Would you side with your teacher or child?

Rachel - posted on 12/25/2012

OP is probably one of these parents

Tracey - posted on 11/07/2011

NOT aiming this at anyone on here and not wanting to cause any offence because I know there are genuine SEN & ADHD kids whose parents try hard to improve their kids' situation - but I have seen classes / pupils where the child can't or won't behave so gets labelled with ADHD or a learning difficulty, and once they have the label they are allowed to carry on and do what they like as their behaviour is due to a condition and therefore is not anyone's fault, they just get shunted from naughty chair to time out room, and disrupt learning for the rest of the class because no-one bothers to correct them.
The schools get more money because they have a SEN child and the parents claim disability and have no incentive to improve their child's behaviour as the worse they are the money they get.

Janice - posted on 11/07/2011

I can not speak for the entire country but I do know in my area of NY things vary quite a bit. While attending college to become a teacher I know what is expected of teachers. I had to meet very rigid standards in order to graduate. However, while student teaching (mostly with much older teachers) I was surprised of what goes on sometimes. In a private school the same teacher who refered every other student, also completely lied to a parent and said their child was on grade level because she feared they would pull their 5 children. I also saw 3 different students who were extremely behind and clearly needed extra intervention get blown off because the district really doesn't do anything until at least 1st grade.

As for lunch & recess - in the 3 schools (all public and in poorer districts) the lunch time was 25-30 minutes and that technically included recess in 2 of 3. However, the classes which were Kind. and 1st all had teachers who planned for some type of extra "free time" during the day. However, this was the teachers choice and so sometimes the actual time was cut very short if there was a lot of work to be done.

Most teachers want to help their students but in my experience the older teachers have been worn down by the system and/ or do not really bother to impliment new teaching techniques and therefore the students suffer.

Jenn - posted on 11/07/2011

Then you are really only hearing what the media focuses is on, which is 9 out of 10 times negative.

My daughter's school is a non-tuition charter, founded by
parents who wanted more for their kids. The school is 11 years old and rated exemplary the last six. More importantly, it is exactly what I wanted for my children. 400 students isn't a tiny school but it feels small. The teachers, staff and parents all work closely together to create a positive and effective learning environment. We use a homeschool program...SAXON math and reading. The children respond to it very well and our school is a grade ahead in math and reading compared to public schools. We feel very blessed to be where we are. The school expanded to another campus just this year and it is thriving as well.

As for public schools, my friends who's children attend them LOVE them! Their environment is also one of family and supporting one another.

There are thousands of great schools in the US. There are also bad schools. Bad schools happen because of the adults involved, not the children.

Amie - posted on 11/06/2011

I also understand that. My husband attended a private school.



We also have Montessori schools, christian & regular (meaning no sermons, etc.) private schools, catholic "public" schools, public schools, french immersion and a few others. We have a lot of different schools but I still haven't heard issues raised like I hear coming out of the states.



I have heard one great story (only one, out of all 50 states and I'm not even sure it's real) about an underfunded school in or near Washington DC. The principal that walked into that school (so the story goes) turned it around even with little funding. He was ingenuitive and worked with the kids, little doesn't have to mean less but in a lot of cases that is exactly what it equals.



I heard about it from another SCC member here, I have no idea if it's actually true (I never bothered to look) but it is an even better story if it is actually true.

Sherri - posted on 11/06/2011

Sorry your right it is Katherine B. that is from Canada.

Although I am sorry 10mins is not the norm that would most certainly be the minority. Also Katherine already stated her children are in a charter school not a public school. Charter and private schools have different regulations than public schools.

Amie - posted on 11/06/2011

Yes, she is. She's in Michigan.

Sherri - posted on 11/06/2011

Katherine is not in the US Amie.

Amie - posted on 11/06/2011

Sherri, on the whole - I hear more horror stories than glowing stories about schools in the US. Well to me their horror stories - especially Katherine's and the 10 minute lunches she posted. o_O That's crazy Katherine.

It doesn't mean that they are all like that but it's also plays a big part in the "shopping around for schools" that I hear people mention for others in the US. I don't have to do that, I have never heard of anyone having to do that where I am.

Katherine - posted on 11/06/2011

They are very rigid. That's the only thing I don't like. Their lunch is 10 minutes long.

Stifler's - posted on 11/06/2011

We used to get 30 minutes and then an hour of lunch breaks at school. 5 minutes isn't even long enough to walk out of the classroom and eat anything.

