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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

DS punished for class prank

301 replies

upsideup · 26/10/2018 16:07

DS1 is 9 and in year 5.
Last day of school, the teacher left the room for a couple of minutes and DS suggested that the class should all draw back circles on their foreheads and then act normal when she comes back in, he thought it would be a good halloween prank that she would find funny. Most of his class did it, I don’t know how many didn’t but it was only a few.

She didn’t find it funny which is fair enough, it’s not. They were asked whose idea it was and ds eventually owned up, he had to stay in a break to go and speak to the head teacher. I was phoned to be told what he did and that as the ringleader he will have to stay in every lunch time the first week back.
Obviously in the less than five minutes the teacher was gone ds wasn’t able to bully/force 20+ kids into doing it not that he would do that anyway, he mentioned it and they all decided it was a good idea to draw on their own foreheads.

AIBU to think it’s not really fair that he is the only one to get such a harsh punishment from this? And that everyone else who did the same thing is basically let off?

OP posts:
Booie09 · 27/10/2018 06:27

Wow so much teacher bashing!! No wonder children in primary school are so rude!! I'm a dinner lady and the amont of rudeness that goes on is unbelievable!! So many parents think their children can do no wrong! My child is in year 5 and if this was her i would tell her to suck it up....she wouldn't do it again!!!

trickandtreat · 27/10/2018 06:45

I think the teacher would have done well to ignore the prank.

OwlBeThere · 27/10/2018 06:53

why does anyone need 'punishing' for it? ok, maybe it wasn't hilariously funny, but its also entirely harmless. teacher has a stick up her arse!

TheSultanofPingu · 27/10/2018 07:15

I would imagine they had been given a task to be getting on with quietly while the teacher was out of the room. Your son decided to disrupt this, so I don't see the punishment as harsh. Lesson learned I think.

Miscible · 27/10/2018 07:22

Very good lesson for your son.

Mostly that a weak teacher will abuse her power.

20-odd in trouble because of him would soon let him know just how peed off they were with him.

Nonsense. He didn't force any of them to copy him. Children aren't that daft.

MidniteScribbler · 27/10/2018 07:27

why does anyone need 'punishing' for it? ok, maybe it wasn't hilariously funny, but its also entirely harmless. teacher has a stick up her arse!

Because instead of getting on with the task that he was assigned, he chose to muck around and try and get others to go along with his shenanigans. He wasted his time, his teachers time and his peers time. If you're assigned a task to do, sit down, shut up, and get on with it, instead of trying to play the clown.

nottakingthisanymore · 27/10/2018 07:41

I can imagine this was very disruptive to the lesson and I can also think of several reasons why the teacher had to leave the room. Yes, she shouldn’t have done but sometimes it’s unavoidable.

Miscible · 27/10/2018 07:59

Is it more disruptive to the lesson than the teacher leaving the room? And if she'd just ignored it, the prank would have fallen flat and she could have got on with the lesson easily enough.

MountainPeakGeek · 27/10/2018 08:05

Is this thread genuine, or just a really bad pun?

...DS suggested that the class should all draw black circles on their foreheads...

...as the ringleader...

Grin
llangennith · 27/10/2018 08:14

Let's hope your DS has finally got the message that you don't mess around in class. Did he really think the teacher would find this funny? He got the punishment her deserved.
Stop dismissing it as just a prank.

cakesandphotos · 27/10/2018 08:21

Our teacher left the room once and the entire class hid in the huge cupboards at the end. The teacher was furious and we all got a serious bollocking from him but that was it. Not sure the punishment quite fits the crime here but I would just suck it up and perhaps he’ll learn when it’s appropriate to pull pranks and when it’s not

colditz · 27/10/2018 08:38

“Stop dismissing it as just a prank”

It was literally just a prank.

VenusInSpurs · 27/10/2018 08:46

He had enough ‘leadership, due to popularity, charisma, communication skills or whatever, to get 20 kids all to draw on their faces very quickly. Taking advantage of a few moments when the teacher was absent.

And a history of bad behaviour.

The teacher has come down on him hard for fear of what he could do if he came up with a worse (more dangerous / distributive) idea , and probably wants him to reflect on how he uses his influence.

A child who is badly behaved is one thing. One who can get an entire class following his idea is another!

