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

[Anonymous]

OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

[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.

I'm a teacher and would absolutely love to wear a body camera like the police wear. I had a kindergarten who would swear at me repeatedly. The parents acted shocked like he didn't do this at home. During our first meeting, the kid swore right in his mom's face shaking his finger at her.

[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.

So it sounds like the kids and their behavior has changed like everyone is saying. It isn't the teacher.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

What did admin do about it? No child has the right to keep another child from learning. I send my child to school to learn, not to be punished because other kids aren’t interested in learning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

What did admin do about it? No child has the right to keep another child from learning. I send my child to school to learn, not to be punished because other kids aren’t interested in learning.

What do you expect admin to do when half the class is acting out? It isn’t like kids can be kicked out for talking nonstop. Honestly, I am sure the teacher is in communication with parents and is trying her/his best. As a previous poster said, many good kids are also non stop talkers, interrupters, distractors, etc. Walk into any classroom and you will see many of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So it sounds like the kids and their behavior has changed like everyone is saying. It isn't the teacher.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

So it sounds like the kids and their behavior has changed like everyone is saying. It isn't the teacher.

+100

+ a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

What did admin do about it? No child has the right to keep another child from learning. I send my child to school to learn, not to be punished because other kids aren’t interested in learning.

What do you expect admin to do when half the class is acting out? It isn’t like kids can be kicked out for talking nonstop. Honestly, I am sure the teacher is in communication with parents and is trying her/his best. As a previous poster said, many good kids are also non stop talkers, interrupters, distractors, etc. Walk into any classroom and you will see many of them.

This! It's exhausting for all involved-it's a waste of time to call home these days because little larlo is an angel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

What did admin do about it? No child has the right to keep another child from learning. I send my child to school to learn, not to be punished because other kids aren’t interested in learning.

What do you expect admin to do when half the class is acting out? It isn’t like kids can be kicked out for talking nonstop. Honestly, I am sure the teacher is in communication with parents and is trying her/his best. As a previous poster said, many good kids are also non stop talkers, interrupters, distractors, etc. Walk into any classroom and you will see many of them.

This! It's exhausting for all involved-it's a waste of time to call home these days because little larlo is an angel.

A lot of parents just say they don’t know what to do. I teach an ES grade and I have parents ask me for advice about how they should handle their kids at home. They don’t deny the behavior problems.

A bit of a different example, DH called home recently about a student’s behavior. The student went to the counselor and talked about how her parents were making her life miserable at home because the teacher called and talked to them about her behavior. DH was told to not contact the parents anymore and that future issues could just go through the counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, are you completely sure it’s only 1or 2 kids? I also “ punish” the entire classroom when at least 7-8 students are being so disruptive that instruction for all is completely compromised. I take away fun activities, not snack. Recently parents had complained about this because they also had heard that it was because of 1 or two students. Admin investigated and found out there were actually 10 students (almost half of class) who were acting out with two of them being completely out of control.

What did admin do about it? No child has the right to keep another child from learning. I send my child to school to learn, not to be punished because other kids aren’t interested in learning.

What do you expect admin to do when half the class is acting out? It isn’t like kids can be kicked out for talking nonstop. Honestly, I am sure the teacher is in communication with parents and is trying her/his best. As a previous poster said, many good kids are also non stop talkers, interrupters, distractors, etc. Walk into any classroom and you will see many of them.

This! It's exhausting for all involved-it's a waste of time to call home these days because little larlo is an angel.

A lot of parents just say they don’t know what to do. I teach an ES grade and I have parents ask me for advice about how they should handle their kids at home. They don’t deny the behavior problems.

A bit of a different example, DH called home recently about a student’s behavior. The student went to the counselor and talked about how her parents were making her life miserable at home because the teacher called and talked to them about her behavior. DH was told to not contact the parents anymore and that future issues could just go through the counselor.

This! Teaching is not worth it these days...it's sad but teachers are always wrong-you can't do your job in these conditions.

[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.

OP here, my child has told me it's one or two. The teacher I think is burnt out and just phoning it in. It's too bad because our neighbors with teens rave about this teacher, like "best teacher ever", "changed her life!", etc...

[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.

OP here, my child has told me it's one or two. The teacher I think is burnt out and just phoning it in. It's too bad because our neighbors with teens rave about this teacher, like "best teacher ever", "changed her life!", etc...

I was once of those requested every year teachers. I left teaching 2 years ago. I felt very burnt out in the end, but didn’t need to stay for retirement or health care.

[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.

OP here, my child has told me it's one or two. The teacher I think is burnt out and just phoning it in. It's too bad because our neighbors with teens rave about this teacher, like "best teacher ever", "changed her life!", etc...

I’d love to hear the teacher’s perspective. I’m guessing it isn’t one or two.

I’m going with the reigning message here. If this teacher is the “best teacher ever” who has made such an impact as to change lives, then it’s rather likely this teacher is up against a particularly challenging class. Even the strongest teachers struggle when faced with a large percentage of undisciplined children.

The type of teacher who gets those comments cares too much about their career to phone it in.

[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.

OP here, my child has told me it's one or two. The teacher I think is burnt out and just phoning it in. It's too bad because our neighbors with teens rave about this teacher, like "best teacher ever", "changed her life!", etc...

Mistake 1 is believing 100% of what your kid says without approaching the teacher and asking for their point of view in a non accusatory manner. You kid may may even 100% believe what they say. But 8 (or 6 or 10) year olds are unreliable narrators and don’t have the “whole classroom” view that a teacher does. Just because your kid notices 1-2 does mean there aren’t 8 other problems your kid doesn’t see or doesn’t understand are problematic. Your kid may even be part of the problem and not tell you, or not realize what they contributed to the group dynamic. And I’m a parent, not a teacher. But enough of an experienced parent to realize that ES is a “trust but verify” age. Not verifying has certainly blown up in my face. Make enough accusations based solely on your kid’s words, and the law of averages says it will blow up in yours.

[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.

OP here, my child has told me it's one or two. The teacher I think is burnt out and just phoning it in. It's too bad because our neighbors with teens rave about this teacher, like "best teacher ever", "changed her life!", etc...

I was once of those requested every year teachers. I left teaching 2 years ago. I felt very burnt out in the end, but didn’t need to stay for retirement or health care.

Sometimes it’s 1 or 2 doing the INITIAL disrupting then the majority of the class starts laughing, cutting up, etc in response to the 1st 2. So the whole class consequence is in response to THAT sometimes. That said, recess shouldn’t be taken, but it can look different. It doesn’t have to be running all over the playground. My school doesn’t even have snack time. It’s eaten at recess. No snacks are eaten during class. Snack time is not legally mandated. Finally, you’re taking the word of a child young enough to still have recess and snack time. Their perceptions frequently diverge from reality, even the nicest, most honest kids.