Katherine - posted on 11/06/2011

My daughter get's lunch break and a recess 5 min that's it. I can definitely see why kids would act up.
Some kids are little shits, as Amie said, but I attribute that to parenting, or lack there of.
But in my daughters school's case I attribute it to lack of free time.

Sal - posted on 11/06/2011

Any parent who is blinded to their Childs behaviorial issues is doing the child no favors at all.... Not every child in every situation is in the wrong but there are plenty of times where their actions are unacceptable this is just life and part of having kids and as Parents we have to work with their carers and teachers to get the child through difficult times and not facing the fact that our child might just be crossing the line and focusing all blame on the teacher school other children isn't helping our kids at all

Sherri - posted on 11/06/2011

Amie not true in most schools in the US. The school wants nothing more than to help in most cases.

Amie - posted on 11/05/2011

Ah yes, I've been away but I want to echo Jenn Morris.

I have my opinions because of my surroundings. Kids don't act up because of lack of exercise, support or help, they do it because they're little shits.

Where I am kindergarten is full day, has been for quite some time. Even our oldest attended full day kindergarten 6 years ago. Even then they had plenty of exercise and it was a lot of learning through play. The teachers and EA's were attentive, helpful and all around we have had great experiences. My children would not be as far along if it wasn't for that. The difference between mine and others, the staff is willing to help here but they can only do as much as the parents let them do. It goes the other way from what I hear coming out of the states, the parents hands are tied after so long because the schools aren't willing to help.

Lucy - posted on 11/05/2011

To be fair to the blogger, although this article is a bit of a rant, she does make the point that she is talking about a certain group of parents and children, not all.

As a former teacher in a very large comprehensive school I saw every breed of parenting style going, from the neglectful cop outs to the abusively pushy parents and everything in between, and have to agree that these "head in the sand" parents do exist. There may only be one or two children of these kinds of parents in a class, but they can make a serious impact on the learning of others and the ability of the teacher to maintain authority. They are a minority, but unfortunately a significant and powerful minority.

Rosie - posted on 11/05/2011

there are obviously kids like that out there, but i do think that the lady is generalizing, and possibly not understanding a lot of problems that children have these days....like ADHD.
as a mother of a child with ADHD, my son would get shoved in a corner, or sent to the principals office for disruptive behavior. he wasn't violent, didnt yell or hit or throw things, just talked, and did weird "tic" things. like flapping his hands, making weird sounds, and getting up and looking at stuff. this person would be one thinking my son was evil, disruptive twit in need of good parenting. to her i can proudly say FUCK OFF.

Jennifer - posted on 11/05/2011

I have to say the article is what most teachers feel from time to time. Most of us get over it, but I can see where blogging those feelings can be helpful. Sometimes I do get the urge to scream "your doing your little horror no favors, idiot!" but I don't. The fact remains that parents DO take their kids side, but not to that extreme normally. Would you expect a mommy not to side with their darling? As a teacher you work with most parents. Of course there are the overboard types(I've had one every year) and they can make you so nuts, that you get all defensive about everything! Hopefully, after writing this, the woman felt better, and maybe it opened a few eyes, but honestly, the really bad parents couldn't see themselves. They are the ones who turn out the paranoid kids that think everyone is out to get them.

Jenn - posted on 11/04/2011

I agree whole-heartedly with the article!

As for the recess discussion. Around here (southern ontario canada) most schools are full-day kindergarten and ALL will be within the next couple of years - and that starts with junior kindergarten, so some of those kids are still only 3!! But, they get LOTS of recess time, hand-on activities, gym time, library time, music time, etc. I couldn't imagine a small child being forced to sit at a desk all day. :(

Sylvia - posted on 11/04/2011

@Jen, that does sound like an extreme case in which the problem is primarily at home. Of course there are kids whose unacceptable behaviour is the result of a lack of boundaries at home. But it's also indisputably the case that curricula for and behavioural expectations of young children have changed dramatically since you and I were kids, while the basic facts of child development haven't, and a lot of the "behavioural problems" we're now seeing among kids in elementary school, and especially in the primary grades, are the result of that mismatch between expectations and reality.

Jen - posted on 11/04/2011

I know someone who's child was virtually expelled from kindergarten because her behavior was so out of control. Mom insists the child has some disorder but I know better. I've seen the parenting over the years. She took the kid to a college where they wanted kids to participate in a study for behavioral issues. She was turned away because after evaluation, they told her it was a disciplinary problem, not a disorder. The child threw a chair at a teacher in kindergarten becuase she didn't get her way. I feel so badly for her. She has no structure at home or discipline (not even time outs or anything). I've seen full-blown tanttums that were ended only by giving the kid what the kid asked for.

