun, didn't wait for the bus in the sun) involved, I'd stop making a mountain out of a molehill.

If he was my son, I'd tell him to stop talking out of turn in class or he's going to get sick every day from standing out in the sun...

Recess is 15 minutes - it takes about 1 -2 minutes to walk out there. At most he played for 3 minutes..no he doesn't walk home nor does stand outside to wait for a bus. Genius, I wrote that I am dealing with it - not ignoring it. Obviously I am not making a big deal out of it - asking that he not stand in sun is reasonable with heat triggered asthma.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Recess is 15 minutes - it takes about 1 -2 minutes to walk out there. At most he played for 3 minutes..no he doesn't walk home nor does stand outside to wait for a bus. Genius, I wrote that I am dealing with it - not ignoring it. Obviously I am not making a big deal out of it - asking that he not stand in sun is reasonable with heat triggered asthma.

Wow, name calling. That speaks volumes.

If your son does have heat triggered asthma and I am not making light of that then he shouldn't have been outside at all for recess if the index was 94. Does he stay inside for recess everyday that it is warm?

 

[princessmom29]

Wow, name calling. That speaks volumes.

If your son does have heat triggered asthma and I am not making light of that then he shouldn't have been outside at all for recess if the index was 94. Does he stay inside for recess everyday that it is warm?

Exactly. Standing in the sun is actually better for a child with athsma than playing in it. OP, please for the sake of your son stop deflecting blame and making excuses, becauise wether you realize it or not that is what you are doing. Wether you do it in front of him or not he WILL pick up on the fact that you do not agree with what was done, and it is going to sabotage any effort made by the teacher to correct your child. He will know that mommy doesn't think he should be in trouble and she will come bail him out. All of us can see this situation with a little perspective and more than one person has said that the punishment was reasonable, and that the real issue that needs to be adressed is why your son is acting out.

 

[disneybound31]

I think it is hard to hear when our children receive consequences at school- but I have found that NOT freaking out about it at home, but instead having an attitude that as the parent you back up the schools stance on rule following teaches children countless lessons. Just calmly responding to your child that teachers have rules and hopefully the experience helps 'little Johnny' remember those rules seems to go a long way in our house. We have had very few and far between behavior issues with school so far and I am thankful for that-every child and classroom is different. Good luck to you, OP.

 

[daisyduck123]

Our school uses a similar timeout, children stand for 5 or 10 minutes while others play. As for getting a drink, where was he supposed to get one? Most classes get a drink break when they come in on hot days. I don't think being in the sun for 10 minutes would make hime sick. I , too, would be more concerned about what he is doing to get in trouble so often the first month of school.

Exactly what I was going to say.
1st grade teacher

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I didn't see if you made a second attempt to contact the teacher. If not, I would have done that first, or even gone in person during planning or another free period for her. The first week of school (when you mentioned you contacted her), heck, even the first month, is super hectic for any teacher. I know I'm still replying to emails from the last few weeks. I doubt she's ignoring you, she's probably just busy.

Also, I agree with PP who said you ought to be worried about other aspects of your DS's health. Standing outside, even in the sun, for ten minutes wouldn't make normally healthy child as sick as your child must have been to make you so concerned.

I'd step back and look at the situation. It could be you're more upset about your DS being in trouble, feeling the teacher ignored you, etc., and picking apart the punishment is a good scapegoat. However, if your pediatrician says it was ten minutes in the sun that made your DS ill, I'd have him/her write a note that your DS is to stay inside instead of going out at all, for recess or punishment.

 

[WantToGoNow]

Standing in the sun for 10 minutes would not make a healthy child sick so most likely your child was already sick that day. My ds8 has asthma - he's outside everyday - does your child stay in the house all the time when he's at home? Have you've been to WDW - if so, I am positive he's stood in the heat for more than 10 minutes - did that make him sick too. If my son acts up at school - no matter if it is just talking, it's his punishment to take. I will not step in and make excuses for him to the school to try to get his punishment lessoned than what the other students get. Same with my dd5 and she is in Kindergarten - do the crime, pay the fine.

 

[emma'smom]

Just a general question---How come the kids can't just bring a water bottle to school with them and take it outside and manage their own drink needs? Just curious.....

 

[daisyduck123]

Just a general question---How come the kids can't just bring a water bottle to school with them and take it outside and manage their own drink needs? Just curious.....

