AIBU to tell team members to forfeit their breaks

[Suedesofblue]

Team member 1: came unprepared to meeting and needed to use one of my pens. Unprofessional. She is being groomed for a role in another office where manager would definitely make her forfeit her breaks for that, so it’s important she learns now.

Team member 2: Left annotated document at home which means I have to fit it in tomorrow instead of today. It is only five minutes of work, but again that’s not the point. They should have remembered.

Team member 3: Briefing team and a team member takes his suit jacket off in the middle of it, which meant I had no choice but to disrupt the meeting for everyone in order to apprehend him.

This sounds like an utterly horrible place to work.

Thought it was just me!

Comprehension is not the same as spelling you know. I'm actually quite intelligent as have a degree in physics. Doesn't mean I can see words that are spelt wrong by autocorrect. I'm very word blind and have never been able to pick out the correct spelling from word lists. Spell checker is rubbish for me. I often get colleagues to proof read important documents. But everyone I work with knows and understands if I don't get it right.
It's annoying that people on here constantly pick at these things you've no idea why people don't get words right 100% of the time.

Sorry @hopspot that was actually meant for @PollyBell

I wish parents could sign a waiver that said.

I hereby grant my child permission to wear what they want and do what they want during the school day. If they want to vape, scroll TikTok or get fingered in the school loos that’s fine. I do not want teachers to apprehend them for anything and I understand this may affect my child’s outcomes and safety and I won’t complain at all.

signed …. Caring ineffectual parent

We could ignore the chaos of those kids and concentrate our time and efforts on the parents that want structure, safety and an education.

Your team sound like incompetant imbjociles with an unhinged dictator for a boss.
So assuming you are talking about school, this sounds about right 😂

Yes. Very sad scenarios but all true. People who don’t work in/run schools are often not aware of these realities.

My god, I hope you're not a teacher?! Distroy?!

If your job has a uniform you also get into trouble for not wearing it, or wearing it properly.

But in the workplace people are subject to disciplinary action for persistent short-term absence (employment lawyer here), so in this respect at least schools are consistent.

It would also be frowned on if someone was absenting themself from a one hour meeting for a loo break, absent medical conditions - adults are expected to wait until an appropriate point to use the loo. Adults also do not generally spend their time in the loo vaping, bullying teammates or defacing company property - if they did, they would again be subject to disciplinary action.

With all due respect, managing a team of adults in the workplace is nothing like managing a class of 30+ children. If sanctions weren’t put in place then no one would do homework, bring in a pen etc. It may seem ridiculous to apply these sanctions in isolated incidents but if rules were inconsistently applied, children and parents would be upset with that too.
But if you feel you can do a better job feel free to join the sector! There is a teaching recruitment and retainment crisis after all

"bullying in any half-decent workplace is stamped right down on"

Never seen it. When the bully is higher up it is usually allowed unless there are way too many victims. I've also seen them turn it on the victims and get away with it.

But schools are meant to prepare them for every single aspect of life now supposedly, from academic to finance management to personal hygiene, relationships, law, politics..... I'm a teacher. Id love to only walk into my classroom, teach the academics and leave but at least half my job now is other stuff.

Please, please go and get a job as a teacher in a normal secondary school. See how you feel about your posts after the first half term.

Why apprehend do you mean reprimand?

‘Apprehend’ 😳

Do you, perhaps, mean ‘reprimand’? 🤔

See me after the thread. 😤

My eyes have been opened on this thread. By both sides of the argument.

Out of interest, is it like this in all schools? Private, outstanding and Grammars too? Or just challenged schools?

I don’t remember it being like this when I was a secondary school in 2005, must have changed significantly

Simply, because in many schools, "going to the toilet" is code for getting out of as much teaching time as possible, meeting up with mates to at best waste time and at worst vandalise something so it's unavailable for anyone else. It's something that as a secondary teacher I have to use my judgement on on a case by case basis but it's not a given to just say yes.

You know there are dyslexic teachers yes?

Well, private schools can be selective - and therefore a better analogy for the workplace (OP is ignoring that she would have hired these team members and can fire them). State schools are overcrowded, under-resourced and overwhelmed. The blazer thing I agree is dumb; the toilet thing so much more complicated and impossible to resolve. The problems run so deep and are so numerous. The OP's fantasy about how she would handle things through mature, reasonable discussion is lovely. If she spent two weeks in a normal secondary school right now, she could tell us how that works out for her.

Not a problem! I hate posters who comment on other people’s grammar or spelling. It’s a truly shitty thing to do.

Nationally, there has been an increase in the behaviours being discussed here. I have been teaching for 30 years and am currently involved in a ‘Lost Learning’ piece of research. The rise in screen and vape addiction has lead to a disproportionate rise in internal truancy. The improved standards in teaching and learning methods, meta cognition and rigorous curriculum have improved learning and progress.

This means that many classrooms have strict and clear behaviour policies that students struggle with. The lessons are intense and pacy and some students can’t keep up or get bored or just want to have a laugh. Having a drink or water or taking off your blazer is the perfect opportunity to play up, be over the top and distract learning. Not turning up with a pen or equipment is further delaying tactics and a chance to create conflict and drama.

I teach an English group that are a dream class, they’re almost too quiet and studious. I have one typically ‘challenging’ lad and he is desperate to find someone to have fun with, searching round the room for someone to join in with ‘6,7’ and ‘good boy’. None of them do! He looks bored and lost whilst the others engage in examining the writers methodology.

In a class with a few more tricky, disengaged kids and it would be a different and disruptive story! He’s unhappy and bored in there, but he’s learning 🤷‍♀️ obviously mum wants him moved to a group with more of his mates on mental health grounds.

Daft analogy.
School children are not adults at work.
Workplaces also have disciplinary measures so if an employee was constantly disappearing off to the toilet (without a medical reason) or turning up to meetings without the necessary documents or turning up late to work or not at all etc. there are procedures that would be followed too and could eventually end up with the employee being sacked if they didn't improve.
Also employees don't usually leave their desks to go to the toilet and then mess about in said toilet, vaping, damaging property, bullying other employees who also happen to be in the toilet at the same time too.

I think that poster has already said she is not a teacher and is severely dyslexic. No need for mean comments.

I teach in a very pernickity but non selective private school. Last week our 15/16 year olds were on a theatre trip. The staff were sought out by 4 separate members of the public to compliment them on our kids' behaviour, appearance, manners, etiquette in the theatre. That's what being strict and sometimes petty gets you.

I have to assume this is sarcasm, otherwise you're a Nazi.