I worry about this child. I have a very big fear that they will end up in a gang where there will be an outlet for the temper and a strong family structure.

Sylvia - posted on 11/03/2011

@Sherri, it may not be true where you are (and I'm glad to hear it's not!!) but a full day in school with virtually no breaks is, unfortunately, a reality for many 5- and 6- (and even 4-) year-olds in the US. Kindergarten programs have been made more and more academic in focus, so that the year that used to be devoted to gently acclimating kids to the school environment -- teaching skills like sitting still for 20 minutes at a time, raising your hand when you want to say something, tying your shoes, taking turns on the playground, etc. -- in a play-based manner is now spent mostly on seatwork and high-stakes testing. Kindergarten students are being suspended and even expelled (!!!!!) in record numbers when their age-typical behaviour clashes with age-inappropriate expectations. There's no longer time or space in the curriculum for free imaginative play.

Full-day kindergarten doesn't have to be a terrible idea, but as currently implemented it seems like it generally is :P

This report, published, about 2 years ago, makes eye-opening reading on the topic of the US kindergarten classroom: http://www.allianceforchildhood.org/site... . For example:

Connecticut schools suspended or expelled 901
kindergartners for fighting, defiance, or temper tantrums
in 2002; this was almost twice as many as in 2000.[note 87]

and

Clinical research on the links between play deprivation,
stress levels, and related health and behavioral problems
in kindergarten children is sorely lacking. But many experts believe that developmentally inappropriate expectations and practices are causing normal child behavior to be wrongly labeled as misbehavior, and normal learning patterns to be mislabeled as learning disabilities.

The authors' study was done in schools in NYC and LA. But I've also seen enough reports of school districts severely reducing (or even eliminating) recess and/or PE to feel like this is a real trend elsewhere in the US as well. I'm just praying it doesn't come up here, and that the message is starting to get through down south that it's not normal or healthy for elementary kids to not get recess and bring home three hours of homework every night.

Jenn - posted on 11/03/2011

It absolutely starts with the parents HOWEVER not all teachers are good teachers who have the capacity to deal with difficult children. A teacher, while supposed to be professional at all times, can often lose her cool and behave almost as childish as the child. Of course that only escalates the issue at hand. A seasoned teacher usually knows better. Newbies are figuring it out. Parents all too often expect school to straighten out their kid. It is very hard on the school staff, teachers and students. Not to mention the child him/herself! Parents must be involved, informed and CARE! Sadly too many aren't and don't. I dont just side with Teacher or my child. I find out more and ask questions to decide how best to handle a situation.

Jeannette - posted on 11/03/2011

But these parents whose kids stress them out at home seem to think their offspring couldn’t possibly be a burden to some poor teacher — or I guess, at the very least, they think it’s just their job to suck it up and deal with crappy behavior, especially when mom and dad are standing up for it.
That line, right there, is the one that rings the truest! I know of parents who have little hellions who stress them to NO END!! They cannot take their kids out to dinner because they will be running around the table, they cannot take their kids to the grocery store because they will have hissy fits over whatever they want, they cannot take them to friend's birthday parties without suffering an 'incident'...yeah, I know these parents! And YES!!!! They jump the case of the teachers who have to deal with these hellions (who I won't EVER babysit or put up with if I don't have to) and pretend the teacher is picking on their child. Ummm...it happens every year - it must be YOUR CHILD!

Sherri - posted on 11/03/2011

@Katherine yes it is a lot different with a charter school. They do not need to follow public school regulations because they are considered a private school.

Good Day! - posted on 11/03/2011

A lot of churches around here offer 1/2 day pre-school. If we don't homeschool, we'll go that route. There is one church that is 5 full days a week for pre-school, and we will not be sending our children there. That's too much. The public pre-school and kindergarten are both full day. Even the church kindergartens are full days. It seems like a lot, but it is what it is. At least they still get a "nap time".

Janice - posted on 11/03/2011

Okay this off topic sorry.

Sherri, I looked this up because the topic is very interesting to me. In 2010 9 states required full-day. I also found an article that didn't have clear links to where they got their info but it stated that of 3 million kindergarteners slightly more than 1/2 were enrolled in full day programs.



