Just want a bit of a consensus really as to how others who are divorce/separated feel about this.
Very young new teacher (who seems very caring but a bit naive and admits coming from a very privileged background and stable family) has been reading the standard story books about divorce to the whole class e.g. Two Homes, Mum and Dad Glue, Its Not Your Fault to the whole class because 'a lot of the parents are divorced so it is a big issue for the children and they need to all know and talk about it and understand it isn't their fault'. There are one or two children in the class currently going through their parents divorcing and about 6 others with divorced parents. Most are well-adjusted, one or two have very difficult and complex situations going on with outside professional help involved.
I am very cautious about this, as a teacher myself and divorced parent, I feel it is the parent's place to discuss this with the children and find an appropriate book. I also feel every situation is so different that these generalised books may confuse children. Personally I think it is quite risky to discuss very emotive issues in whole-class situations where there are some very vulnerable children if you are not a trained mental health professional.
I can see if you knew a great deal about one child's situation and they were really struggling then it may be appropriate to quietly share the story. But as a parent I'd rather do these stories myself and at school for my child to know they can talk to their teacher but privately and when needed.
For some reason it just doesn't sit right with me.
Anyone agree/disagree?
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Teacher reading divorce story books to class
11 replies
ZigZapZip · 23/04/2014 13:36
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