Weird School Punishment

[kristen821]

Wow that is illegal in Illinois so I am pretty sure it would be illegal everywhere. Let us know what happens when you call tomorrow.

 

[Dopey Sharon]

I have just as much of a right to say you are wrong, as you do of accusing her son of lying

Who said her son was lying???

You would not believe the phone calls my boss has gotten from enraged parents about things their kids went home and told them, that turned out not to be true.

Some kids relay stories to their parents, some innocently, that either are miscommunications or things they don't want to get into trouble for.

And I still don't think I'm wrong about this.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

FYI, most states have laws that requires students get 30 minutes of PE everyday. It burns me up when teachers take it away as a form of punishment. In our state it is illegal!

As a former teacher, I believe what Dopey Sharon was referring to is that when the cafeteria doesn't serve food that is prepared, they lose money. On snowy days, if the the cafeteria had already started preparing lunch, the kids weren't released until lunch was served. It sounds like they ran out of food. It has happened.

Call!

Lori

 

[JPN4265]

That is not weird...that is plain wrong! How in the world can a school justify denying children their lunch???????? Oh my gosh. That makes me a little mad. I'm afraid I would have to talk to someone about that!

I bet the kids were quiet the next day. Don't you?

 

[VSL]

If that is true...

I wonder though... do you think the OP's son decided that he wanted snack-food for lunch rather than proper food and then didn't want to tell his mum the truth?

 

[2angelsinheaven]

I would call. If they did indeed not allow the children lunch then I would think it illegal. I know in Fl it would be. Please call and let us know the outcome, I hope it's not true. Working in social services I can tell you that for some kids school is the only break they get from the homelife that brings them into our care and to be punished in this way would be terrible for them considering for some it's their only chance to eat in a day.

 

[LindsayDunn228]

Something doesn't ring right here. Call the school and get their side of the story.

 

[sandramaac]

But here is the thing, are they (the school) actually going to admit they didn't give the kids lunch or sugar coat the whole incident. I would not only ask the school, but talk with some of the other parents to hear what their kids told them. That should give you a fuller view of the incident.

 

[golfgal]

FYI, most states have laws that requires students get 30 minutes of PE everyday. It burns me up when teachers take it away as a form of punishment. In our state it is illegal!

As a former teacher, I believe what Dopey Sharon was referring to is that when the cafeteria doesn't serve food that is prepared, they lose money. On snowy days, if the the cafeteria had already started preparing lunch, the kids weren't released until lunch was served. It sounds like they ran out of food. It has happened.

Call!

Lori

Most states no longer have a daily PE requirement, those went by the wayside many, many budget cuts ago. Sad though.

I am sure there was something that happened at lunch but the stories I could tell about things that made it home vs what really happened would have you all spewing your coffee all over your computers. My own DS would tell me stories about who he sat by in preschool for lunch and what he had to eat and especially when it was HIS day to sit by the teacher. It had me a little confused for a while because I didn't know anything about them serving lunch at preschool and I never sent any money in. I finally asked the teacher and she roared with laughter, they didn't have lunch, ever.

 

[eeyoreiscool]

With the food I remember at our school cafeteria, it would have been a blessing not to have to eat it. The punishment would have been to eat everything on the plate.

 

[pirateofthecarolinas]

The classroom teacher is required to take them outside. Only if the temp. drops below a certain point can they not have playtime. We only have PE once a week with a certified PE teacher. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

 

[TheRatPack]

I don't see how they could legally get away with not allowing children to eat either. My dd is in 4th grade, and they will not let them get 'extras' like snacks or icecreams for talking but they always get lunch.

Their school has a system for talking, that children learn at kindergarten level and it's used up till 5th when they move on to middle school. At the head of each table there is a cup (red or yellow) and when it's red (usually the first 10-15 minutes of each lunch period as they are sitting down with their food, it means you eat and don't talk. Then the teacher will switch it to yellow and that means they can talk "quietly" for the remainder of lunch.

That way children do eat, but they also have a bit of time to socialize. But I still don't see how a school could keep a child from eating, do let us know what comes out from the call.

 

[LauraR]

Well, I just called my neighbor and she is going to ask her daughter, who is also in the 4th grade, what happened at lunch yesterday. I want to see if I can corroborate things before I call the school. But my neighbor said it would not surprise her at all given other strange things the school has done. She said she has pretty much kept her distance at the school this year because the way they do things bugs her so much. She also thinks they are way too strict at lunch with the no talking stuff.

Anyway, I'll let you know what I find out from her and the school.

Also, I just wanted to say if my son were going to lie to cover spending his money on snack cakes, I'm pretty sure he would have just said he had tacos (or whatever) for lunch. (I'd have no way of knowing.) He's not one for elaborate stories!

 

[Stitchfans]

sounds like DDs school. no talking.

I'd have a fit though if all she had was snacks. I would call the principal and give him/her an ear load.

 

[RitaZ.]

If that is true...

I wonder though... do you think the OP's son decided that he wanted snack-food for lunch rather than proper food and then didn't want to tell his mum the truth?

I thought the same thing.

