Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

To think children shouldn't be playing football at pick up time at school

36 replies

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 16:26

Have to go into the playground to pick DD 5 up from school she has to tell the teacher she has seen me before she can leave, my 18 month ds was asleep in his pram and suddenly a ball hits his pram right by his head, very lucky it didn't hit him.

One of the boys playing says but it didn't hit him like that means it is alright to do, the mothers don't say anything, smaller boy keeps playing with the ball kicking it high in the air, I keep asking him to stop, it takes me yelling at him to stop for him to stop kicking the ball high in the air, I get strange looks from other parents not many parents left in playground so one of them must have been the boys mother, no one says anything.

Am I being unreasonable to think playing football should be banned during school pick ups. I did talk to one of the teachers who was standing bu the school gate and she did not seem happy

I do not live in the UK and children are allowed much greater freedom here but there seems no consideration for any one else, I am considering making a formal complaint to the school as a child could be seriously injured.

OP posts:

Cherriesarelovely · 15/05/2013 16:29

Ball games are banned in the playground at picking up time at the school where I work OP. This is for the very reason you describe. hth.

freddiefrog · 15/05/2013 16:34

Our school have banned football with proper footballs (they're allowed foam ones) for much the same reason.

They've also been banned from the playground at playtimes after several children were hurt by flying balls. (my own 7 year old got smacked in the face)

Proper footballs are now only allowed on the playing field

LEMisdisappointed · 15/05/2013 16:42

oh, this really boils my piss - my DD got a ball in her face at pick up time as you have several groups of lads playing football, im sorry but i think there should be allocated time and place for ball games in the playground. YANBU

rainbowslollipops · 15/05/2013 16:58

You have it lucky. A boy of around 9 walks home from school down my road playing football on the path, around parked cars and yesterday in the middle of the road.

thebody · 15/05/2013 17:00

Banned at my school at any time except organised footi time on a lesson.

5318008 · 15/05/2013 17:01

Yanbu but oh dear at shouting at a little boy.

Write to HT asking for no ball games at drop off and pick up in the playground

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 17:15

I yelled stop in his language I started saying it several times but he ignored me, so I kept raising my voice until he noticed, I yelled exactly what children are taught to say or yell if need be to get another child to stop, when I am upset my very bad second language goes out the window I suppose I should have just allowed him to continue to endanger other small children.

OP posts:

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 17:20

OP posts:

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 17:20

How did that let me post twice.

OP posts:

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 17:23

Rainbow I have lovely children playing football in front of my house all the time, considering it is a very narrow road and the front gardens are tiny I don'y understand it, especially as we have a park 2 minutes from my house and kids are allowed to roam here from a very young age.

OP posts:

ReallyTired · 15/05/2013 17:29

goodiegoodieyumyum

A primary school child finds it terrfiying to be yelled at by an adult they don't know well.

Dd (aged 4) got yelled at by a parent because her son tripped over while the two of them were playing it. She cried for 20 minutes afterwards. There is a fine line between telling off someone else's child and bullying. There have been cases where parents have been banned from the school grounds for such behaviour.

aldiwhore · 15/05/2013 17:35

Our school are talking about banning parents and children in pushchairs from the playground... because the playground is the child's space and the rules should remain the same at all times (only soft sponge footballs allowed).

Parents are never happy, and though hard footballs in any busy area should be a no-no, perhaps sponge balls would remove the risk of injury and the school children can contine playing.

Shouting won't get you anywhere to be honest, but a considered and calm approach to change a rule for real safety reasons may go down better?

nailak · 15/05/2013 17:37

but in many schools pick up is done from playground

VonHerrBurton · 15/05/2013 17:48

Should be foam footballs only but its their space, op. I understand your anger but YAB a bit U shouting at someone's child because you got a fright. If there are no 'rules' about playing football then its certainly not the fault of the school children.

My ds walks home with his friends now but when I used to do the school run the playground was full of preschoolers tearing round on bikes and scooters, shouting and screaming when the dc were still in lessons. That used to piss me off but I wouldn't dream of saying anything to them - they are just children playing....

ReallyTired · 15/05/2013 17:51

I think children should be encouraged to active, run about and play football if they choose. Our school has banned IT in the name of health and safety.

Prehaps the children should be encouraged to be active with foam footballs. Maybe part of the playground should be designated a football area.

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 17:52

Aldi if there is a next time I will calmly speak to the child in english he will not understand me but who cares, I calmly asked him to stop in his language several times and he ignored me should I have took the ball off him and took it home there were no teachers in sight and every other adult present was ignoring the situation. A

Apparently I should just let it happen as I don't speak the language well enough to have a long conversion with a child explaining to him the dangers of what he did the fact that all the adult around me offered no help or support just pisses me off all the more. Sometime I really hate living in this country because things like this happen all the time and children never seem to get in trouble no wonder they are the happiest in Europe.

