WWYD? Saw crying k student being picked up and moved to classroom by teacher

[Anonymous]

She basically carried her, crying, back into the classroom. She's my son's best friend, very shy and anxious. She was crying because our school was having a sing a long and didn't want to sing. Barely any social-emotional tools used during the 5 minutes spent trying to calm the child. After five minutes she just said "come on, back inside" picked up the crying child and walked into the classroom with her. Five minutes later the same girl came back outside with the other teacher, crying, but finally calmed down 5 minutes later as the teacher used breathing exercises to calm her. Should I be reporting this to someone? Telling her parents? My gut says yes but I'm a first time elementary parent so maybe this is normal? Thanks for your two cents.

[Anonymous]

I have a child who would have reacted this way in a similar situation and see nothing wrong with how it was handled.

[Anonymous]

What? I fail to see the big deal here. Also if you new this girl why didn't you help? Should we report you for failing to use your "social emotional tools"? fwiw sometimes "ok, back in the classroom" IS an appropriate response as opposed to catering to an anxious avoidance reaction like this was.

[Anonymous]

I love these newbie parents who think that they could handle all these situations so much better than everyone else. Get over yourself!

[Anonymous]

Sounds like the teacher went out of her way..though maybe not in the way you had in mind. I might mention it to the parents if you are close to them as they might have no idea their child is having some struggles. I would want to know.

[Anonymous]

Let's see...the K teacher let another teacher (assistant?) remove the upset child from the class and calm her down using breathing techniques?

I fail to see how anything was improperly handled. What would you have wanted the teacher to do?

[Anonymous]

OP, if you reported it, what would you report? If you told the parents, what would you tell?

[Anonymous]

What is the issue here?

[Anonymous]

You might mention to the girl's parents that she had a meltdown during the singalong. Were they not there?

[Anonymous]

OMG, seriously OP? OK, if this is a serious question, then, my response would be: I would do nothing. Even if this was my first ES student (I have two in ES right now), I would've done nothing. I have seen several 5/6 yr olds crying in class, refusing to go on the school bus, go to school, etc.. You just carry on.

If that child has emotional issues, maybe the parent needs to have a chat with the teacher. I'm sure that child will tell the parent what happened today.

[Anonymous]

Did they pick her up while she was resisting?


Schools should, and usually do, have clear rules about touching children, restraining children, or moving children without their consent. If the child was resisting then carrying her wasn't safe or appropriate, unless there was a serious safety concern (e.g. as a teacher I can carry a kicking and screaming kid out of the building during a fire, but not during a fire drill). On the other hand, young kids are sometimes very willing to be carried, even when they are unhappy about something else. If she was OK with being picked up, then that is a different situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they pick her up while she was resisting?


Schools should, and usually do, have clear rules about touching children, restraining children, or moving children without their consent. If the child was resisting then carrying her wasn't safe or appropriate, unless there was a serious safety concern (e.g. as a teacher I can carry a kicking and screaming kid out of the building during a fire, but not during a fire drill). On the other hand, young kids are sometimes very willing to be carried, even when they are unhappy about something else. If she was OK with being picked up, then that is a different situation.

I think that's ridiculous. When my 5/6 yr old refuses to sit on the "naught" chair, I carry her. It shouldn't be any different for a teacher since the parent is not there. We're not talking about corporal punishment here. I have no problem with a teacher picking up my child if my child were throwing a tantrum and disrupting the class (thankfully, that's never happened). An adult can pick up a child without hurting the child.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea what your issue is with what happened, OP. Kids cry and it sounds like the teacher handled it fine.

[Anonymous]

You realize the teacher has 20+ other kids to deal with too, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did they pick her up while she was resisting?


Schools should, and usually do, have clear rules about touching children, restraining children, or moving children without their consent. If the child was resisting then carrying her wasn't safe or appropriate, unless there was a serious safety concern (e.g. as a teacher I can carry a kicking and screaming kid out of the building during a fire, but not during a fire drill). On the other hand, young kids are sometimes very willing to be carried, even when they are unhappy about something else. If she was OK with being picked up, then that is a different situation.

Thank you for this as I guess I was not clear. She was being carried while resisting and it seemed inappropriate for any teacher to do this if she was not harming anyone or being harmed. I'm going to ask about this policy.