Lots of weird stuff in the story. I know that our schools here can't withhold lunch from students. Also, by law, teachers can't take away recess, the most they can do is cut recess time in half.

 

[VSL]

Also, I just wanted to say if my son were going to lie to cover spending his money on snack cakes, I'm pretty sure he would have just said he had tacos (or whatever) for lunch. (I'd have no way of knowing.) He's not one for elaborate stories!

That does make more sense

Do keep us posted!

 

[justhat]

But here is the thing, are they (the school) actually going to admit they didn't give the kids lunch or sugar coat the whole incident. I would not only ask the school, but talk with some of the other parents to hear what their kids told them. That should give you a fuller view of the incident.

I agree. Why would they tell the truth about something like that when they know they can get in tons of trouble for it? My own guess would be that they punished the kids for talking by making them wait to get lunch by just sitting at their table not eating or something like that. Then either the punishment went on too long or someone forgot about it and by the time they said the kids could buy lunch there wasn't any time to eat it so they had to buy snack cakes. And I agree that if your son wanted to eat only snack cakes that he'd just leave that part out to you and say he ate whatever the entree was that day. Why even make up that whole story when mom will never find out what you ate?

 

[Hannathy]

That is terrible if it happened. I agree that sometimes stories get a bit twisted in the retelling BUT her son is in 4th Gr. not preschool I certainly expect my children to be able to retell me something that simple and truthfully by 4th gr. I mean he either ate or he didn't. Call.

I never heard of schools not being able to take away recess, that is the standard punishment in the three states I have lived and worked in. What pray tell are they supposed to do if they can't do that ? They can't hit, embarrass, keep them after school, the list goes on so what can they do then. ( I am not suggesting any of these I am only using as an example)

 

[Disney Doll]

Somehow I doubt anyone would die from missing lunch.

My God, I'd hate to be in education today.

 

[irishbosoxfan]

Ok I have something to add to the OP's story--First this does happen and second some schools feel it is an acceptable form of punishment--That being said here is how I know this--My DD8 was in 1st grade last year in Lawton Ok-we are military and have been stationed various places---Well last year there were a few days DD came home right off the bus and wanted food,I was thinking she's just trying to get more food and told her she should've eaten her lunch at school-well she started to tear up and told me she couldn't-When I asked her what she meant she told me because kids were being loud she couldn't eat--I'm thinking yeah right ok kid try telling me another one and just let it go---Well darn it if it didn't happen again and again--So by now I'm thinking theres got to be something going on she knows shes not getting anything extra if she lies about not eating so why is she still lying?
So I went to the next building and knocked on the door of another child who was in DD's class and asked his mom if she had heard about any of this and she said no and called her son into the room and asked him about wether or not he ate lunch everyday and he said NO! and told us why and it was the same thing my DD had been telling me!---Well now I'm ripped 1)because Dd wasn't being fed and 2)I was paying full price for her lunch and being charged for the days she hadn't been allowed to eat.
The next day I went to the school during my DD's lunch and the cafeteria was silent it was full of kids and you couldve heard a pin drop I could see the kids eating and was hanging around to talk to the principal when 10 mins before their lunch period was to end they announce everybody had to stand up to throw out their tray and get to their next class--well those kids were trying to shovel what was left on their tray into their mouths and of course it started to get loud and then the teachers were yelling that unless they brought the noise down they were going to lose more time tomorrow--I sttod there honest to God w/my mouth open I couldn't believe what I was seeing and hearing!
Lunch was supposed to be from 10:30 till 11:00 for 2 grades-You figure these kids walked in the door at 10:30 they had to wait in line to get their food then find a seat sit down and eat all w/whatever time was left THEN to have 10 minutes chopped off the end AND being made to stop eating when it got to loud so everyone had to put their fork down until it was quiet again--I now know why my DD's shirt had food all over it when she got home--because she was trying to eat as fast as she could while she had time to finish as much as she could-----By the way this continued on at home and just now she is finally starting to slow down when she eats but it's been a hard habit to break

I went to the principals office immediately and demande to see her and told them I was not leaving till I did--Her excuse was this is a public school and they had a lot of problem children and lunch was a trial--In order for them to feed all the kids they had to they needed order and discipline fromthe students because for most of them this was the only meal they were going to get that day------WELL lets just say that didn't fly w/me--I said I don't know how you expect these kids to not talk in class then expect them to not talk in a social situation while only allowing them 15mins of "free"time at recess--To punish them by not allowing them to eat was not discipline--She didnt want to hear any of it---I called the School district and told them they didnt want to hear it either(each school chooses the discipline that best suits them and the students they have to deal with) so I contacted the states food alliance and they said as long as the kids have the food in front of them they were "BEING" feed and therefore there was nothing they could do about it

So yes it DOES happen and I wish the OP luck in getting this resolved with her school--Don't give up the fight---I went to school everyday at my DD's lunch time and you bet your butt she got to eat her lunch everyday--And don't call and tell them your coming just show up--They couldn't complain because I wasn't eating so therefor they didn't need to have extra food on hand for me which is an excuse they tried to use to get me to go