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AIBU?

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Original poster

Being made to sit on the floor

277 replies

MandaLo · 27/09/2023 17:10

I'm genuinely interested to hear what others thoughts are on this.

DS10 is in a class with a teacher new to their school. She's very young but seems quite pleasant when I've spoken to her.

He told me last week that as a punishment for talking the teacher is making children sit on the classroom floor for 30 minutes each time. It hadn't happened to him though.

Today he came out of school to say that he'd asked the child next to him what book they'd chosen from the library and was made to sit on the floor for half an hour. He wasn't massively upset, just said that his bum went numb from it.

I've never come across this before. DS said some children are constantly on the floor. Does this sound ok?

OP posts:
Sage71 · 29/09/2023 12:03

Not sure how this is a punishment as most primary school children sit on the floor for assembly but that aside it clearly doesn’t work or they wouldn’t be talking anymore. Perhaps a word with the teacher.

ShutTheDoorBabe · 29/09/2023 12:07

They're wouldn't be memes about this if it wasn't a common problem.

Being made to sit on the floor
Being made to sit on the floor
VeridicalVagabond · 29/09/2023 12:12

What an odd punishment. Missing the point of the thread entirely but this would not have worked at all on me or my DD. My husband calls us frog people because we're both much more comfortable sat on the floor with our legs crossed than on chairs. We drive him mad because we both sit on office chairs, the sofa, at the dining table etc with our legs crossed "lotus" style. Both even sleep like that, on our backs with our legs crossed.

I'd have been chatting on purpose so I'd get to sit on the floor lol

Rachykins · 29/09/2023 13:55

😂😂😂😂😂 get a grip- physical punishment!?!?

The problem with parents who take everything their child says as the solid truth are going to end up making themselves look silly. I highly doubt a teacher would be making a child sit for 30 minutes for talking.. could it not be that the child perceives it as 30minutes rather than just 10? 👀 I don’t think it sounds like a ludicrous concept for asking a disruptive child to sit quietly for a short time. Is this why we have an epidemic of poorly behaved children? Because parents can’t even bare the idea of a child being asked to sit on the floor for not following rules 🙈😂

Tigermearns · 29/09/2023 13:57

He got a numb bum from it.. used to get that just from how hard school chairs were when I was at school.
What alternative course of action would you have preferred if your child is busy talking instead of paying attention ?

Lovesocksie · 29/09/2023 14:29

So for the hordes of people who think their babies are being humiliated, can you offer a solution that works? These kids are a nuisance and stop you and the rest of the class from working and making progress. And if they’re punished in a way they don’t like, mummy and daddy will race to the school and have it out with the teacher, so baby can continue to chatter whenever they feel like it.
A thinly veiled attack on the teacher for being ‘young’ and ‘new’ Poor woman.
No wonder teachers are leaving in droves, low level disruption is the bane of their lives.

OldChinaJug · 29/09/2023 16:07

Sage71 · 29/09/2023 12:03

Not sure how this is a punishment as most primary school children sit on the floor for assembly but that aside it clearly doesn’t work or they wouldn’t be talking anymore. Perhaps a word with the teacher.

It works because, short of sewing their mouths shut, we can't physically stop them from talking! But if they have no one to talk to, the problem usually resolves itself.

Are some people really So lacking in imagination that they can't work out why moving a child away from other people, when they are talking, will generally stop them talking?

Moglet4 · 29/09/2023 18:09

Littlemissalone · 27/09/2023 17:51

Over reaction. I make my young pupils sit on the floor or away from others if they talk or make noises when I am. It's a natural consequence and it works for me. It's not in the behaviour policy but so what? Teachers do their own things to manage minor disruptions.

Stop shitting on teachers. The majority of us try our best and just want children to learn. If your child is talking when they shouldn't be, then they are disrupting other children.

This!

Moglet4 · 29/09/2023 18:19

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 28/09/2023 20:42

There isn’t room in secondaries….

The thought of a 6ft y9 lolling on the carpet.

Edited
Show quote history

I know it’s hilarious. Mind you, in one school I taught in I did have a wobbly chair that I made the naughties sit in - same principle, I guess!

Middleagedspreadisreal · 29/09/2023 18:51

Sounds ok to me. It was the slipper in my day - not that I ever got it

Reigateforever · 29/09/2023 18:53

OnAFrolicOfMyOwn 27/09/2023 18:17
We used to sit on the floor in assembly right through infants and juniors and thought nothing of it.

Same. We even watched films in the assembly hall. This was in the UK.

What would you like happen to your DS, to be sent out into the cold corridor, write lines numbing his fingers or waste the teachers time and the rest of the class having them explain why he shouldn’t talk for the umpteenth time ?

StillGotBabyBrain · 29/09/2023 20:17

You need to know what is in the behaviours policy. That will show you what sanctions there are, and the escalation process. If sitting on the floor isn't in it, then she is doing this off her own back and not following the schools process. Take it up with the head.

Poodles23 · 29/09/2023 20:32

Sitting on the floor is hardly a harsh punishment?

OnAFrolicOfMyOwn · 29/09/2023 20:32

Reigateforever · 29/09/2023 18:53

OnAFrolicOfMyOwn 27/09/2023 18:17
We used to sit on the floor in assembly right through infants and juniors and thought nothing of it.

Same. We even watched films in the assembly hall. This was in the UK.

What would you like happen to your DS, to be sent out into the cold corridor, write lines numbing his fingers or waste the teachers time and the rest of the class having them explain why he shouldn’t talk for the umpteenth time ?

