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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:
MissAtomicBomb1 · 27/09/2023 17:53

Lol at the poster saying it's an illegal physical punishment. I often sit on the floor with my class for a 30 min assembly. It's hardly in the same league as the cane!

CeeceeBloomingdale · 27/09/2023 17:53

Sitting in the floor in Primary school is fairly standard for certain lessons or assemblies. Kids also struggle to estimate time. I’d speak to the teacher first before diving in, you may have been given a twisted version of what happened here.

Meeting · 27/09/2023 17:56

MissAtomicBomb1 · 27/09/2023 17:53

Lol at the poster saying it's an illegal physical punishment. I often sit on the floor with my class for a 30 min assembly. It's hardly in the same league as the cane!

There is a vast difference between an entire class sitting on the floor and someone being singled out to do so as a form of punishment. It's humiliating and if you are, as you say, a teacher them it's very concerning that you don't see the difference.

Wolvesart · 27/09/2023 17:56

It’s a strange punishment and half an hour of any punishment for just a small infringement like that is ott. I’d have thought the most would be change seats or stay in at break for 5 mins.

ShutTheDoorBabe · 27/09/2023 17:57

Asking a child sitting next to him which book he chose isn't exactly constant chatting and disrupting the class.
It's positive communication and shows an interest in both others and the subject.

It's also talking when they should be listening or working. Hope do you know this was the only communication he'd made?

Sitting on the floor is also a safety hazard...what would she do if someone else tripped over them?

How is someone going to trip over them if everyone is sitting at their desk?

IfYouDontAsk · 27/09/2023 17:57

UndercoverCop · 27/09/2023 17:31

I would approach the teacher and say Johnny said he'd been told off on Tuesday, but he wasn't very clear, what happened? She says he was talking during a lesson when asked not to, you then ask what was the outcome of that. I really doubt any teacher is making children sit on the floor for thirty minutes you need to hear the other side of this

I would do this. Not going in all guns blazing, not going above the teacher’s head to speak to the headteacher in the first instance. Get the teacher’s explanation first and take it from there

Fallingthroughclouds · 27/09/2023 17:58

Not OK in my book. Is she trying to belittle them?

Highlyflavouredgravy · 27/09/2023 17:59

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!!!!

Hermittrismegistus · 27/09/2023 17:59

A punishment straight out of the 90s!

Thisweeksname · 27/09/2023 18:02

Bloody hell if sitting on the the floor is a physical punishment we have no hope for this over pampered generation 😂poor teachers can’t do anything without being reported to the head. Kids often sit on the floor, I see no problem with this.

Efficaciou5 · 27/09/2023 18:03

Why can't you just let the teacher teach, and deal with the kids as she's been entrusted to do based on her qualifications instead of trying to remotely micromanage her. Your son hasn't been injured or traumatised.

It's no wonder nobody wants to be a teacher anymore.

burgundytoday · 27/09/2023 18:05

jenpil · 27/09/2023 17:42

Asking a child sitting next to him which book he chose isn't exactly constant chatting and disrupting the class.
It's positive communication and shows an interest in both others and the subject.

The teacher sounds like she's drilling down on every little thing, and with a class of excitable ten year olds, that's going to be a difficult thing to do, and to be honest, not necessary.

I'd sooner have a chattering excited bunch of pupils, than a whole class of miseries being made to sit in silence - or go and sit on the floor!

Sitting on the floor is also a safety hazard...what would she do if someone else tripped over them?

Where I come from, and in many countries, it's normal and also developmentally and physically healthy to sit on the floor. :)

Of course chit chat (especially if they're excited about the book or lesson) is fine but if OP's child has misreported it as a punishment, likely they have underplayed the extent of that child's disruptiveness too. For clarity, I don't mean OP's child is lying, only that children are rarely that accurate. However, I know there are also many teachers with disproportionate rules and punishments, so both sides are equally possible.

crimsonlake · 27/09/2023 18:06

Agree, over reaction.
If a child is constantly not following the rules / distracting others then removing them to sit on the carpet away from others is the consequence.

burgundytoday · 27/09/2023 18:07

Oops sorry, didn't realise OP's child was the child in question. Makes it more likely they have underplayed their own disruptiveness, though of course I would still listen to all sides first! @jenpil

cyclamenqueen · 27/09/2023 18:09

Pixiedust49 · 27/09/2023 17:49

Primary age children often sit on the floor for teacher input etc? How is that a punishment? Confused 😕

I suppose if every other child was sitting in a chair and only the child in question was on the floor . Wouldn’t bother me too much but it does seem a bit old fashioned

MissAtomicBomb1 · 27/09/2023 18:09

@Meeting Oh don't be ridiculous! Sitting on the floor in itself is not problematic & of course children are singled out for punishments from time to time - missing playtimes, visits to the heads office, staying in to complete work...it's part of school life. They won't be scarred
For what it's worth if this were to be true, I would take issue with the amount of time purely from a lost learning perspective. It's a lot of lesson time to be missed. BUT we do not know if this was the case as we only have 1 side of the story. It's as likely to have been 5-10 mins.
.

Zebedee999 · 27/09/2023 18:09

Teachers have very few methods to discipline kids, and many parents also don't bother disciplining their own kids, I'd give the teacher some slack to manage their class as they see fit within reason.

jolaylasofia · 27/09/2023 18:09

No this is punishment by humiliation and absolutely not ok!

MrsRachelDanvers · 27/09/2023 18:11

No wonder teachers are fed up. If my child told me they had to sit on the floor because they were talking against the rules, my response would’ve been to tell them to stop talking and it won’t happen again. And comparing it to a physical punishment like caning is nuts.

Efficaciou5 · 27/09/2023 18:11

burgundytoday · 27/09/2023 18:07

Oops sorry, didn't realise OP's child was the child in question. Makes it more likely they have underplayed their own disruptiveness, though of course I would still listen to all sides first! @jenpil

Really, you'd actually mither the school about this upon hearing your son's version of events ? .... Again, it's no wonder teachers are leaving in their droves.

How dare you make my Billy sit on the floor ....... 🙄

TheLongGloriesOfTheWinterMoon · 27/09/2023 18:13

Ask the teacher what happened.

The child is misbehaving and disruptive and if any of us had a fiver for every time their version of events coincided with the truth we'd have nowt.

I imagine you'll find out there's some kind of "time out" area.

And I also imagine you'll find out he's not the angel you paint him to be.

Hooplahooping · 27/09/2023 18:13

This is extremely weird. I’ve taught in lots of different schools in the Uk and the USA - and I can’t imagine any situation in which this would be appropriate.

its a tactic either designed to shame or physically discomfort - neither of which have ANY space in a 21st century classroom either side of the Atlantic.

It would imagine it would be a contributor to classroom chaos to have some students sitting on the floor and some at desks.

Definitely at least flag it with Head of Year or form tutor.

CurlewKate · 27/09/2023 18:13

I'd want to talk to the teacher and get her side-it does seem a bit weird. Doesn't it make the classroom a tripping hazard? With lanky 9/10 year olds sprawled all over it?

Totaly · 27/09/2023 18:14

Ex school worker here.

We often took lessons in the floor, because that was the only space available, usually in a cloakroom, or corridor.

Yes please complain, the more teachers that leave, the more parents will have to do for their own,

CurlewKate · 27/09/2023 18:15

And my kids ( and me actually and I'm grandma age!) would have much preferred to floor to a chair.....

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