Is it normal for a teacher to punish the whole class for one child's misbehavior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It stinks, and my 3rd grade DD is in a similar situation. All I can tell her is that teachers can manage their classrooms however they see fit and her teacher this year finds collective punishment effective. Between her and I, I tell her she is not responsible for any other student’s behavior and I think it’s lousy her teacher is neglecting to manage the troublemakers herself. I’m grateful the school year is 2/3 over.

This and especially telling your kid she is to be a kid and not responsible for controlling other kids’ behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not okay at all and the district has behavioral specialists that can be called in.

Those behavioral specialists aren’t on staff to handle overly talkative, mildly disruptive, and/or “constantly out of their chair” kids. They are on staff to handle violent outbursts/reactions - for IEP behavior plans and data collection.

This. I think most parents would be shocked that many good kids are overly talkative, mildly disruptive and constantly out of their seat. Every class has a handful or more kids like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child is really well behaved at school (just at school, LOL) but has had so many opportunities taken away because there are one or two kids in her class that behave really poorly. The teacher took away snack time, hands on science activities, won't let them be reading buddies with younger grades, does not allow them free time when they have indoor recess (they have to do school work), and recently took away the classroom awards system. Is this normal?

Teacher here. Teachers are not supposed to be taking away recess. There is an actual regulation about this. Snack time is another one that they should not be taking away. As for hands on science activities? If the kids cannot be trusted to use materials correctly then the teacher can model it for them. Reading buddies? If the kids cannot be leaders to the younger students then this can also be taken away. I will say this. In my experience collective punishment does not work and is unfair to the kids doing the right thing. Collective punishment should happen if the majority is making poor decisions and there are days where this is the case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My child is really well behaved at school (just at school, LOL) but has had so many opportunities taken away because there are one or two kids in her class that behave really poorly. The teacher took away snack time, hands on science activities, won't let them be reading buddies with younger grades, does not allow them free time when they have indoor recess (they have to do school work), and recently took away the classroom awards system. Is this normal?

Teacher here. Teachers are not supposed to be taking away recess. There is an actual regulation about this. Snack time is another one that they should not be taking away. As for hands on science activities? If the kids cannot be trusted to use materials correctly then the teacher can model it for them. Reading buddies? If the kids cannot be leaders to the younger students then this can also be taken away. I will say this. In my experience collective punishment does not work and is unfair to the kids doing the right thing. Collective punishment should happen if the majority is making poor decisions and there are days where this is the case.

I'm also a teacher. I agree with not punishing a whole class, but I'm not sure I'm understanding the comments about snack. Many classes don't even do snack time. It's not required. It's an extra.

[Anonymous]

It is probably more than 1 or 2. Your kid may be behaving, but if a good portion of the class is not, then I can imagine these consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is probably more than 1 or 2. Your kid may be behaving, but if a good portion of the class is not, then I can imagine these consequences.

Sometimes I wish we really had cameras in the classroom so they cna see what's going on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is probably more than 1 or 2. Your kid may be behaving, but if a good portion of the class is not, then I can imagine these consequences.

Sometimes I wish we really had cameras in the classroom so they cna see what's going on.

As support staff in elementary special ed I have thought this for years but there is no way it will happen in public schools. If you think a lot of teachers are leaving now or less people are choosing teaching as a profession just imagine how bad it would be if they had to be on camera all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is probably more than 1 or 2. Your kid may be behaving, but if a good portion of the class is not, then I can imagine these consequences.

Sometimes I wish we really had cameras in the classroom so they cna see what's going on.

As support staff in elementary special ed I have thought this for years but there is no way it will happen in public schools. If you think a lot of teachers are leaving now or less people are choosing teaching as a profession just imagine how bad it would be if they had to be on camera all day.

Are they really hidding CRT? or what are they hiding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Collective punishment is improper discipline. Its actually also against the Geneva convention.
https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/en/ihl-treaties/gciv-1949/article-33

Lol. I’ll be sure to share that info with my colleagues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not okay at all and the district has behavioral specialists that can be called in.

Those behavioral specialists aren’t on staff to handle overly talkative, mildly disruptive, and/or “constantly out of their chair” kids. They are on staff to handle violent outbursts/reactions - for IEP behavior plans and data collection.

They can absolutely assist teachers with general classroom management, and especially with out of seat and disruptive behavior. That’s kind of their job, but the teacher or parents or principal will need to request this. They won’t just show up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not okay at all and the district has behavioral specialists that can be called in.

Those behavioral specialists aren’t on staff to handle overly talkative, mildly disruptive, and/or “constantly out of their chair” kids. They are on staff to handle violent outbursts/reactions - for IEP behavior plans and data collection.

They can absolutely assist teachers with general classroom management, and especially with out of seat and disruptive behavior. That’s kind of their job, but the teacher or parents or principal will need to request this. They won’t just show up.

These specialists can support over a dozen schools. They’re not gonna come in because a classrooms got some chatty KathysThese specialists can support over a dozen schools. They’re not gonna come in because a classrooms got some super chatty kids.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for confirming what I thought, that is not appropriate behavior. This is a long-time teacher that people love but in recent years hasn't had the greatest feedback. Is there any point in saying anything or is it too late in the year? I didn't think anything of it earlier, but my child has been talking about it a lot lately, and it sounds like it has ramped up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here, thanks for confirming what I thought, that is not appropriate behavior. This is a long-time teacher that people love but in recent years hasn't had the greatest feedback. Is there any point in saying anything or is it too late in the year? I didn't think anything of it earlier, but my child has been talking about it a lot lately, and it sounds like it has ramped up.

You can always say something, but behaviors will only get worse as we approach June so I wouldn’t expect it to get any better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s not okay at all and the district has behavioral specialists that can be called in.

Those behavioral specialists aren’t on staff to handle overly talkative, mildly disruptive, and/or “constantly out of their chair” kids. They are on staff to handle violent outbursts/reactions - for IEP behavior plans and data collection.

They can absolutely assist teachers with general classroom management, and especially with out of seat and disruptive behavior. That’s kind of their job, but the teacher or parents or principal will need to request this. They won’t just show up.

These specialists can support over a dozen schools. They’re not gonna come in because a classrooms got some chatty KathysThese specialists can support over a dozen schools. They’re not gonna come in because a classrooms got some super chatty kids.

+1. You can request that one come but it can take weeks because they’re spread so thin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a classroom teacher, it’s not an effective strategy. Taking away snack time is absolutely not ok. Taking away recess isn’t allowed in some districts. The science activities and buddy reading I can sort of understand as it could create more issues and further distract from learning.
It sounds like this teacher needs someone to help with classroom management.

Sounds like the teacher needs back up, meaning, removal of students who will not comply with basic safety requirements.