Teacher conduct - clapping at DS

[NotUsually]

DS 13 got sent out of class today for talking to another student (friend) and not paying attention when he should have been.
He got a warning first.
He talked again to the same student a second time about 10 minutes later.
For this, he got sent out of the room to go in to isolation for the rest of the school day, followed by an hour after school detention.

As he got his stuff together and walked out of the room, the teacher started clapping at him. He said to DS "Well done you just got yourself an isolation and a detention" then clapped with his hands raised up above his head and carried on clapping at DS as he walked through the room and out of the door. Whilst the teacher was clapping, the other students joined in and started clapping too, and the teacher allowed this and carried on himself.

I've had dialogue with the school to confirm that DS was talking and to check whether he was doing anything more than this, and the teacher has confirmed that he was punished for talking when he should have been listening to the teacher, on 2 separate occasions in the lesson. Nothing more.

I accept that talking when he shouldn't have been talking and that this has received a punishment of being sent out, sent to isolation and given a 1 hour detention. But I've got a really big issue with the clapping. DS accepts he shouldn't have been talking and has aplogised about this and seems regretful for his actions. But he says the clapping from the teacher and other students whilst he walked through them all to leave the room made him feel humiliated and I've taken issue with this.

AIBU?

Yes I would just let the teacher teach and step away from getting involved in what is something quite trivial and hopefully your DC will wise up and learn from it.
I believe in supporting teachers and there truly are shitty children that even saints would want to murder (and no one likes to consider that this child is their child) so I will put up with occasional lapses in their enforced 'be kind' masks as they are human, with probably their own shit going on in life. My dc know that I will always back the teacher (unless it becomes aggressive or constant) so would not even complain to me over how their own actions have resulted in a sarcastic comment or action

agree with all of this

So sorry @NotUsually . The teacher is a bully. Punishing your DS for talking twice- acceptable (although they seem to punish very severely in his secondary!) but clapping!! That's just to humiliate. Even worse; he accepted others to join in which can create future bullying behaviour towards your son (since the teacher encourages it)..

I would not be impressed and I would ask to see the head to nip this in the bud asap. Obviously your son needs to behave, but you know this already. Good luck.

I’m a teacher and I wouldn’t do this. As adults we can’t make them look daft in front of everyone and then complain when they don’t show us respect. We have to model how we want them to treat us. It also reeks of the kind of “laddish” behaviour that schools are trying to crack down on. His Head of Department should be speaking to him.

Seems like a poor teaching choice. You'd be fucked if the student started accepting the applause proudly and bigging it up.

Humiliation is a crappy punishment, but that's not the only potential outcome at all, either.

Maybe your child will think twice before he misbehaves during class in the future.

I would put in a formal complaint if it was my kid. Teacher has been unprofessional and cruel and encouraged the class to be cruel too. What an absolute cunt

Yeah as a teacher this reads like a teacher at the end of their tether or who had lost control. I wouldn’t go in all guns blazing but it should be addressed; this is not how to build a respectful relationship.

Whenever you read threads like this it’s always obvious which posters have kids who constantly disrupt and which have the kids who sit in lessons frustrated because they want to learn but can’t.

So presumably your son whined to you that people clapped as he was sent out?
Why wasn't your response to tell him "well don't talk and no-one will have anything to clap about, will they?"
The second kids get a whiff of an idea that you'll go mad at the school instead of them, you're fucked. This will not be the first time this happens.

Let it go. Your child should listen when the teacher is talking. He was given a warning an didn’t take it. Talking disrupts his learning and that of his classmates. No teacher handles every interaction perfectly.

Your son took the piss out the teacher and his fellow students time by being disruptive and they returned the favour when he was sent out!

Clearly the teacher wasn't to concerned about disruption to class lesson since they wasted precious teaching time for other students giving the OP son a lovely exit and encouraging a class of other kids to not return to their actual lessons but take part.

Imagine being so absolutely shit and inefficient at your choosen job.

No, he was completely mortified. He isn't an 'acting up to the crowd' type of character. He's very much the opposite of that. He's shy. Hates having attention on him. Would rather go under the radar un-noticed than draw any attention to himself. His friend (who's been round this eve) has told me DS went bright red, looked upset, hung his head and walked out silently.
I've had dialogue with the school. Teacher has confirmed he was punished for talking. Nothing else.

Teach him to behave.

Yes, this. As a teacher, a student's account of what occurs in a classroom at times can bear no resemblance to what actually happens. Deflect, deny, distract.

IF that is what he's doing, it's definitely worked, hasn't it? You've pretty much excused his actions.

All this 'My DC isn't like that..'

I had a girl, clever, good student. Put into 2nd set due to her results the previous year in top set dropping. 2nd set aren't daft, but while clever, can have behaviour issues. Clever girl had friends in that class and played up to them. Mum phoned in with claims of 'My daughter is being picked on by the teacher for no reason.'

Unfortunately for DD and Mum, my head of department had witnessed some of little miss perfect's shenanigans that she swore to her Mum hadn't happened.

They really should let teachers wear GoPro's in class. Parents would be horrified at their children's behaviour.

This.

No excusing his actions would be to contact the school and complain about the implementation of the schools discipline policy.

That’s nothing. At my secondary school we got called slags for messing about 🤷‍♀️

This is horrendous. My SEN child who really struggles to attend school would be so mortified by this that she would more than likely end up not being able to attend school for ages due to the actions of this teacher. Also the levels of punishment seem harsh. Detention OK but the isolation on top seems a bit OTT for just talking.

@Depressedbarbie I was depressed reading your post. If parents and dc put up and shut up where does that get us. I know it’s not the same but abused dc did this with no one to advocate for them. Parents can and should. You agree this is not professional behaviour from the teacher and the op should complain. Hang the label on her! My DD tended to be a student advocate when she was at school - now a barrister. Someone has to stand up for what’s right. We teach dc nothing by pretending this was ok. Politely complain about it. Only a poorly managed school would not respond.

The punishment seems a tad harsh - no need for the additional hour after school IMHO.
The clapping, I would not have an issue with. Embarrassment happens in life. We either learn from it, or grow a thicker skin.

Do I think it was inappropriate of the teacher? yes, would I complain? No. I wouldn’t want to send my kid the message that they could get away with bad behaviour or that I supported it and would get them out of trouble. Repeated accounts of the teacher doing this and I’d have a word but not yet.

I'm betting it has already happened before.