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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think this punishment a bit degrading?

109 replies

thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 20:50

DS aged 10 was kept back from assembly by his somewhat ambitious teacher to do some science extension work as an "experiment" (her words). He is one of the more able kids at science apparently.
Anyway, he got the method right but made a stupid mistake with a calculation - added two numbers rather than multiplies them. So she went and found the coolest teacher in the school (in DS's opinion) and made DS sit in front of this teacher wearing a pink fluffy hat repeating the times table he'd got wrong 10 times.

DS said he was embarassed. i actually think it's inappropriate though DP thinks I should just let it go? This is a young, pushy teacher who's getting them all very worked up about SATs at the moment.

OP posts:
Joycey29 · 12/03/2009 21:08

as a teacher I am amazed at this! Completely inappropriate imo!

Original poster
thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 21:12

KingCanute you're right, it is odd that the other teacher went along with it....but then again he's very laid-back and a bit dopey so maybe he didn't realise what was happening until too late to stop it....Have just asked DS about it again and apparently he had to get under the table with the hat on to recite the times tables. this gets worse the more I think about it....

OP posts:
Original poster
thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 21:15

grammaticus I think she was quite clever in that apparently she told DS that she knew a great way to remember his times tables for ever and explained what he had to do before she could let him go - i.e. get under the table with the hat on. i don't think she called it a punishment as such but clearly he felt it was as he was obliged to do what she said.

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tootsie32 · 12/03/2009 21:15

Terrible, Appaling, humiliating and totally unprofessional.Not only should teachers be teachers, but also councillors. How on earth is any student supposed to trust such teachers if they are to be humiliated in such a way. For such a professional environment this is absolutely unacceptable. Surely "we" have learnt something in the last 30 yrs.
I would speak to the head tomorrow and I think the teachers owe your son an apology.
Good luck

bobbyswish · 12/03/2009 21:20

Jesus that is awful. Complain and demand an apology for your ds. cant beleive that.

GColdtimer · 12/03/2009 21:23

YANBU. I would talk to his teacher about it. No need to be confrontational, just ask if you could discuss it.

GColdtimer · 12/03/2009 21:26

sorry, posted too soon.

And if you are not happy with the outcome of the discussion, go to the head.

I would want to talk to her first though before I went tot he head i think.

NormaJeanBaker · 12/03/2009 21:26

YANBU. But wonder how come she happened to have this hat to hand. Is this her usual method? What a freak.

Thunderduck · 12/03/2009 21:27

That's completely insane. And why would a child need to be punished for making an error in their calculations?

southeastastra · 12/03/2009 21:27

sounds like a good school, where can i sign my son up?

oxocube · 12/03/2009 21:27

Mad and wrong. Complain

ellingwoman · 12/03/2009 21:39

I think you should talk to her tomorrow along the lines of "DS told me something so bizarre that I'd like to know if it's true". Then go to the HT if her explanation is not acceptable.

Has anyone else in the class had this punishment before? As someone said, having the hat to hand is odd in itself.

Original poster
thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 21:41

this is a school with outstanding in every but one category on its OFSTED report btw!! Though lots of us questioning that at the moment due to other issues. Problem i envsage is that head will say he'll deal with it and then will come ack with some version from the teacher about how DS "misunderstood" and she was trying to be funny or something. It's a very closeD ranks school and he's all hot air (the head!). Could always take it to governors though if get nowhere with him I guess....

OP posts:
Original poster
thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 21:43

Elling that's a good idea as would give her the chance to explain....I suppose the hat may come from the drama/costume box or something like that as they do quite a lot of costume stuff at school

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Arcadie · 12/03/2009 21:46

Take it up with the teacher in question. As a former teacher I think I occasionally over stepped the mark and although I didn't enjoy it at the time it was important for me to be told if I'd stopped thinking of the kids as individuals and started seeing them as projects. Also as a former teacher - please go easy.....

Cathpot · 12/03/2009 21:48

This sounds soooo odd.

I have been sitting here wondering what the hell her motivation was. The only possible defense I can think of for her is that she wanted to help your son remember his tables and putting him in a bizarre situation while he recited them might help them stick in his mind.

However, even if this was the case - and I am grasping at straws- your son (understandably) perceived whatever was going on as a punishment and that goes against any interpretation of good teaching. Essentially she punished him for trying, and possibly put him off a subject he could do very well in.

I would go and see her. At the very least she needs to re-examine how she is coming across to her students. If she doesnt respond in a way you would like then I would go above her head.

Original poster
thirtysomething · 12/03/2009 21:52

Cathpot that's a very thought-provoking post. It is perfectly possible that she was seeing it from that angle and that DS interpreted it as a punishment and thus described it as such. If this is the case I still think she was wrong to put him in that situation which has upset and embarassed him....but maybe as a lot of you are suggesting I should get her side of it first. At the very least because DS still has half a year in her class and |I don't want her to bear a grudge towards him if I go to the head (this is DS's greatest fear!)

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bobbyswish · 12/03/2009 21:56

But he's ten fucking years old!!!!!

It's apalling!!

There is only one perspective that matters here, that of the child.

Fucking reprehensible.

bobbyswish · 12/03/2009 21:58

And didn't OP say she sat him under a table? On the floor???

Come ON!

chegirl · 12/03/2009 22:08

What the bloody hell was the point in that little excercise? What exactly was the teacher trying to achieve? I hardly think punishment was called for (assuming the young man is telling the whole truth).

No wonder we have a shortage of kids going to university to study science.

Alambil · 12/03/2009 22:15

straight to head IMO.

If I did that, I'd be struck off before I qualified!!

Utterly disgusting behaviour from the teacherS. How dare they humiliate your son.

If she wanted it to "stick in his head", there's a million and one ways to teach memorable multiplication without the humiliation

Cathpot · 12/03/2009 22:18

bobbywish I take your point of course, I am a teacher and rest assured my eyebrows are missing in my hairline at this point.

However, when I teach I often use odd things to help with memory; songs, hand movement, mental imaging of things in different parts of the room etc. I havent ever asked kids to try and learn something sitting under a desk but if you could offer me a reason why it might work I would try it. It is the only explanation I can think of which doesnt have this teacher being a child hating lunatic who has dropped in from the 1950s. The fact that the other teacher let it carry on also suggests that maybe the situation was explained to him differently and what they both missed was how the situation came over to the child.

My point is her motivation is key to how this is handled. She may be new, she may be straight out of college and full of different ideas, she may have the child's best interests at heart BUT if that is true she reaaaallly needs to realise that they way she is failing to explain herself is hugely damaging to everyone.

Or she may be a child hating lunatic.

I am just saying going in softly softly allows you to work yourself up to a full blown hissy fit with the head later on if you need to.

nickschick · 12/03/2009 22:20

I hate this, a teacher once humiliated my ds in front of the class - she made him cry thinking of all the dead people who got burnt at a football match cos the gates were locked.

He had accidentally shut a gate leaving other children (safe) on the footbll pitch.

she quickly demanded he run and open the gate because he wasnt fast enough she yelled at him again.

In a rare opportunity she was with several other teachers and the hed when i caught up with her .........funnily enough she didnt want to race me to the gate to see who was quicest despite me offering to run in heels - she begn to cry and offered to apologise to ds .....I said least she could do was to apologise to him in front of the class - she did .

nickschick · 12/03/2009 22:21

hed=hea*d - dodgy keyboard

dittany · 12/03/2009 22:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.