Anonymous wrote:

Can we stop blaming kids? He's 6, not exactly in the prime of decision making ability. My kids don't always do exactly what I would expect in situations, and it can be a learning experience for everyone. I don't think we know enough to know whether the child should be punished. Likewise for the teacher.

The 6 year old was wrong. 6 year olds are capable of doing a lot of things including staying AT school when that is where you are supposed to be. Evidence is that thousands of 5 & 6 year olds stay where they belong & do NOT wander away from the classroom every year. And they don't all have awesome teachers. This is not a 2 or 3 year old. Do procedures need to be reviewed & maybe tightened? Sure. But nobody deserves to be fired & the kid deserves consequences.

Anonymous wrote:

Can we stop blaming kids? He's 6, not exactly in the prime of decision making ability. My kids don't always do exactly what I would expect in situations, and it can be a learning experience for everyone. I don't think we know enough to know whether the child should be punished. Likewise for the teacher.

I don't think it is necessarily just the kids fault. However, the parents should 100% punish the child. My issue is they are on tv calling for the teachers to be suspended, while not even acknowledging that what their child is saying doesn't make any sense.

Can we stop blaming kids? He's 6, not exactly in the prime of decision making ability. My kids don't always do exactly what I would expect in situations, and it can be a learning experience for everyone. I don't think we know enough to know whether the child should be punished. Likewise for the teacher.

At our ES, the recess times are so staggered that every couple minutes a class is coming while another is leaving. It is difficult to ensure they have everyone. My DS didn't hear or see that his class was leaving, and was still outside while his class went to lunch. The teacher sent kids to go get him. Obviously I talked to him and reminded him to stay with the group. I was at the school volunteering at the time, and it was unnerving. He is older and wouldn't wander off, but I could certainly see how it could happen. There are many things schools could do to prevent this beyond what they are already doing. The problem is that FCPS tends to take action in response to incidents rather than being as proactive as possible to ensure student safety especially during recess where injuries, bullying, etc. are most likely to happen. I wish they had more recess time so it wasn't quite so crazy during the short time they have outside each day.

Anonymous wrote:6 is old enough to know you don't walk away from where you are supposed to be. I'd have safety questions as to how long before someone noticed, what is the protocol once someone is noticed, etc., but the kid walking away is on him. He would not be a happy camper at my house. (& my kid has done this - he wanted to go home, so he thought maybe he'd try - he didn't get far & the school reacted appropriately. His "escape" was entirely of his own doing.)

I agree someone should have noticed sooner but I could see how it could happen. It appears the kid took off while transitioning outside. If he was really in the bathroom (either with permission or hiding), I can see how it would take a little while for the teacher to notice he wasn't there. Especially if it wasn't the same teacher monitoring recess. It isn't like they're constantly taking attendance outside, so if you don't see a kid leave you will probably assume they're all there.

I hope the parents are talking to their child about his responsibility in this, which is definitely not apparent from the video.

6 is old enough to know you don't walk away from where you are supposed to be. I'd have safety questions as to how long before someone noticed, what is the protocol once someone is noticed, etc., but the kid walking away is on him. He would not be a happy camper at my house. (& my kid has done this - he wanted to go home, so he thought maybe he'd try - he didn't get far & the school reacted appropriately. His "escape" was entirely of his own doing.)

At the end of the year, no way. Even six year olds know the routine by then - and know where to locate another adult for help if they can't find their class.

Exactly.

If this was the beginning of the year, I could buy that the kid got lost and then left because he didn't know what to do.

At the end of the year, no way. Even six year olds know the routine by then - and know where to locate another adult for help if they can't find their class.

But, if I were in administration, i would do everything possible to secure my playground area. Closing fences that stay open for the community to use as a short cut, for instance. I would say that my students safety and security trumps community cut through during school hours. That's just the first thing I would since it doesn't cost any money. Then, I would look at my budget, since I'm like a CFO, and see what improvements I could make. For instance, the door leading outside in the KG-1 hallway should be alarmed. It should require a teachers badge to get out and if opened without badge, an alarm should trigger, and my staff would know that this was urgent, especially since it's in the young hallway. Given more time, I'm certain I could come up with many ideas to ensure my students were safe and secure while under my overall supervision.

