… to be annoyed my son is missing break for yawning?

[DameBaggySmith]

My 7 y o is missing break tomorrow for yawning in class. He can be prone to being distracted and the child sitting next to him was already told off. However, he informs me on this occasion, all he did was yawn. The teacher then asked him if he yawned, rolled her eyes at him then put his name down to miss break.

AIBU to think this is insane? Especially as a) they are only allowed access to water at break time which he often forgets and yawning can be a sign of dehydration and b) he's waiting for an ADHD assessment so giving him less chances to burn off energy isn't going to help.

Obviously there is a chance that my son isn't telling the whole truth… which I will investigate, but if he is, I think this is ridiculous.

I think YABU for completely believing your 7 year old without question.

My guess is he did a fake yawn for attention and laughs, and got pulled up on it. Now he knows the consequence of doing that.

It's one break, and he's learned that being disruptive in class does not go unpunished.

The person that said you are going to have to pick your battles..I think they mean if you think this is harsh then you will be ' that parent' who constantly challenges the schools rules and disciplinary code which are there for a reason.

This seem incredibly harsh to me. I struggle with the impulse to yawn in classroom/meeting type situations (and always have). It's not really something you can control...

I said I would check this and have done. We have had a discussion about how yawning can be seen as rude, and if it is loud or intentional then this is more likely. From my discussions with him, he doesn’t understand why he got in trouble so its not very likely he was doing it intentionally to goad a teacher.

Thank you for the lesson in decorum.

Its one break and there are definitely two sides to every story. I am certain there are times i have acted in a similar way as a child showing a lack of respect to my teacher. In that circumstance i would 100% have deserved to miss a break.

In the end, the teacher is there to teach your child and should be given the respect from both child and parent to carry out their job. Stop undermining their authority to do so. Its just a break and your child (Probably not if you carry on undermining) will learn to pay attention in class.

Don’t thank me - just go and teach it to your child.

Totally agree that teachers deserve respect however I've done nothing to undermine their authority so not sure where you have got that from.

How about next time your child says they got a punishment for yawning in class you tell them to accept it and show more respect to the teacher. Job done, no issues and lesson learnt.

Or you could delve into it, Get a one sided view of things and then go online and get thousands of people to question it so that you can undermine the teachers authority. Teachers have it hard enough in difficult situations as it is. They cant be held to task for something so trivial as trying to instil a little bit of discipline into a child who yawned in class.

I'm not entirely sure how communicating to children that involuntary bodily functions are now forbidden works in practice???

Do you go around yawning in your boss’s face or in front someone serving you in a bank or shop? No, you cover your mouth.

Was it a yawn or a yawp?

It's 1 missed breaktime of what, 15 minutes? Maybe the child was playing up, maybe the teacher over reacted but it's done now. Not even remotely worth thinking about and I'm sure the child will completely forget about it in a day or 2.

I think it’s very unfair. The heat makes most of us a little more tired than usual.

Teachers can never win these days.

Chances are OP, that your ds is being punished for a valid reason. You were not there, and having brought up children of my own, I can assure you many avoid to admit their wrongdoings to avoid getting into trouble.

He has to learn that there are consequences in life. If you want to find out what happened, speak to the teacher directly. Chances are he was being disrespectful (fake yawning probably), and if so, he needs to know that this isn't acceptable.

So this is Schrödinger's child, isn't it? Both astute enough to interpret and correctly intuit a teacher's eye roll, but equally, be so unknowing that they don't realise how a loud yawn can be interpreted as rude.

I get the distinct impression you are 'that parent'.

If you think this is bad, buckle up for secondary school. You're gonna be on the phone on a daily basis to complain.

I think this is a bit harsh (and I teach 7 year olds) unless he was doing it on purpose. I never take a whole break time away though as I like having my break! I'd check what the actual story is from the teacher's side (not saying child is lying).

Id be having a word with the teacher

I would you to speak to the teacher and find out what actually happened.

I'm not saying that it didn't happen, there are some odd teachers out there for sure, but when I was a teacher you wouldn't believe the nonsense kids told their parents and the parents unquestioningly believed!

Agreed with other PPs that this seems very harsh. Might be worth speaking to the teacher directly to find out exactly what happened.

If true, then I think you're well within your rights to complain at how strong that response is to a yawn. At 7 yo, kids are still growing so much it does take its toll.

In the meantime, OP, speak to your DC about covering their mouth when they yawn as it's good manners.

@Strictly1JCF seriously? Wowww. Please share what your responses were to those parents?

Children have the right to play. It's rule number 31 on the UNISEF rights of the child.

If he was doing it in a disrespectful way implying the lesson was boring or whatever then there can be other consequences which don't involve removing his rights.

He's 7 and may have ADHD, I wouldn't be happy and I'd ask more about the context and exactly what happened. Then ask why they think that removal of playtime is a suitable consequence for a child who very possibly needs the chance to run around to be able to focus.

That is bizarre. He surely must have been doing more than that to be punished. I wouldn't say at seven I'd fully trust his account as gospel.
I used to get told off for yawning all the time in school, and moaning about being tired. But I had chronic severe migraines and yawning was one of my auras. They never disciplined me for it though. I was never allowed to leave class when I had an attack which was quite horrible sometimes.
Is the school usually this strict?

I'd check in with the teacher before going in guns blazing. I work in a school and what children tell their parents and what's actually happened doesn't usually add up. IF this is just because of yawning than obviously that's an absolute ridiculous reason to punish someone. If he's purposely yawned loudly multiple times after being warned numerous times, then I can understand that it's disturbing the learning of the other children.

Wow, constant yawning is one of my auras as well - never heard of anyone else having this until now!

To be honest, from my experience it's probably something like this.

Child is messing about not doing work. Teacher asks them to focus

Child starts messing with equipment, distracting others, teacher tells them to stop.

Child talks when the teacher is teaching, teacher warns that they will lose break time if this carries on.

Teaching time is lost, they are not going to get through everything, teacher knows the head will have a hissy fit when they check the books or walk past and see kiddies off task.

Child does a loud exaggerated yawn making classmates giggle and once again disrupting the flow of teaching and teacher says they have lost some minutes off break.

The day passes and, being 7, the child forgets all that has happened except that they yawned and lost time off break.

So they feel like they are telling the truth to their parents who unquestioningly believe it.

Then 3 months later said parent (not saying this is you OP but there are plenty like this) will be in whinging to the head that their child hasn't made progress and behaviour in the class isn't well managed.

You will start to see why there is a recruitment and retention crisis in teaching...