Headteacher criticised my daughter's water bottle

It's about being humiliated in front of your peers. That's powerful when you're 8. I remember being told to stand up in front of the whole school.in assembly for something I'd done the previous day. I hated that teacher because he actually got a kick out of humiliating children.

It's also about a sense of justice. If she'd been talking in class when she should have been listening, or messing about rather than working, she should be reprimanded, but at 8, it's hardly her fault she's got a single use plastic bottle and having one, so she can have water is better than not.

And if we are recycling responsibly, the bottles shouldn't be ending up.in thr oceans

It's about being humiliated in front of your peers. That's powerful when you're 8. I remember being told to stand up in front of the whole school.in assembly for something I'd done the previous day. I hated that teacher because he actually got a kick out of humiliating children.

It's also about a sense of justice. If she'd been talking in class when she should have been listening, or messing about rather than working, she should be reprimanded, but at 8, it's hardly her fault she's got a single use plastic bottle and having one, so she can have water is better than not.

And if we are recycling responsibly, the bottles shouldn't be ending up.in thr oceans

Exactly. I often fill my water bottle and leave it on the worktop. Also, before I bought a reusable bottle, I just reused a disposable one, so how do schools know that children aren't doing that?

A bottle of water that can be bought for 50p is not an important ‘possession’ he didn’t criticise her favourite stuffed toy, he demonstrated a single use plastic that would be thrown away in a few hours.

Yes definitely!! The fact I can still remember it so acutely is interesting, I think it did create anxiety about having the ‘wrong stuff’ which made me paranoid and drove my parent mad through the rest of my childhood. Not life damaging though!

This.

The virtue signalling head will probably jet off on her holidays soon ignoring her contributions to global damage. What a shitty thing to do to a child in front of the class.

Why are people acting like this is so unusual? My 9yr old has never been told off at school and would be upset too.

Sure, it seems small beans to you but to an 8 year old it’s crushing to have your possessions criticised in from of the class by the HT.

A HT should know this, they should not need to be told in a chatty way or otherwise, they should just bloody know this is not an appropriate way to communicate and maybe for their own personal development someone needs to tell them, so they can communicate in a more sensitive manner in future.

It sounds like your daughter understands the difference between a single use bottle and a reusable bottle.

Just tell her that the single use bottle gave the him the opportunity to remind the class about using a reusable bottle instead.

However ‘chatty’ you try to be with the head teacher, you are making a mountain out of a molehill.

For goodness' sake. Whatever a school's policies are on single use plastic, anyone can have an emergency - as this was - and need to use a shop bought bottle of water. Have you really never bought a bottle of water at, say, a railway station because you were extremely thirsty? If this were my child in a heatwave l know what l would have done and any normal teacher, of whom there are several on this thread, would have done the same. Whatever the headteacher's personal beliefs, he was very wrong to single out a child, especially a sensitive, well-behaved child in this way in order to promote his agenda.

Were you able to proceed with your life despite the rubber incident?

Discouraging single use plastic is one thing

Humiliating a small child because they used a plastic bottle when they couldn't find anything else is quite different and clearly unacceptable

At risk of being harsh to the head I wonder how many experienced women went for the job.

Sorry wrror

This is your child's version of events, right? The same kid who thinks she's killing sea turtles? Many schools are zero single plastic and parents know this. I'd suggest contacting the school and finding out what the HT really said.

Absolutely fine to use single-use plastic in a pinch. It’s far better to be hydrated and comfortable than insufferably self-righteous and thirsty.
Also agree with the other comments about the dynamic but regardless, if someone forgets or can’t use their water bottle or as in my case today just happen to have drank it already they don’t have to explain themselves to the plastics police

The headteacher sounds like a right bitch.

I would be really pissed off if this was my child, regardless of how upset (or not) they were. It was totally inappropriate to single out your child’s belonging and highlight it as being something so awful. I’m not surprised your daughter was upset, she was probably humiliated in front of all of her friends, especially it being the headteacher with that extra sense of authority. I’d have to have a word with him if I were you and just explain that while you get his message, he needs to stop and think about how he delivers it

It was a male HT

Adults with power humiliating children in front of all their class mates doesn’t teach resilience.
Not ever.

No it was thoughtless and id be angry at that.
What is important to you is that your daughter stayed hydrated and was not made to feel small or embarrassed in front of her class.
I'd expect her to apologise.. full of her own importance stupid thoughtless women.

YANBU! Unacceptable for someone with ultimate influence in a school, to humiliate a child due to using a plastic water bottle he doesn't agree with. Is he one of those activist teacher-types who push their own agenda on children generally? You know, the ones who for example push transing children if a boy likes so-called feminine things and was therefore perhaps "born in the wrong body" (child abuse/safeguarding concern imo).

I work at a school in Scotland and I can just imagine the strong reaction of any parents at our school if our HT humiliated a child over a water bottle. Fortunately for us she is a kind but firm, respectful, nurturing and fair and is therefore respected by pupils.

Pity the HT couldn’t have done the same.

No point in mollycoddling her, just tell her clearly that it's true that certain plastic is bad for the planet but her not dying of dehydration was more important and sometimes people have to just do the best they can with whatever life throws their way.
Teach her resilience and confidence in herself

It was a completely inappropriate thing to lecture a room full of 7 and 8 year olds about in a heatwave knowing one of them had brought the water bottle in in a massive heatwave. It's not like they buy their own bottles ffs, parents do, and shit happens.