He sounds bright and imaginative and lively but that can be his downfall as well as his strength.

MaisyPops · 27/10/2018 08:49

MountainPeakGeek
Grin
It could be.
If so, it's a good one.

(Sadly, the attitude is quite believable as is the idea that a child could feel free to disrupt etc because they know their parent will minimise their behaviour and back them over school)

melin · 27/10/2018 08:50

I'm a teacher, occasionally emergencies happen and we nip out of the classroom. I trust my class to behave when left. This breaks that trust. The teacher needs to show this through the punishment.

Also, ignore it? Wtf?
How awful does that look if the kids go around all day with circles on their heads? Our head teacher and parents would have asked questions.

The teacher dealt with it appropriately. Halloween prank? It's not Halloween yet and it's unacceptable. It takes time away from learning and a 9 year old should know better

teaandbiscuitsforme · 27/10/2018 08:51

OP I really despair at your posts. Do you seriously have no idea what you're setting yourself up for if you don't back the school 100% on this?

I teach KS1 and if any of them would have dared to be so rude and disrespectful to myself and the other 30 kids in the class, I absolutely would have them in every lunchtime for a week.

Your DS didn't do this as a 'prank' to make the teacher laugh. He did it because he knew the whole class would be in trouble and he hoped he'd get the kudos and respect as the 'cool' leader of the class. It's good that he did own up but the fact your said eventually sets alarm bells ringing. He had no intention of owning up until he was squeezed!

And after being the constantly annoying child disrupting 30 other children's learning for a few weeks? I'm not surprised they've come down on him like a tonne of bricks.

Support them or from all teachers out there (well most Hmm) remember this as a huge 'WE TOLD YOU SO!' in about 4-5 years time.

thatone · 27/10/2018 09:00

I think YABU OP, I think the consquences are fair. He chose to do something very silly and he encouraged others too. Of course they could have refused but there may have been children who went along with it for fear of being different. We don't know, we weren't there.

But the fact that he thought this was acceptable might suggest something about his attitude to school.

RoxytheRexy · 27/10/2018 09:05

Some of the attitudes on this thread are vile. Calling the teacher ‘weak’, stick up her arse etc. No wonder we have a national shortage of people wanting to do it.

Support the school OP. And maybe use half term to work on your sons behaviour

cassgate · 27/10/2018 09:09

I am a ta in a year 5 class and I agree that in our school this would be a safe guarding issue. I know a teacher who got a formal written warning about leaving the class unattended. Someone could have had an accident, the fire alarm may have gone off. I think the teacher got off lightly that all that happened was a stupid prank. Doesn’t excuse it though and as the instigator of the prank your son should be punished. It should also serve as a good lesson to the others about peer pressure.

rainingcatsanddog · 27/10/2018 09:36

If your ds has 5 missed lunchtimes then the others should have missed 1.

Shocking how many adults think that pranking teachers is ok. Students can prank each other out of school but it was lesson time.

I suspect that primary teacher's can't simply ignore stuff like this as they will get complaints from parents- why is X not being punished for encouraging my child to be naughty? Why hasn't my child been given time to wash off the ink? The ink should have been washed off ASAP rather allowed to soak in. My child has eczema but I had to scrub his face ... Basically the teacher will be blamed for the boy's bad behaviour. A group of y5 should be able to get on with things for a few minutes if there's no adult in the room. It's shocking that we don't expect more from 9 year olds who aren't watched by adults every waking moment while at home.

Lweji · 27/10/2018 09:44

If your ds has 5 missed lunchtimes then the others should have missed 1.

We don't know that they didn't.

teaandbiscuitsforme · 27/10/2018 09:55

cassgate There are times when a teacher in the class on their own has to leave the room - to grab a sick bucket or first aided for example. Or a CP emergency. It's not a written warning! We don't know why the teacher was out so silly to speculate.

abacucat · 27/10/2018 09:58

Christ of course a teacher may have to leave a class unattended for a minute. No it is not a safeguarding issue. Ridiculous to suggest it is.

abacucat · 27/10/2018 09:59

And I too despair at some of the attitudes on here.

LittleBookofCalm · 27/10/2018 10:05

of course he needed a punishment. he was very silly.