Children who are always late for school

[RoadArt]

OK, I am following on from the holiday in term time post and a valid point that someone has just raised about the message we are portraying to our kids that its ok to take time out of school and how this will affect their mind set when they are older and they will think its ok when they are working.

On this point, I am amazed at the number of parents who allow their children to be late to school, some every day, others maybe once/twice a week. It tends to be the same parents, the same excuses and the children get marked in the late register every day.

Isn't this just as bad? Its disruptive for the teacher/class when a child walks in late, and it teaches the child that its ok to be late, so as they get older, they never meet their friends on time, they get a job but dont arrive on time - because mum said was ok when they were little.

Timekeeping is really important, so why do parents think its ok for their children to be late to school on a regular basis?

There is no excuse for a child to be late for school. Everyone knows the starting time.

I am ROFL at Grandpa In My Pocket woman!!

Ach you know what? I can't be arsed to get a snark on over someone else's timekeeping when they're not meeting me. I am late about once a week.

Two weeks ago, my ds2 fell down the stairs just as we were leaving and although unhurt, started bawling. Ds1 got such a fright at seeing his little brother fall, he fell down the stairs too, scraped his finger on the wall, and started bawling as well. Dd who is 2 soon, got such a shock seeing her two brothers fall down the stairs she was hysterical!! It took a good 15 mins to calm all that down, find a plaster for the scraped finger, get the coats and gloves on and usher everyone out of the door calm and ready.

Last week ds2 walked through a huge slobbery dog shit, which meant we had to stop while I took his boot off to clean it with a billion babywipes and a couple of useless twigs. Late again.

Shit happens. To everyone. If people want to be late all the time then that's their lookout. Doesn't affect me or mine. As for the disruption of latecomers....I'm giving it a big fat MEH.

You don't need to worry about them, so why are you?

because it does affect all the children if the teacher has already started the lesson, explained it and everyone is at work, then it's all interrpted due to a latecomer who needs their own special explanation, preventing the teacher from circulating and helping/assessing the whole class.

Whatever. Sure thing.

I still won't be losing any sleep over it.

McHobbes

Why do you think its ok for children to always be late for school and it doesnt matter if they disrupt the class, but on AIBU you think its rude when family/friends are late, or dont turn up when they say they will.

Because I'm not one to cluck and fuss over other people's parenting. It's none of my business.

It's not the parenting that is my business, it's my lessons. It is my job to worry about them.

It's about having respect for basic rules and following them, and setting good examples to our children.

Well there you go. I do my utmost to get my kids to school and nursery on time and for the most part succeed. I don't much mind what other people do.

I remember asking God in assembly to make my teachers lenient on me for being late :). I used to arrive after registration, routinely 15 minutes plus late, and was ushered straight to assembly to face the consequences afterwards!

I was 5 years old at the time and always, consistently late due to my mother's poor time keeping.

The teachers reprimanded me every day, it wasn't pleasant. I've often wondered why they held me responsible? It helped build a 'negative picture' up around me. Does this still happen I wonder? Funnily enough my kids are on time! :)

Please can someone tell me how to stop being late? As I am a persistent offender, we usually arrive at school as the bell is ringing, I'd like to be there earlier!
We get up 7.15, live 10 mins from school and I wish I could get there earlier.
I get DC's and my clothes ready the night before,
Kitchen table is set night before, my trouble is getting DC's upstairs again for teeth brush, face wash and protective cream on faces. Then downstairs for coats, hats, gloves and struggle to get DS in pushchair, fetching his cars, cloth and everything else he must have.
I just dont know where the half hour between 8 and 8.30 goes!

I agree OP, this makes me really annoyed.

It's always the same kids as well. I can think of two families I regularly used to see trotting along the road with their DC after I had seen all mine into school and sometimes stayed at infants with DS2 till 9am.

So I am walking past junior school, whistle has gone 2-3 mins ago (5 to 9) and yes! here is mum a or mum b, both live about 5 mins walk from school, why don't they just get up a bit earlier!!!! The odd disaster at 20 to 9 I can understand, but every day?

(I am not talking about people who come by road, but of course that's why walking to yr local school is desirable to some)

BTW I agree with teachers on here (I am not one) that lateness is very disruptive to the rest of the class as well as to the children concerned.

countless get up at 7am!
poppetUK what part of WA are in
yes it annoys me to when it's always the same people who are late and normally the ones within walking distance
I also get in a panic if I'm going to be late!

In the event, we were rarely late, but considering how difficult it was to get my disabled child up in the mornings (which is the worst time for her condition) and how hard it is to manhandle a hysterical 10yo into a wheelchair - I would have forgiven myself. Or at least, I should have forgiven myself; in RL I know I would just have felt a bigger failure than I already did.

WE are sometimes late. Like last week when 7yo dd1 sat down in the middle of the street and refused to move because I wouldn't let her have a doughnut

She still did not get a doughnut, she was grounded for a week. Has she learned? I doubt it.

I agree with you OP. When you have "bust a gut" to get the kids up and out and in school on time, it really annoys you when you see others drifting in late EVERY DAY. OK so we all have the odd blip or oversleep but it's the same ones who abuse the system all the time. Yes, it is disruptive whatever other posters say to the contrary and also gives the wrong message to the children about time-keeping.

Pixie it is in the eyes of the mothers looking on which is the perspective of this post.

Although personally I gave up worrying about that years ago LOL

There are days we are late my kids have a 95% on time rate (interstingly the 1 95 we had was when they used the school bus so was really utterly out of my means to deal with)

I dont sweat it we try our best to be on time but if we are not then we are late and that is the end of that as far as I am concerned. THankfully the school seems to feel the same way as none of my kids have ever returned home and been told they have been told of or reprimended for being late.

I am not consistently 15mins plus late but sometimes life happens and as for getting a panic attack over it I honestly think that is as bad as needing to see grandpa in my pocket every morning.

FWIW the mornings that we are later is 99% because dd3 whom is NOT a morning person (and before some helpful soal suggests I get her up earlier it doesnt work) and she is in a mood so everything takes 10 x what it ought to do and at7 years old I refuse to dress her she can do so herself and face the concequences of being late and having to go into a class of kids starring at her.

that meant to read they have a 95% + time rate (interestingly I have 3 in same school none of them have the same % on being on time what does that tell you??

We have the same parents arriving late almost daily at DS's school, they see it as the norm so dont do anything about it. The children will have a huge shock at high school as detention can be given for lateness and even more so when they go to work and their employer doesnt quite share the same view on lateness as their parents.

Lateness is reported on the childs yearly report along side absence. I'd be mortified to see more than maybe one late a year for exceptional circumstances.

Its the teacher and other children that suffer though from it whilst the teacher does a recap and the other children wait whilst this is done before they can start lessons.

Late for school/late for work/late meeting a friend/late for an appointment...

To me every single one of those is (without a good excuse, of course) just rudeness.

Being persistently late is merely saying "My time is more important than yours."

though I agree about punctuality, happymummy- some families have exceptional circumstances more than once a year

have you ever dealt with a hysterical school refuser? I had to do that every morning for several years, there is a long waiting list for counselling, you do the best you can

I used to walk away from the school gates crying with exhaustion

Actually I have a reason why my dd or ds could be consistently late.
But I am lucky as ds1 is 17 so is a child who can help me rather than an additional child to worry about.

But I have spoken to my dcs school in advance, explained my problem and what measures we have taken to manage.
As it goes we are very very rarely late. But another parent in similar situation with a younger ds1 would be up the creek some mornings.

So I am not sure it is always about disinterest, but more about poor communication. Sometimes.