Teaching seems like a frustrating job
-
I don't really see the issue here. Kid could be acting out due to low blood sugar. It's certainly a reasonable place to start.
Did the teacher expect the parents to say, "Sorry about that, we just bought new jumper cables to beat him with so it won't be a problem anymore."
That's a false dichotomy. Reasonable responses are framed as either "kid has low blood sugar so I'm packing him a banana", or "sorry, we'll beat him with jumper cables". There's like 50 reasonable responses between those extremes.
Do you think that if you were teaching a class and one of the students punched you in the face so hard that they broke your expensive prescription eyewear, that you would actually just dust yourself off and go, "oh dear, you poor thing - are you acting out due to low blood sugar? I can go get you a banana".
You really think that's a reasonable response for any human?
-
Coming up on three generations now who are afraid of conflict.
I feel like I'm entering my old man phase, but it feels like we're teaching kids to do everything they can to evade accountability as a rule.
-
In a situation like this is it better to punch the kid or the parents?
You sound angry. How about eating a nice banana instead?
-
Expelled? If they’re Black we just send them right to prison!
Sadly this isn’t a joke
Yes, depending on the age and if police are on campus. Police tend to be permanent on some campuses for "security" but schools with them statistically show a much higher rate of incarceration. Although expulsion is also a fast track to prison, too.
Unsurprisingly, police tend to be in predominantly black schools, although even in desegregated schools (for which there are very few), it's black students most likely to get in trouble for acting out. Socioeconomic status accounts for some of this, though.
-
Bananas piss me off.
-
I suppose the reply could have been clipped, but there is no mention of a low blood sugar problem, no mention of a sorry l, just ‘little Timmy needs a super power not to be a violent prick’.
A reasonable place to start is teaching your kid that hitting people is wrong, remember teachers are people too, underpaid overworked people.
"He may be hungry from the bus ride and is acting out from this." That is where low blood sugar is referenced.
-
One key aspect to conflict resolution is to acknowledge the other side’s grievances, offer any appropriate apologies (being punched in the face and have glasses broken certainly warrants a heartfelt apology), and if necessary offer any remediation that would satisfy the other party (e.g. offering to pay for the broken glasses, and most importantly, suggesting that they spoke to their child to explain that behavior is inappropriate and unacceptable).
These parents did none of that, and just waved it off as if it’s okay for the kid to do this kind of thing “because they’re hungry”.
Did none of that which we can see. The email is cropped.
-
"He may be hungry from the bus ride and is acting out from this." That is where low blood sugar is referenced.
-
Man it's hard to teach non-violence in an age of violence and emotional deregulation.
-
Bananas piss me off.
Do you just never know the size of anything?
-
Bananas piss me off.
Have you tried putting them in the other end?
-
People will do anything but seek out a therapist. The kid may have a behavioral disorder, and seeking referrals for conduct disorder or something is usually a joint effort since parents get defensive even when such a disorder is often biological, like depression.
Or, y'know, zero tolerance bullshit and the kid gets expelled. That's more common in the US.
People will do anything but seek out a therapist.
Bananas are a lot more affordable (for now).
-
I feel like I'm entering my old man phase, but it feels like we're teaching kids to do everything they can to evade accountability as a rule.
I don't think this is evading responsibility. I think this is a family who can't afford mental health care for their child, and the school system is ill-equipped to handle it.
-
I feel like I'm entering my old man phase, but it feels like we're teaching kids to do everything they can to evade accountability as a rule.
Well yeah, accountability only gets you in trouble. There's no incentive for taking accountability.
There's no "at least you were honest." Even if someone unintentionally makes a genuine mistake, they'll burn for it if it's ever pinned to them. Just fade into the background and don't attract notice to yourself, cause as soon as you accept blame for one thing, people will use you as a scapegoat for everything else that goes wrong.
Don't practice self-awareness, it'll only get you punished. Don't feel remorse for your actions, it'll only get you punished. That's the prevailing and all-pervading messaging these days. Do you want to be the sorry sucker to try to reverse that trend?
The authorities never accept accountability, they just pass the buck to their subordinates. Everyone seems to follow that example, and the buck gets passed down until it can't go any lower and the person at the bottom gets stuck with the hot potato.
This behavior is continuously reinforced by society. Anyone who expects it to be otherwise learns their lesson real quick. Never admit to being anything less than perfect, or else the consequences may follow you for the rest of your life.
-
After all, it's just a banana. How much can it possibly cost? Ten dollars?
There's always calmness in the banana stand.
-
This would all go through the administration and definitely not tolerated outside a behavioral challenges classroom at my kids school.
IMO the only real reason is 80k after 20 years . And I live in an affluent neighborhood in a decently funded state.
-
Well yeah, accountability only gets you in trouble. There's no incentive for taking accountability.
There's no "at least you were honest." Even if someone unintentionally makes a genuine mistake, they'll burn for it if it's ever pinned to them. Just fade into the background and don't attract notice to yourself, cause as soon as you accept blame for one thing, people will use you as a scapegoat for everything else that goes wrong.
Don't practice self-awareness, it'll only get you punished. Don't feel remorse for your actions, it'll only get you punished. That's the prevailing and all-pervading messaging these days. Do you want to be the sorry sucker to try to reverse that trend?
The authorities never accept accountability, they just pass the buck to their subordinates. Everyone seems to follow that example, and the buck gets passed down until it can't go any lower and the person at the bottom gets stuck with the hot potato.
This behavior is continuously reinforced by society. Anyone who expects it to be otherwise learns their lesson real quick. Never admit to being anything less than perfect, or else the consequences may follow you for the rest of your life.
I used to be a buyer for a manufacturing facility. We'd joke that if something went wrong in production, they would blame the scheduler, the scheduler would blame the buyer, the buyer would blame the supplier, and the supplier would blame our quality team.
As long as you're not the last on the list, your job is secure.
(Our QA dept had incredibly high turnover.)
-
Well, assuming that's the entire email that was sent, some basic level of empathy might not have been amiss. "So sorry about that, are you okay? We'll pay for the glasses. Obviously this behavior isn't okay; we've discussed it and we're going to try..."
And just how the fuck do you know that was the ENTIRE email that was sent, rather than just a clip of the relevant part?
-
There's always calmness in the banana stand.
Except during that time before Christmas.