Bullying Head Teacher!

[Mellie2911]

Is it ever justified for a Head Teacher to shout at a child? I was recently in my daughter's school reception to collect her, towards the end of the school day, as she was ill and I witnessed 2 yr4 children being shouted at and 'called stupid' by our new head teacher (appointed Jan 2011). I was so concerned about the head's actions that I almost entered the school hall to ask them if they felt that their behaviour was really appropriate/necessary. The reception office staff were clearly embarrassed by the head teachers behaviour. As it happened I did know 1 of the children involved, and called their mum to say what I had witnessed. She in turn made an appointent to see the head, who said they had raised their voice but denied calling the child 'stupid'. This has obviously made me quite cross as I don't think that this type of behaviour, shouting at pupils, is ever justified. Am I out of touch?

I don't think that shouting is ideal, but I don't think it's unreasonable in every situation. Calling children "stupid" is unforgivable IMO, whatever the context. Are you sure you heard correctly?

Hmmm.....DS1 went to a school where children were shouted at. I removed him.

But having two boys, one who is in Y4 I know they are capable of spontaneously doing some really stupid, dangerous things.

If the children has stacked they chairs incorrectly, for example it would be wrong to shout at them. If they were doing crazy stunts involving a pyramid of chairs and balancing on top I could understand why the head might have shouted.

Were the children themselves being called 'stupid' or was he referring to their actions?

I also think there is a big difference between telling a child they are stupid and telling them and action they did was stupid. Although I would hope a head teacher would be articulate enough to think of a more appropriate word.

And btw, please be careful with the term 'bullying'. One-off occurances should never be labelled as such. Bullying itself is an entirely different matter.

Yes, I agree - actions might reasonably be described as stupid. Children should not be described in such terms!

Was she calling them stupid or saying what they had done was stupid?

I don't think you are in a position to judge if shouting was appropriate or not and I think you were wrong to phone another parent.

If the head was calling a child stupid as opposed to calling their actions stupid they were out of order.

I think you were wrong to call the other mother. You only witnessed part of what is going on and it is unlikely you have the full picture.

If you feel so strongly about this maybe try to get involved in the school, through becoming a governor or you can offer to volunteer. This may give you some insights in school life.

agree with mrs and dikkerjedap totally...you have no idea what preceded this incident.

And it does make a huge difference if the Head had said they were 'stupid' or behaving 'stupidly'.

Can you be completely sure you know exactly what was going on??

I think you've behaved stupidly.

Oh for goodness sake Y4 children are 8/9 they are perfectly old enough to be shouted at and called stupid if that's what they are being. It won't hurt them.
If they were new reception children, perhaps it would be out of order, but they are juniors and no doulbt well aware they were doing something they shouldn't!

Yes I did hear correctly as I was only a few feet away. The Head was shouting at these children simply for talking in assembly and it wasn't their actions that were stupid it was them. They were called 'stupid boys who had ruined an assembly"

I still think you should mind your own business.

I don't think anyone suggested you hadn't heard correctly but it wasn't clear from your post what you had heard as you didn't mention assembly or talking originally. I don't agree with anyone calling someone stupid but I still consider that you acted wrongly by phoning another parent.

I think you did the right thing. I never call my dcs stupid and I would certainly not tolerate a teacher/ht calling them stupid.

If you didn't like what you heard, you should have raised it with the head first.

Indiastar, you've missed the point. The Head didn't call the OP's children stupid.