OP posts:

ReallyTired · 15/05/2013 17:58

"Aldi if there is a next time I will calmly speak to the child in english he will not understand me but who cares, I calmly asked him to stop in his language several times and he ignored me should I have took the ball off him and took it home there were no teachers in sight and every other adult present was ignoring the situation. A"

You need to speak to the school. What authority do you have to say that someone else's child can't play football? It smacks of arrogrance whatever language you use.

If you have a problem with a child's behaviour then speak to the school. It may well be that most people are absolutely fine with children playing football in a playground. (As children do all over the world.)

"Sometime I really hate living in this country because things like this happen all the time and children never seem to get in trouble no wonder they are the happiest in Europe."

I hate it when immigrants make comments like this. If the UK is such a terrible country why do so many people want to live here?

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 18:00

Vonherr if his head had been hit and he suffered serious injury would you think the same, it is a very small playground, we have to go in it to pick our children up, and actually only the first two grades do the others don't, they can leave the school from another entrance it is supposed to keep them safe.
Children should not be kicking a football high in the air around small children in prams and I am sure the school has told them that.

OP posts:

VonHerrBurton · 15/05/2013 18:15

It really is something you need to discuss with the head, not shout at a young child. I did say in my original post that I thougt balls should be foam - in that case it wouldn't have seriously injured your son.

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 18:31

Really tired I am not talking about the UK, I said in my OP that I am not in the UK, I nearly dropped my DS at three months because some one pushed past me as I was getting him out of the car. When I try to speak the language most people just speak to my in English as they hear my accent doesn't matter if I speak to them in their own language which makes it impossible to become fluent.

I would love to move but we are here for my husbands job as it would have been unemployed if we hadn't moved here. Obviously you are never supposed to voice the fact you don't living where you are because your a foreigner. The recession caused me to have to uproot myself to a country where I didn't speak the language and knew no one I have tried to make the best of it but can I never say i don't like living here.

OP posts:

rainbowslollipops · 15/05/2013 19:18

Goodie what worries me is that it's the main road used to get to the school yet the boy seems to ignore the warnings from others and carry on.

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 19:30

That's bad rainbow, I think some children have no sense of danger, my dd certainly took along time to learn about crossing the road, I think my neighbour's think I am weird that I won't let her out to play on her own as they all did when there children were 4, I probably won't for many years as she has no common sense.

I think the reason I got so upset and yelled is that nobody else seemed to care even after I originally took the ball from the children I gave it back expecting them to stop playing at least until I left but, none of the adults did anything and this is what i find all the time.

Another time my sons pram was hit by a flying lunch box because a child was so excited to see his mum he threw it when he ran to cuddle her, no apology it could have caused a lot of damage and did actually hit me, so lovely to see him happy to see mummy but who cares if he hurt someone, it wasn't them and they don't know me so who cares if was hurt.

Most of the time I can ignore it but today it was too much, I was bought up to be polite and living in a country where many people are proud of their rudeness is a wee bit hard.

OP posts:

VonHerrBurton · 15/05/2013 19:47

You sound really really down about where you live (Netherlands?) and I feel for you, I would hate to be stuck somewhere where I found the people rude and everyones opinions differing to mine, nobody to just sound off to that 'gets' you. I know you have dh but you sound down. Is there any way you could get back home for a few days to see your friends and family? Sounds like you would benefit from a hug from your mum, night out with friends or family.

I hope I don't sound patronising, I really don't mean to :). I've lived in a different country pre-dc and that was difficult enough.

Original poster

goodiegoodieyumyum · 15/05/2013 20:40

Thanks Vonherr, most of my family are in Australia, my sister is in England but I doubt I can visit, my Dad will be here in 10 days, but I have my in-laws visiting before then (a bit hacked off with that as they knew my dad was coming but insisted on being here until two days before he arrives, another story) and am in the middle of house hunting, hoping to move to a cheaper area with a bigger house and garden, which I am hoping will make things more bearable plus not be in a town surrounded by forest which may help my hay fever.

I do have a Dutch friend who gets exactly where I am coming from, there is much I like about this country but sometimes it just gets me down. I would love to just get on a plane and visit England I was happy there my sister was close and we had great friends and a lived in a lovely community.

Probably also a bit sad about moving although we need a bigger house and where we want to move to you get a lot more for your money, a greta International community, I do know a lot of people here and bump into people all the time but have no really close friends who I hang out with which I do miss. A few Dutch people I know also feel the same way I do about Dutch rudeness so I know it's not just me.

Completely off the original topic oh well.

OP posts:

TraceyTrickster · 16/05/2013 11:57

Wow if kids are not allowed to play in a school playground where are they meant to play?

At my daughter's school pick up time is for them to burn off excess energy and it is a great idea!

Maybe that's why kids in Uk are supposedly becoming more sedentary - as they have little opportunity for active games.

Flip

1 2