Lots of schools have no fences. And, you cannot cut the community out of walking paths, etc.

The door alarm is unrealistic. Too many people in and out all day. Perhaps, the doors to the outside could be only opened with a badge and have an alarm, but I see problems with this, too. Subs, aides, parent volunteers. You'd have false alarms too frequently.

This child did not get lost and leave. This child chose to leave and then got lost.

Best thing you can do to ensure your child's safety? Be sure that he wouldn't pull something like this. As the teacher posted earlier, she could easily arrange for a child to escape your view.

I'm the teacher who hasn't taught in years, but I can assure you that teachers do watch the kids. And, they do not wander off accidentally. Of course, I have reigned them in if I see one getting beyond view at the edge of the playground or something--but they weren't going to wander off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lost my 6 yo at Disney. 6 yos can wander off. It happens.

This school is in an area with a lot of townhouses and walkers-I could see a kid wandering off trying to walk home and getting lost.

PP whose kid is in the same class. I know for a fact that the boy is not a walker. He uses the kiss and ride.

So he probably lives within walking distance, or he'd be on a bus.

No, London Towne is an immersion school. There are tons of OOB students and they all use kiss and ride.

I don't know about this kid specifically, but you can't make that assumption give the demographics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lost my 6 yo at Disney. 6 yos can wander off. It happens.

This school is in an area with a lot of townhouses and walkers-I could see a kid wandering off trying to walk home and getting lost.

PP whose kid is in the same class. I know for a fact that the boy is not a walker. He uses the kiss and ride.

So he probably lives within walking distance, or he'd be on a bus.

Anonymous wrote:I lost my 6 yo at Disney. 6 yos can wander off. It happens.

This school is in an area with a lot of townhouses and walkers-I could see a kid wandering off trying to walk home and getting lost.

PP whose kid is in the same class. I know for a fact that the boy is not a walker. He uses the kiss and ride.

Anonymous wrote:But, if I were in administration, i would do everything possible to secure my playground area. Closing fences that stay open for the community to use as a short cut, for instance. I would say that my students safety and security trumps community cut through during school hours. That's just the first thing I would since it doesn't cost any money. Then, I would look at my budget, since I'm like a CFO, and see what improvements I could make. For instance, the door leading outside in the KG-1 hallway should be alarmed. It should require a teachers badge to get out and if opened without badge, an alarm should trigger, and my staff would know that this was urgent, especially since it's in the young hallway. Given more time, I'm certain I could come up with many ideas to ensure my students were safe and secure while under my overall supervision.

I agree with the door alarm - good idea.

I am not sure what else could be done in this situation. I am not saying things couldn't be done. But the kids story doesn't match the teachers and it also doesn't add up. If the kid was really in the bathroom, he wouldn't have been left alone, unless the teacher didn't know he was there (which would mean he had not asked.)

I think taking attendance before and after all transitions is also a good step. It is my understanding from the news reports that this has already been put in place.

But that said, if a child is determined to leave they're probably going to be able to find a way. It isn't prison.

I lost my 6 yo at Disney. 6 yos can wander off. It happens.

This school is in an area with a lot of townhouses and walkers-I could see a kid wandering off trying to walk home and getting lost.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Once more:

If schools aren't going to ensure 100% accountability and responsibility, give me the $ Richmond sends per pupil, and I'll go private.

One time incidents, like this, are one too many!

The child who decides he is going to leave the playground takes some of the responsibility too.

I'm willing to bet that as an experiment, if I had you monitor our recess and I chose a student to sneak away, I could accomplish it without you knowing right away.

This. It is a terrible thing that happened. But there is no way to know every possible way a kid could escape during transition time without someone first trying it, or just keeping them inside all day.