I found it really interesting when I learned years ago that NYS doesn't require kindergarten yet if you ask parents none are aware of that. I my area almost every school has gone to full day over the past 5 years. I think full day Kindergarten in a good thing as long as it is structured properly with enough breaks and appropriate curriculum. It sound like where you live they have the right idea but I don't think that is norm unfortunately.

Katherine - posted on 11/03/2011

@ Sherri my daughter goes to a charter school, does that make a difference?

Janice - posted on 11/03/2011

Sherri, its crazy how different it is from state to state. I didn't realize any state had mandates like that. There are a lot of daycare regulation concerning food and outside time but the public schools dont have much of that at all.
I'm trying to find exact regulations but no luck. I can say from my student teaching experiences in multiple schools it varies quite a bit.

Jurnee - posted on 11/02/2011

I see this a lot. My daughter is a teacher and I used to teach preschool and it seems to be gettng worse through the years. (my kids range from 9-26). Its not only in school, Ive seen it in sports too. I have seen a 4yr old yell and curse and kick his mother in the shins becuase he didnt want to go shopping after school, so the mom bought him a new toy. I have seen parents who tell ther kids not to do the hw, because its too much. My daughter taught an advanced class, the parent specificallly picked the class and the child had to test in , and they complained becuase their child didnt get 100 on every test, but they did iin the regular class. Its supposed to be challenging. I have heard so many excuses people make for their childrens behavior, they are too bright, tired, no one understands them. There are some bad teachers but most are really trying hard to teach and its helpful when a parent is an advocate for their childs education, whic includes their behavior.

Sherri - posted on 11/02/2011

You are right about some areas having all day kindergarten although the majority at this point are still only 1/2 day in most states.

Only two states right now require children to attend full day kindergarten and that is Louisiana and West Virginia.
The other states that have it, it is an option and not mandatory.

I never said there was a mandated snack break, I said in our state there is a mandated recess time. I know for a fact that for our state they are mandated to have at least a 1/2 hr recess break before or after lunch. I was a volunteer in the school system for 5yrs and they had to get rid of any things such as quiet study which kids could miss recess and get missing work done etc. that kept kids from their mandated 1/2hr recess time. They were forced to get rid of these things because of the new laws mandating kids recess time or risk getting fined by the state.

Also it may not be mandated everywhere or even in the state for snack time but it is mandated by our school district to give the kids a 15min snack break in elementary school and allow middle school and high school kids to eat a snack at their desks even though there isn't an actual snack break. It is not up to the teachers it is a district ruling and the teachers have no option and it is scheduled into the kids day.

Janice - posted on 11/02/2011

Sherri that is not true in all areas. Where I live most kindergarten is now full day and most schools have a 6 1/2 hour day with 1/2 break that includes both lunch and recess. There are no mandated snack breaks. Many teachers do try to give the students 20 min. of free time during the day but its not required.



Hands on activities are considered best practice and does happen a lot in good classrooms but with the high stakes testing in 4th grade kids are doing seat work more and more. I would say by 2nd or 3rd grade there is quite a bit of sitting at a desk.

Sherri - posted on 11/02/2011

You really wouldn't find that for 4-5yr old kids here in the US Sylvia because we have no mandated preschool and most kindergartens in the US are only 2 1/2 hrs a day.

I don't know how they legally can do that Katherine. Our kids are mandated by law to have a specific recess time. Our kids get 20-30mins before school in the morning. 15min snack break, 1/2hr lunch and another 1/2hr recess a day. Plus they only sit at their desks for a very limited amt. of time most learning is hands on and away from their desks, until middle school.

Sylvia - posted on 11/02/2011

Katherine, that's horrible :(

Just to be clear, I'm not blaming the teachers for the lack of recess, etc. Those decisions are made at a much higher level than the individual classroom, and they punish the teacher as much as anybody else.

I just get SO TIRED of hearing about kids who have "behaviour problems" in kindergarten, and it turns out the "problem" is a 4- or 5-year-old who's expected to sit at a desk doing seatwork for 7 straight hours with virtually no breaks. That's not a behaviour problem; it's not a classroom management problem; it's a policy problem. And inadequate recess / free play time is absolutely an issue where I think parents should always side with their kids against whoever is making such monumentally stupid policies. Chances are you'll find the teachers would much rather have recess back, too :P

Janice - posted on 11/02/2011

I think we need to remember that there is a difference between a kid who is acting up and then the teacher talks with parents and a plan of action is made and the kid who acts up or does poorly academically and the parents blame the teacher.
Also very young children like preschoolers are still learning how to behave in social settings and so there is going to be more issues in those classrooms despite parental attitudes. Of course the 4 year-old who never gets punished because their parents think they can do no wrong will become the problem the teacher is talking about in the article in the future.