Because they would want to put it down on the ground while they played and with 105 1st graders all playing at recess there would be children tripping over dozens of water bottles while they played ball, ran, etc

 

[disykat]

It sounds like there are two issues to be dealt with here - the behavior issues and a plan in place for your son's heat related asthma. I'm also not understanding why he was allowed outside if this causes him medical trauma. You also need to discuss with your child about continually drinking water all day. If he gets to the point where 10 minutes without a drink makes him ill, he probably isn't getting enough fluids the rest of the day.

I know we have times in our district where email basically shuts down. Parents really need to try another attempt and/or an alternate method of contact before assuming the teaching is ignoring them.

 

[Alesia]

Just a general question---How come the kids can't just bring a water bottle to school with them and take it outside and manage their own drink needs? Just curious.....

I can see you've never supervised 100 young children.

Honestly it would be a disaster. Kids aren't known for being great at keeping track of their own stuff at the best of times. Add playing on the playground to the mix and most of the bottles get lost because the kids don't know where they left them. That adds more work for the staff.

There are also issues with the class interruptions for all of the bathroom breaks that would inevitably follow.

 

[poohs_hunny]

The way I see it, if he was running around and playing, he would be in the sun.

Bingo! The punishment is not standing in the sun - that would be ridiculous! The punishment is no recess. The school probably has a set spot for students missing recess so that they are easier to keep track of, and it probably happens to be in the sun. At my school, there are few places on the playground that are not in the sun. If it was truly so hot that 10 minutes in the sun would make a child sick, then no one should have been out for recess. I doubt that any child that was playing during recess complained about the heat.

 

[emma'smom]

Actually, quite the opposite. I used to teach first and second grade in a school in the Bronx with 6 classes of 28 students per grade. That's 138 kids per grade on the playground a time--two grade levels out at a time. We only allowed water bottles when the temps hit over 100 degrees. We did end up with many children suffering from asthmatic conditions in the afternoon. I often think we should have let them have more opportunities to drink water and cool off.

My own daughter (second grade) takes a water bottle to school everyday (as do all of the kids). They are allowed to take it out on the playground (and whatever they bring for snack) and are expected to follow the rules for using them. I was asking her about managing them (Do they get lost? Are kids messing around with them and squirting them at each other?). She said the rule is that if you can't manage your bottle, you aren't ready to bring one outside. As for bathroom, they are free to use it whenever they need to....so that isn't really an issue.

I understand you're point about management of large groups of children---but it is also one that confirms my personal decision to choose a small, private school for my own daughter. As a licensed public school teacher, I sometimes wonder if I should have gone public with my own kids (because I don't think public schools are inherently bad places)......but it is situations like these that affirm my decision for now.

I can see you've never supervised 100 young children.

Honestly it would be a disaster. Kids aren't known for being great at keeping track of their own stuff at the best of times. Add playing on the playground to the mix and most of the bottles get lost because the kids don't know where they left them. That adds more work for the staff.

There are also issues with the class interruptions for all of the bathroom breaks that would inevitably follow.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

Our kids are allowed to bring water bottles, but they are entirely their responsibility. If it gets kicked, broken, lost, etc., it's the child's responsibility. My niece is in second grade at my school and hasn't lost her water bottle yet.

 

[gillenkl]

Kids receive demerits at our private school. Five in one day equals a one day suspension. Three suspensions and you're out for the year and can reapply the following year. At our school for what you described as "talking" a demerit would be received each time. Maybe he just needs a little more time to get into the swing of things. Certainly he shouldn't be standing in the sun for his timeout though.

 

[MM27]

Just a general question---How come the kids can't just bring a water bottle to school with them and take it outside and manage their own drink needs? Just curious.....

My school allows water bottles in the classrooms only. The kids are not permitted to bring them in the hallways at all.

As far as the punishment goes, we have kids stand "on the wall" when they lose recess. Where was the teacher while the child was standing in the sun? Was she standing in the sun too? There are four teachers on my team and between the four of us and our security guard, one adult will always wait with the kids that are missing recess while everyone else circulates around the playground.

Here's a great way to guarantee that your child will not have to sit out recess again, tell him to follow the teacher's rules.

 

[momofrrr]

I think if it were me I would request an appointment with the AP, the teacher and the student. I have learned both from personal experience and in working in an Elementary school office, that there is always two sides to the story and often the student is shading it in their direction. Not saying that is what he is doing but I think that is the direction I would go. Good Luck, it is so heartbreaking when your child is struggeling.