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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I never take away all of recess but I sometimes have students walk the perimeter of the tennis courts instead of playing with their friends.  They spend class trying to do that.[/quote]

No, just no. They need a break.  Find other ways to deal with bad behavior.  [/quote]

If parents would deal with unacceptable behavior at home, we'd have much less to deal with at school. Too many kids never hear "no."[/quote]

Seriously. I don't necessarily agree with taking away recess because kids need that time for movement and fresh air, but there are SO MANY behaviors seen in schools today that were rare even 10 years ago. I'm talking about elementary school kids calling teachers names, kids who continually yell out loud noises during the whole group lesson, kids who stand on chairs while they are supposed to be in centers while the teacher is in small group and the teacher has to constantly stop small group instruction to deal with students who are off task, etc.

Parents here say they want to be contacted but the reality is that many parents actually don't. I've called home to hear the parent say "well, that's too bad because it's your problem during school hours so you can deal with it." We are a PBIS school and that worked at first but kids quickly figured out that when there are no consequences for bad behavior then they can continue to escalate it. Central office has created a code of conduct so that students can get away with practically anything and there won't be consequences.

People who aren't in schools witnessing this firsthand say to figure out the problem, figure out how to work with the kid, what makes them tick etc. That's great, but there are 20 something kids in my class and it would literally take all day every day to deal with each issue that way. It's not laziness--it's that my job is to to instruct and educate and while coping skills and behavioral skills are extremely important, I am still responsible for teaching content, not just playing counselor/therapist. I'm not qualified for that job and frankly we need more counselors in schools. We have one counselor for over 600 students.

Honestly it starts at home. Too many parents these days want to leave parenting to the schools. They are too busy or too disinterested or maybe just feel overwhelmed. I don't know what it is. But they're doing a severe disservice to their children and to the other children who are able to function in a classroom environment without causing distraction and disruption to others who want to be able to learn.

Yes, taking away recess as a blanket punishment is lazy. No, I don't agree with that. But the issues plaguing schools these days are serious and impactful. It's exhausting to deal with it day in and day out. Think of the times your own children have tested every boundary and you've been ready to tear your hair out. Multiply that by multiple children doing the same thing at different times of the day. Yes, we're teachers but at the end of the day we're only human. We don't have some superhuman parenting power that mere mortals don't have. Sometimes teachers just snap and out comes a threat like the whole class will miss recess if the behavior continues. Just like I'm sure most people have done as parents. If you haven't and have strategies that will work for 20 something individuals at once without needing to do something completely different for each child (which takes time) then please list your ideas here. It used to be that there would be a FBA or a BIP in place for kids who continually had these kinds of disruptive issues but now the issues are so prevalent that it only happens with the most severe cases where there's violence or physical aggression.

If you're unhappy that your kid's teacher takes recess away then by all means write or call her and ask her to explain why she does that and express your displeasure. But please understand the climate that teachers are working under these days--tension, stress and pressure like you wouldn't believe. Not an excuse--just an explanation.  [/quote]

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