DS punished for teachers mistake

[babynot]

DS's(8) class were given a new work book at school last week with with printed labels on the front.
Imagine his name is something like Tommy but this book said Tom which he is never called and hates.

He told the teacher his name was wrong on the label and was told not to worry about it, he didnt ask and so wasn't told not to correct it but decided to scribble out ‘Tom’ and write ‘Tommy’ below. It looks fine, obviously not as neat as it would printed but you can clearly read what it says.

Teacher has left a note saying he needs to rewrite his work into a new book which has been sent home because he vandalised the first one. Its only a few pages of work but will take him at least 20 minutes to do

AIBU to think this is unfair and it’s not his fault they put the wrong name?

Is his name uncommon, not spelt as pronounced, or typically shortened to what the teacher wrote? If so, he might be in for a lot of this. In your hypothetical example, Tom is probably more common than Tommy, and people will call him that no matter how much he hates it. Perhaps be wary of becoming one of those "It's Peter, not Pete" types (random example, sorry Peters).

I agree, make a poor and do it for him/photocopy etc and glue in. He shouldn’t be punished for her error. And yes leave a signed note to say so

As a teacher, I think this is awful! If I had printed the wrong name then I wouldn’t be annoyed at the build for correcting it and would try print a new name as soon as possible.
I would not make him rewrite his work and would send her a polite letter pointing out her mistake and that the ‘vandalised jotter’ was in fact your child writing his name properly. If she has issues with this then she can provide a new jotter and staple his current work into it.

Well I am a teacher and surely any normal teacher would feel embarrassed for themselves that they had made such a mistake, apologise to the child and print a new label?
This is not the stuff that causes me stress in the job.

This is a miserable attitude on the teacher’s part.

DS6 goes to a pretty gentle, fluffy school (compared to a lot
of what I read on here!) but even there copying out work seems to be a bit of a go-to for teachers. He has had to redo a couple of pieces of work because he didn’t follow instructions properly and teacher has stuck two pages of his book together to ‘hide’ the improperly completed work. This struck me as a bit harsh although I do accept that it’s important to instil listening to instructions, concentration, and pride in work. Obviously these don’t apply in your DS’s case, just remarking!

I’m a head teacher. I’d be very disappointed in any staff member who did this and would agree with any parent who refused to do it.

In year 7 my son was given a detention for ‘vandalising school property’. This just appeared on the portal, I was shocked and asked him what he’d done - he’d drawn a smiley face in the glue. I told him the teacher was just asserting authority at the start of the year. Years later it still really annoys me (I actually thought the teacher was ridiculous)

Utterly bonkers of the teacher. I'd certainly refuse and ask for a new sticker. I'd probably also make a point of getting the teacher's name wrong in all future correspondence.

Yes, my thoughts too.
Is this a stapled jotter?
If so, open up the metal prongs of the staples in the centre pages of both books, and reassemble with newly labelled cover paired with original workpages. Then put the staples neatly back through the pin-holes and bend the prongs back in the centre pages to secure.

This is a hill I'd happily die on.

I'd write the work myself and tell her he won't be punished for her mistake..it was not vandalism, it was a correction.

Could it be the manner in which he's crossed out his name, rather than the act of crossing it out?

It's encouraged for children to take pride in their work, crossing mistakes out neatly with a single line through it rather than a deep scribble over the top. Just a thought?

this
and email rather than a note, cc'd to the head and/or governors

My maiden name was Baugh, pronounced 'bore'. For the entire seven years of primary school the head pronounced it 'bow'. I corrected him, my parents corrected him. Took absolutely no notice 🙂

This is what I would do.

What do you think that head and governors are going to do?

Listen to what, precisely? You have drawn you own conclusion as to the teacher's meaning to the phrase "don't worry about it" (i.e. don't worry about it for now, as I'll correct it this evening). Just as likely the teacher meant don't worry about it as it is just a small error and we all still know that is your book. If the teacher meant the former statement, they failed to properly communicate with the child and to acknowledge and empathise their upset at the wrong name being used. Therefore, the child cannot be punished for unclear "instructions". If they meant the latter, they are being unbelievably rude and disrespectful to the child.

If you were the head at the school where the teacher did this she would be upholding your rules.

It's encouraged for children to take pride in their work, crossing mistakes out neatly with a single line through it rather than a deep scribble over the top. Just a thought?

At my school we 'encourage' them to cross things out with a cross.

This is a hill I'd die on too. When my daughter started primary school, she came home with her book bag and her surname was spelt wrong. It's a common error, it gets spelt wrong often even when we spell it out 🙄.

However, back to school it went and we asked them to replace it. I did get a look of shock when I asked for it to be replaced. I think they expected that we'd just put up with it. Absolutely not. It's her name. It deserves to be spelt correctly.

I too would push back on thus one and just tell her no, ds won't be doing it, ti cover for her initial mistake.

Your son did exactly right, used his common sense. He has vandalised nothing. His name has been vandalised by person who made the label. He doesn't need to rewrite anything. A new label just needs printing. Simple.

Switch the covers over?

Chop the name off the new book and stick it over the old one. Add sticky back plastic if you have it.

Did he definitely tell her in a polite way that the name was wrong?

Or did he whinge about it when she was trying to teach something else and then she absent minded said ...'don't worry', or 'leave it for now' and then saw his crossing it out as rude when she might have sorted it out a bit later?

If she's given him a punishment it might be more for attitude rather than the actual crossing of the name? Is she USUALLY unreasonable and dishing out silly punishments?

I only ask because my son sometimes explains an unfair situation to me at school, but thankfully he has a very cautious teacher who also will come out an explain the situation if my son comes out in a strop. Usually without the teachers explanation it would seem like he's a crazy dictator (the way my son describes it) but with a clear explanation it usually makes a bit of sense. Also he's a great teacher who DS gets on with and has helped him immensely so I know not to jump to conclusions. Do you have the whole picture?

Remove the sticker using steam and glue it onto the old book.