to be shocked that I heard the teacher shouting this to a primary age child?

[CrapBag]

I was in the school the other day. A class were having PE, I don't know what age group. It was a male teacher with a particularly loud shouty voice. From the shouting I established that a boy had cut in the line (they were lining up to leave the hall). The teacher really shouted at this boy about cutting in and how rude it was etc etc, really going for it. Then we heard "YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A BULLY" shouted to this lad.

I know I don't know this child, he may be a bully. I don't know the context other than he cut in line at the end of PE but I was quite horrifed really to hear a teacher shout, and I do mean shout as in bellow, at this lad and call him this.

I must admit I am a fan of labelling the behaviour rather than the child. I am by no means a perfect parent but if DS is playing up, I will always tell him that what he is doing is naughty etc, not that he is naughty.

I wouldn't have been at all happy had this been my DC. I know it wasn't as mine is in reception and this was an older class.

Should I be shocked? Am I just being too precious at my first born being at school now?

We simply don't know enough about the incident.

I think it's a little namby pamby to be so shocked. If the boy is a bully, why shouldn't the teacher tell him so?

I know you've been on MN long enough to know that doesn't matter exotic

My DD has been the victim of a sustained campaign of bullying for the last year and a half. I wish this teacher was their teacher and the bully would finally get told about her behaviour!

I would of actually gone into the hall to let the teacher know that i had seen him..

I hate bullying, my 3 year old has just started nursery and is being bullied by a fellow 3 year old Makes me mad

But he is a teacher and this is unacceptable behaviour !

Im going against the grain here and think the teacher WBVU. If he used those exact words then that is a horrible thing to say to a child there is a huge difference between saying 'you are behaving like a bully' and shouting 'you are NOTHING but a bully.'that's a horrible thing to say to a primary age child and there really are no excuses for it! Even if the child is very badly behaved, that kind of outburst would not have rectified the situation. I would probably report it, if the child in question is a troublemaker, the school will ignore it anyway so dont worry about making things hard for the poor teacher.

YANBU - unnacceptable to shout that to a child.

I also think that the words that the teacher used were unacceptable and if he was shouting constantly then I would have a quiet word with the headteacher. I don't mind teachers shouting occasionally but this guy siunds under acute stress and it is NOT necessary to shout at primary aged kids constantly in order to keep them in line. If the child's behaviour is seriously jeopardising the rest of the class, there are FAR more effective things to do than yell at him that he is nothing but a bully in front of his peers. I can guarantee that this teacher's approach will at best be ineffective and at worst counterproductive.

I am really horrified at the attitude of so many NMs that it is acceptable to yell at children of a MAX age of 11 in this way. These are not 15 year olds full of hormones and attitude. Kids who persistently bully at this age are usually deeply damaged in some way and it is NOT acceptable to bellow abuse at them in a setting where they are supposed to be safe. And that is if this child does have persistent behaviour difficulties...which we don't know.
In fact the most effective proven way to handle bullying is the non punitive approach of restorative justice.

And yes I am a child psychologist, so I do know what I am talking about!

a child should never be labelled eg if a child is told they are naughty thats what they think they are so wont change.if we address the behavior instead eg its rude to push in ,go to the back of the line.i hope next time you can line up sensibly.
the child feels more valued and motivated that they can be good.

If he's tough enough to bully other kids then he can cope with being told what he is. If he doesn't like that assessment then he can change his behaviour. Children are surprisingly intelligent and don't need to be patronised to death.

I agree with ilikemysleep
I've taught in many schools and IME schools where teachers don't shout have a happier ethos. The classes are calmer, the children are more confident about speaking to adults and approaching teachers to ask for help and they are more engaged with their learning.

Poor teachers usually can't cut it, so these schools tend to have a good staff team.

That is interesting ilikemysleep What does restorative justice involve? (in a nutshell.) A friend visited a high school where they said they deal with bullying by helping the victim to see how they can behave differently to avoid being bullied. Seems to be placing the onus on the wrong person to me, but hopefully they deal with it in other ways too!

I think you are over reacting.
The boy quiteobviously had done something wrong.
I am all for firm discipline in school and if that involves shouting then so be it.

restorative justice example

www.anti-bullyingalliancetoolkit.org.uk/work_with_schools/practical_strategies/restorative_approaches.aspx

Maybe if the boy is nothing but a bully, it's about time somebody told him. Good for the teacher I'd say.

you don't know the background. I'd be shocked if I heard it without having heard anything that had happened beforehand.

Some of the attitudes towards young kids on this thread is pretty disturbing! The only bully in this situation seems to be the teacher.

'The only bully in this situation seems to be the teacher.'

No - the child was being a bully and that's why the teacher told him off.

You do realise that teachers don't just say stuff for fun?

I have a little sympathy with people saying that 'nothing but a bully' is not nice but I couldn't get worked up about it. As I said previously if the child doesn't like it, he knows what he has to do.

No, sometimes they say stuff because they are angry and stressed just like the rest of the population. It doesn't mean they are right just because they are interacting with 'horrible little children' True, we don't know the whole situation but from what the OP said, the boy cut in line. Yes that is bad behaviour but hardly seems to justify being shouted at for being nothing but a bully. Sometimes we do need to atleast consider the fact that the authority figure can be out of line
And no the child in this situation probably doesn't know what he has to do, he is a child hence the need to teach them things

You remember when they were talking about fast-tracking people from the Army into teaching to improve discipline...?

'You do realise that teachers don't just say stuff for fun? '

And do you realise that teachers get it wrong?

And do you realise the repercussions on that lad if they did get it wrong?

That's the reason you can't go steaming in, whatever's done has to be within a wider strategy.

That's why it's irrelevant whether the boy is a bully or not, if he is then the teacher isn't dealing with it properly, and if he's not, he might as well be.

'You remember when they were talking about fast-tracking people from the Army into teaching to improve discipline...'

Still waiting for a suntanned hero to crash into my life with a firm attitude to discipline and a voice made for command. Promises, promises.

That leveling behaviour thing is old hat.
What a pile of crack.
The child is responsible for their behaviour

I find it odd that adults feel its perfectly ok for teachers to shout at young children. I'm betting if it was their boss shouting at them, intimidating and humiliating them they would soon be complaining.
But a child is fair game...