My son was hit on the head by the swimming instructor

[ali1982]

My son came home from school upset because when he went swimming with the school the swimming instructor whacked him on the head with 2 floaters.My son told me that he was stood by the pool and that the woman was telling the class off and then she whacked him and another child on the head.I have made a complaint to the leisure center about this person and also to the school.But the school seems to be not taking it seriously.I have said that if my son was naughty i dont have a problem with him being told off but the woman should not have hit him on the head.My son is only 8 years old.What should the school do in this situation ?

unexpectedly

Ali, no one is trying to be mean.

We are giving advice in what we would do in your situation. Just take the parts that you feel are relivant and ignore the rest.

Good luck hope it gets sorted.

just have a chat with the swimming instructor to see what actually happened

thankyou

'He is 2.5 now and is amazing in the water and can swim a full length on his own (with arm bands)'
This made me Lol swimming (with arm bands) is not amazing in any age!!!

Have a word with this intructor.Being hit on the head with a float is not likely to help him with his swimming is it? Get the facts straight and take the boy with you when you go to see the instructor, otherwise she might try to deny it/wriggle out of it. If she says it was only a joke (and I expect she will try to pull that one) then say you are not laughing and want to see her senior manager and file a complaint. The school can't really do much because they don't want to get on the wrong side of her IMO. It's not up to the school at the end of the day. He's your son, therefore you sort it out.

I would talk to the instructor, tell her my ds had been upset and let her put her side. Then I would let her know I was keeping an eye on her. She really shouldn't be loosing her job over swatting a kid with a float. But she shouldn't do it again.

Getting the police involved or making a formal complaint seems to me to be an overreaction.

Katiestar - how many 2.5 year olds do you know that cand swim a full length (not width) in a pool with arm bands? I do think it is amazing and i have not seen any other child at his level at his age.

Have you consider asking the instructor what happened? That would have the first thing I did.

MrSpoc mine can but he sinks like a rock the second they come off
OP I think you're being oversensitive re the responses - apples and trees!

I think you should do whats best for your son

Well I suppose it depends on how hard and in what spirit he was hit on the head. If it wasa gentle whack in a jokey way it wouldn't be a problem. if it was done with malice aforethought and with enough force to hurt, I would be annoyed.

Wonka mine too, he is very good at doing a pebble impression. the good thing is, he does not panic when underv the water.

But was it actually a HIT?

There is a lot of "I can't believe the responses" comments but no further clarification. Unless I missed the post.

The kicking water in the face thing I find more grievous.

The fact that op's son was upset by what had happened suggests that it was not intended as a 'playful' tap but as a deliberately unpleasant way of singling a child out. Whether it hurt or not has nothing to do with it. No school teacher would be allowed to do this and sports tutors need to have the same conduct code impressed on them.

The kids themselves are well aware that teachers aren't supposed to behave in that way which is probably why her ds complained to her, not because he's 'soft' or other ridiculous ideas people have expressed here.
Ds was upset by a swimming teacher referring to his group as 'muppets' because they were too slow getting ready. He said it was rude, and he's right.

They're made of FOAM ffs

Tell him to behave in future. Pah !

but if a child is naughty and the teacher shouts or tells them off, this will have the same effect. the child will feel humiliated and up set. (this is not a bad thing it is how they learn).

Swimming teachers or their bosses should have attended 'Safeguarding and Protecting Children' courses. Which do not advocate tapping kids on heads with floats.

But many swimming teachers are quite young themselves and can slip into interacting with the kids as they might with their own younger brother or sister.

It's more likely to have been a thoughtless, instinctive, jovial gesture than a malicious attack. If you're seriously worried then of course bring up with the line manager so the teacher in question will know to moderate behaviour in future. But to bring police in would be ridiculous.

A teacher/instructor does not have a right to hit a child

My 21 month old can swim a length with arm bands and that's without dunking his head under water at 3months old. Just swimming with me once a week at the local pool. He can also jump in without armbands and get himself to the side and hold on until someone gets him.

Not sure what any of this has to do with a child being hit around the head by a teacher though.

The flip side to this whole bloody ridiculous no-one can touch my child stuff is teachers too scared to put plasters on a cut knee, or to cuddle a crying child. Eventually they will be taught through glass screens so no improper or unadvisable contact can be accused. Why were the two boys away from the rest of the class, on the side? Particularly naughty?

No, mrspoc, it is not the same effect. There are important boundaries in verbal 'telling off' and of course anything physical is a complete no-no.

As I said, children are well aware of these boundaries and they know when an adult is overstepping them which undermines their confidence in being taught by said adult because they can't trust them to behave properly. Oh and btw, children do not learn by being humiliated and upset - you pointy-eared freak!

The post did not mention anything about reporting it to the police either. All it asked for is what should the school do about it

There is being hit on the head with a float, and being hit on the head with a float. If it was a tap because your son was talking out of turn and not listening when the instructor was already telling the class off then maybe that was the only way she could reach him to tell him to "Shush". On the other hand if she whacked him hard round the back of the head and it hurt, then, its a different matter. I saw a child aged about 9 yrs skiing in France and because he was not listening the instructor hit him hard on the head (crash helmet) with a ski pole. Bit harsh, but then she had 15 kids to control.
When i was a teacher in a nursery class I once tapped a child on the head with a tiny little Mr Men book and she told her parents.
The whole incident blew up into a meeting and me having to apologise. I was young at the time and felt it a grave injustice. I couldnt reach the child to tell her to stop talking, and listen to the storytime, which she was disrupting for all the others. So i reached forward and tapped her with the book to gain her attention. I honestly think it was nothing to make an issue about,, but the child had said I had hit her hard on the head with a big book and it hurt, and that I didnt like her !
So, from experience sometimes the childs version is different from the teachers.
I think incidents like this can blown up way out of proportion.

Well goldenballs you said
intended as a 'playful' tap but as a deliberately unpleasant way of singling a child out. Whether it hurt or not has nothing to do with it

it does have the same effect as a techer singling out a naughty child and shouting at them, they will still feel humiliated and singled out.

And i disagree, children learn by being pointed out to them what is right and wrong.