Katherine - posted on 11/02/2011

My daughter is in first grade. She gets a 5 min recess, that's it. Can you imagine? No wonder there are snots out there.

Sylvia - posted on 11/02/2011

I agree that the article's tone is ... confrontational, and that the author is probably over-generalizing.

That said ... Those kids do exist. Those parents do exist. And they do tend to go together -- because usually somebody taught the kid that behaviour.

Of course I don't mean parents set out to turn their offspring into whiny, self-absorbed, obnoxious little twits. And once you get into the teen years, parents have a lot less influence than peers. But there are definitely ways in which some parents do set their kids up for trouble in school. If your child is a "praise junkie", she's going to have trouble coping with negative feedback from teachers and peers. If he has no responsibilities around the house, he's likely to have trouble cleaning up after himself in the classroom. If she never has to take responsibility for her actions ... well.

It's obvious how a kid who's "spoilt" in the traditional sense is headed for trouble in a school situation. Interestingly, though, some of the most appalling-at-school/daycare kids I've ever met have had very strict and/or punitive parents. In those cases I'm guessing the dynamic is that the kid behaves only through fear of punishment, and if the consequences the teacher can impose aren't draconian enough to instill that fear, the behavioural controls are off. This is often the case with kids who really are well-behaved at home but horrible at school, as opposed to those whose parents are just in deep denial :P

To be fair, though, it isn't just parents who are setting kids up to fail. When you take a normal, healthy, energetic 5-year-old and stick him behind a desk from 7 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon, with no free play time and virtually no recess, what the h*ll do you expect?

Amie - posted on 11/02/2011

I'm posting before I read other responses; my opinion may not be popular, we'll see.



I agree with the article. I've watched, over and over, these little snots act up - in many forms - and their parents are completely in denial. One of my friends and I were talking about this the other day. All 4 of our kids are relatively the same age, we have both seen the exact same thing happen. She grew up in this community, she went to school here and she still sees it. I have only seen it once since being out here but I saw it so often in the city.



It literally drives me nuts. I know my children and I know they can act up, it's why I'm there to pull them up and say "uh, uh, uh that is not appropriate behavior, you are being rude, etc." This information children NEED to know and their parents should be teaching them this from the get go.



So yes, it does come down to parenting. A shitty kid (in most cases) equals a parent who is clueless and in some cases the parents don't even care. I have gone through years of work (and am currently still going through that with one of ours) with our oldest two to get them to understand and to be great human beings. They've gotten outside help, I've been at the school working with them, I've been to their specialist appointments to get them back on track - I did everything I could to make sure I am the best parent I can be for my children and in turn it makes society that little bit better.



I look at our oldest daughter and then I look at her class as a whole, I shit you not - you can pick out who has parents with their heads in the sand just by watching them interact.



The same can be said for 2nd daughters pre-k class. The exception being, our daughter finally got fed up with the problem child and shoved him back. This is a problem that has been going on since last year - so I'd say our daughter (and the other kids) have mounds of patience.



Our sons class seems to have parents that are ready to pull up their kids. We'll see how the year progresses but we had no issues out here last year, I don't anticipate any for this year.

Jodi - posted on 11/02/2011

Yeah, I know kids like that, there's a couple in Taylah's class. Their parents think they are absolute angels and they just happen to be picked on by the teacher, and in fact, they are downright little shits, but know their parents will stick up for them regardless, so the care factor is zero. Basically, there is a small percentage of children who are that bad. And the parent's aren't doing these kids any favours at all.

Janice - posted on 11/01/2011

I think this teacher is talking about certain students not all students. This is actually a real problem in schools today. I say this as someone who just finished my teaching degree. Thankfully most of the time you may only have 1-2 of these types of children and parents in a class. But yes, some kids really ARE that bad and their parents have made them that way.

Stifler's - posted on 11/01/2011

I'm not a teacher... I was once a student at school. There are really undisciplined kids and they are always the ones whose parents come up to have a go at the teacher for "picking on their kid". I have also seen the attitude "I pay tax so you're my employee" from parents to teachers, cops, ambulance officers... hello bogans they also pay tax!

