My wonderful, generally well-behaved son has been threatened with ISS twice in two weeks. Mind you, with his class discipline card still on green. Here's how it works: Cards start off white and everytime you do something wrong they change, to green, then yellow, then orange, then red. When you hit red you are sent to the principle's office. Tanner is white/green kind of kid. (and honestly green is only maybe once a week, if that)
Week before last he got in trouble because he was sitting around with two other boys giggling under their breath and singing the words to the "I like big butts and I cannot lie" song. One of the boys had the words written down (and not all the correct words mind you - an 8 year old interpretation). Mrs. Adkins made Tanner copy them and bring them home to me. When confronted he didn't even know most of the words and he certainly didn't understand the undertone of the song. To him it was just a song about big butts and that was funny. Well, of course it's funny! He's 8, it has a catchy tune, and it's a song about big butts. Duh. Appropriate, no. Funny for an 8 year old, yeah. Mrs. Adkins said if he sang it again it would land him in ISS.
Then Tuesday he comes home with a discipinary note (his card was on green for the day still) that said he had been asked several times lately by the teacher supervising recess not to run down the slide. His excuse was just that he couldn't remember (which is a sorry excuse). She said if he did it again maybe a trip to ISS would jog his memory. What? Really? That's an appropriate punishment for that? I realize running down the slide is not acceptable behavior, and that when given instructions by a teacher he should follow them, period. But really, ISS is the right solution for that? What happened to losing your recess for a couple of days, and doing something really sucky like cleaning the chalk boards, or scrubbing the floor, or something?
I just don't get it. Maybe some of my teacher friends can give me some insight. My memory of ISS when I was in school was that only the "really bad" kids went there. I mean you had to be throwing punches or something, and honestly I don't even remember there being ISS in elementary school. A good friend said to me, "if that's what you throw at them for minor stuff, what do you do when they really do something bad? What is there for them to be afraid of?" That's all I'm saying.
Then this morning I saw this posted on a friend from Indiana's FB:
"saw the best thing ever today! There was a middle school-aged child holding a sign on the side of the road that said "I am a THIEF! I stole rings and $130 from my MOTHER!" What looked to be his dad was standing a few feet away. This was on the side of Raceway Rd during rush hour. I thought it was awesome!"
What ever happened to stuff like this? I'm sure that this made much more of an impact on this kid than corporal punishment, or grounding, or taking his favorite things would have. Who knows, those things might have come in conjunction with that, but all I'm saying is that is classic! We need more of stuff like that!
I've been struggling with whether I should call his teacher and let her know that this has really been bothering me or just let it go. It's almost the end of the school year and I know he won't do it again. Hmmm.
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4 comments:
I would ask why ISS was threatened with no changing of the color. I agree it seems extreme. Whatever you decide to do don't let Tanner know you don't agree with the teacher/school. He's liable to use you and the teacher against each other.
Hey Staci -
From a teacher's perspective, no I don't agree with direct ISS without following the other steps. It doesn't sound like an appropriate punishment for the crimes committed.
I believe there were way more direct disciplines to use. From what I've seen, a simple "Tanner, that song isn't a school song, I don't want to hear it again, please go change your card" would have stopped that, and a "Tanner you can't use the slide until you can remember how to use it correctly" would quickly end that.
Just a teacher's standpoint! And I agree, don't let Tanner know you disagree with the teacher, it could cause some issues with his listening, or his friends.
Your Cousin, Emily
Call the teacher, let her know that you didn't think it was consistent with the rules that were given out at the first of the year. Kids ar emore likely to remember recess rules when they can't participate in recess. Haley has had to sit on the curb to watch the other kids play at recess. She doesn't lose that priviledge any more! Besides, if the severity of discipline is determined by the color of the card then the rule didn't hold true. I am sure he was confused about what was going on.
Homeschool!!! Hehehe
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