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Incident in playground, any advice welcome.

9 replies

solidgoldbrass · 28/06/2012 01:37

DS (age 7, in Year 2) told me that he 'saved another child from death today'. DS is a bit prone to telling stories, so I asked for more information. He says that his friend (A) put a skipping rope round another child's neck (B) and pulled, and that DS untangled the skipping rope and told A not to do that, it was naughty. And then A was 'cross' and hit DS. DS also said that he told one of his teachers what had happened - though he says he started the story with 'Miss [x] I saved [B] from death!'

I have told DS that he did a good thing in taking the rope off the other child and telling A not to do it again. I am also inclined to believe that this happened, or that something like it happened; A is diagnosed autistic and, while he seems like a nice child, he doesn't seem to have great impulse control. I am also inclined to believe that DS intervened, DS has a big protective streak. My concerns are partly to do with the way DS tells the story, making himself out to be a big hero and also a bit officious, even though if it happened the way he tells it, he did do the right thing ie stop his friend hurting someone else - and partly that I am not wild about the idea that kids can attempt to strangle each other with skipping ropes at playtime without school staff intervening.

Do I take it up with the class teachers, or not? It doesn't seem to have been noted at the time and as I wasn't actually present myself I don't want to start a big fuss over somethiing which may not even have happened.

OP posts:
ThisIsMummyPig · 28/06/2012 01:44

I would believe your son that it did happen, but also bear in mind that it probably happened very quickly (so the playground staff wouldn't have had chance to see). My kids are too little for me to really know if the way your son tells it is over the top or not.

It might be an idea to mention it to the staff, as they might be trying to get more support for child A, and information like that would back them up, but then it sounds as if your son has already done that...

It might be an idea to bump this in the morning to get the mums who have just dropped their kids off at school.

AllYoursBabooshka · 28/06/2012 01:53

Mentioning this to the teachers will do no harm whatsoever, You will not be making a fuss.

Just ask what happened.

ClaudiaSchiffer · 28/06/2012 02:01

Def mention it to school staff. If it did happen they need to be keeping a closer eye on A and his use of appropriate toys.

You can easily make it clear that you don't know exactly what happened as 7 yr olds aren't exactly reliable witnesses but it was potentially a serious incident that the teachers/playground staff should be aware of surely.

solidgoldbrass · 28/06/2012 02:06

I think I will mention it to the teachers without mentioning A's name as in 'DS says something happened yesterday...'

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foxinsocks · 28/06/2012 05:11

Yes please do mention it

This happened to ds in year 1. Child who did it also had autism and the school had been trying to get extra help for him. They had been refused an extra person to watch him at playtimes. The fact that he had wrapped a skipping rope round ds's neck without being noticed (then smacked ds in the face with the wooden ends Sad) was quite rightly taken v seriously.

A few months later he had his helper!

It's also good to point out to the teachers because they really should talk to all the children about playing safely with skipping ropes. Lots of them whether, special needs or not, may not fully understand the risk of wrapping a rope around a neck at that age.

dikkertjedap · 28/06/2012 07:42

Those things do happen in playgrounds. Usually there will be one or more children who will go and get the playground supervisors in such a situation. As a result, the likelihood of any serious incident is quite small.

Thus, it is very well possible that your son is telling the truth, but it is unlikely that he saved the other boy from death ...... but he is still little and he clearly was trying to do the right thing.

I would probably mention it to the teacher to ensure they are aware that these games are going on during playtime.

justaboutisnowakiwi · 28/06/2012 07:51

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

solidgoldbrass · 28/06/2012 10:45

I'll have a quiet word with the teacher this afternoon. Though I know A's mum and she is very nice, the school has a policy on parents not trying to sort out playground issues with each other; they ask you to talk to the class teachers.

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MammaTJ · 28/06/2012 20:53

Bless your DS!! He is a hero!! I would be very grateful if another child stepped in to stop one of mine from getting hurt!!

You should be very proud.

I think you should have a word with the school teacher though. I know it probably did happen very quickly but so could death by skipping rope!

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