Krista - posted on 11/01/2011

I think that parents really have to take a good hard look at themselves and their kids, and make sure that they know who their children ARE. Teachers aren't perfect and kids aren't perfect. But if you really, truly know your kid and their personality, then you're not going to get into that "MY child would never do that" kind of mode, but you also won't just automatically take the teacher's word over your kid's. Teachers HAVE sometimes made mistakes, and HAVE sometimes shown bias against specific kids, so we can't act like either party is completely infallible.

Sherri - posted on 11/01/2011

I also agree with this article. I have seen and dealt with such parents and kids as well. I am so sick of not my kid mentality. My kids know if the school calls me they better be pretty darn nervous to walk through the door in the afternoon because they are in a whole heap of trouble.

Samantha - posted on 11/01/2011

My mom was always on my side and i can honestly say that i really wasnt doing what they said i was doing. I think as a parent you should know your kid well enough to decide if your child is capable of that behavior. Talking and hearing both sides i think is best and not jumping to any conclusions til you have heard from both teacher and child

Tracey - posted on 11/01/2011

Having been physically assaulted by pupils and seen colleagues punched by parents I agree with the blogger, parents tell their kids that unless the teacher earns their respect they don't have to do anything they don't like, or they decide their little angel has a medical condition or learning difficulty that means they can do what they like. On report day we have to have police in the playground in case the parents go for the teachers when they discover their kid is less than perfect. Once we called a parent to tell her that her son had a knife and was threatening other pupils and she told us off for going through his possessions! These are the parents who feel they can do what they like as they pay our wages through their taxes, therefore they are our superiors, and anyway we get long holidays to recover so what are we moaning about?

Angela - posted on 11/01/2011

The article seems to make assumptions in it tone so like you when I initially read it I did not like the tone either.
I had a home daycare and I only had one parent who refused to handle discipline issues with her child. However it was very clear to me more was going on than met the eye. I suspected some type of home life issue. Finally the child hit another child with a stick, causing him to bleed. I had to remove him from my day care.
I really have never met a parent like described in the article or a child. I guess I am lucky. I am sure they do exist. But again it is a PARENT issue not that the child is bad. To refuse to discipline is to refuse to parent in my book.
I have to say this I do not take sides per say, but I only have my child's best interest at heart. I have been in situations where the teacher was in need of my assistance with my kids. I have also had BAD teachers who created a problem with my kids.
I guess I listen, observe and not take sides but the best action for my child.

JuLeah - posted on 10/31/2011

Yup ... I know many many many kids that are just that bad and the parents defend them, scream at the teacher for them .... I know a teacher who was sued last year. The child EARNED a B- and the parents wanted and A ... demanded, on the last day of class, she come up with some kind of extra credit that would pull the kids grade up



Teacher explained, kid did not show up for office hours, even after they agreed she would, she a big exam, and didn't turn in some of her homework .... be happy with the B-



Kid in 9th grade BTW



Parents took it to court - well tried, the school district settled - kid got her 'A' - teacher nearly lost her job



This is just one example ... I have many



On the flip side, I know of a boy acting up each day in math class - promising his mom that it was not him, the teacher just hated him blah blah blah ... mom showed up for class early, sat in the back un-noticed ... her sweet boy was late, as the teacher said he often was, boy was flip, rude, throwing pens, making fart noises .... till mom stood up and called his name - using her MOM voice ....



Yah, that problem resolved .... so many parents do get it right, and many are like the article outlined

Firebird - posted on 10/31/2011

Some kids are pretty horrible in class, and their parents don't believe it/don't care. Of course the article isn't reffering to ALL children and parents, just a few random ill-behaved ones. I saw it alot when I was a student, and I still see it now that I'm a parent. There's a bully in my daughter's class who was caught doing flying kicks at other students heads one morning (just the icing on the cake), and the poor teachers are left to deal wiith this boy on their own. They don't even let him near my daughter because he's so mean to her. I asked her teacher about this boy's parents (when she told me about Rhiannon getting picked on) and the teacher just shook her head.

Jane - posted on 10/31/2011

Yes, she got away with it. I was one of several parents that reported it to the principal, but she pooh-poohed what we said because the teacher was one of her favorites. Of course, this was the same principal that said she "didn't believe in disabilities she couldn't see." This gave us ammunition to get our son out of her school.

Katherine - posted on 10/31/2011

Pinching skin WTH??? And she got away with it?