Come to think if it, I watched the entirety of the Mary Rose being raised sitting on the floor in the assembly hall.

Sherrystrull · 29/09/2023 20:43

Please can anyone suggesting it's out of order make a suggestion about what the teacher should do in a situation where two students are speaking when they shouldn't.

I regularly tell children who are talking to move to a different space to help them focus. Sometimes to another chair, sometimes to another space on the carpet, sometimes to a table if everyone is on the carpet, sometimes onto the carpet if everyone is on chairs.

It's standard procedure to ensure effective learning and focus for all children.

pollymere · 29/09/2023 21:03

It depends on context but definitely no more than ten minutes. A child might be asked to come and sit on the floor by the board if they are being disruptive and have had a warning. Or if they're being kept in for ten minutes at break.

But your son doesn't seem to have received a warning before the sanction and I'd be upset that the school policy is unlikely to be followed.

I've taught at various Key Stages and usually it's a look or verbal warning, then a verbal warning or reminder then a sanction... So:
Child, please stop talking. Then,
Child, if you continue to talk you'll have to come and sit on the floor/lose break etc.
Child, you've continued to talk so you have to come and sit on the floor.

If the teacher is new, I would mention that you don't feel the new teacher is following school policy on sanctions.

SpeakEasy2311 · 29/09/2023 22:11

@Hummingbird89 think you've missed the point entirely, it wasn't about getting in trouble for speaking it was about the actual punishment as to whether this is acceptable.

curaçao · 29/09/2023 23:53

The snowflake generation! What sort of adults are they going to become!

curaçao · 29/09/2023 23:56

WomanFromTheNorth · 28/09/2023 22:26

As a former teacher, I don't think that's OK at all. It's a step up from sitting a kid in the corner in a Dunce Hat. It's shit.

Why are you a 'former' teacher?

WhyamIprocrastinatingonhere · 30/09/2023 00:10

Perhaps tell your child to respect the teacher. There’s nothing wrong with it, but also remember your child will have missed out all of the details about what led to it and why they were sitting on the floor. If the classroom is big enough for them to be moved, fair enough, but if they didn’t , the floor is the best option.

Gorjus · 30/09/2023 01:51

I can't think of any other profession where individuals are subjected to this kind of scrutiny and micromanagement by the people they serve. Teachers work damned hard, and still that's not enough. No wonder there's a problem with recruitment and retention.

For the record: I'm not a teacher, and never have been.

Imy06 · 30/09/2023 06:06

I'm a primary school teacher and have been for many years now. Sometimes in my earliest years I observed teachers using behaviour management strategies and I would try them myself without really thinking too much into it.
My step-uncle was a principal (I'm in Australia) and he organised me to observe a teacher who he said was fantastic. She got kids who were disruptive to copy definitions of words out of a dictionary. I tried this with one kid who then went out of his way to copy definitions of any potentially rude words he could find 😂
I spoke to my uncle and he said he disagreed with the strategy of copying random words, and as a parent he would question why his child's time was being wasted. He suggested if I was to use that at all I should ask then to look up words that are relevant to the situation e.g. if they have been mean to someone ask them to look up and write the definitions of words like kindness, friendship, empathy etc.
Anyway, long story short, any 'punishment' should be fitting to the situation. I can't imagine many times sitting on the floor would relate to the misdemeanour. Maybe if a child was swinging on their seat or something, but then they should be given the option to stand instead.
If she's new to the job she might just be doing what she's seen done before.
In my humble opinion the days are gone of expecting children to sit in silence unless it's test conditions or a listening activity. It's different if they are being disruptive to the class but asking the child next to him a question doesn't sounds like he was being. Maybe talk to the teacher and get her side of it, and if it was the case as your son said it was then go from there.

VisaWoes · 30/09/2023 06:20

Mooshamoo · 28/09/2023 23:00

Would any of us like to sit on a floor for thirty minutes?

I wouldn't choose to

You should do. I’m currently reading a book which says it’s one of the key things you can do as you age to keep you fit.

Lovesocksie · 30/09/2023 06:28

@Imy06 some useful ideas here.
Teachers, especially new ones, do watch and learn, or draw on their own experiences from school. There’s always room for advice and guidance. Teacher training is woefully inadequate when actually helping teachers get to grips with low level disruption, and lots of different behaviour policies across schools as well as constantly changing policies don’t help.

One school policy I know:
Quietly tell the child the behaviour is not appropriate
If child continues have a conversation about the behaviour and it’s effect on others and how you would like them to behave
Warn the child that you will give them a consequence for behaviour which would include moving places.
If child continues, move to another class etc etc

Honestly do people realise that a teacher would have to have this lovely friendly gentle conversation about behaviour hundreds of times a day?! You can’t send a little one out to a different class and be certain they would get there safely. You can’t leave 30 others to escort them. It’s unmanageable and I feel so sorry for teachers.

I think quietly asking questions to a friend whilst working is perfectly acceptable, but it’s the talking when the teacher or another student is trying to speak which is so rude. I know adults who do this in meetings and it drives me crazy, so it’s not just children. They do need to learn basic manners of not speaking when someone else is, but that of course starts in the home.

FindingNeverland28 · 30/09/2023 07:00

Speak to the teacher first. Son said he was caught chatting in class when he shouldn’t have been. I’ve talked to him about how he should respect his teacher and not talk to his class mates when asked not to do so. He said that he was made to sit on the floor for 30 minutes as punishment, which I find hard to believe as that’s a form of physical punishment and a good teacher wouldn’t use that form of punishment. If that doesn’t work and it happens again, then I’d be having a word with the head.