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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Teacher looking in to child’s mouth for gum?

34 replies

BlueBrightFuture · 11/12/2015 16:12

Teacher insisted that year 7 DD was chewing even though she told the teacher that she wasn’t but that she had a painful ulcer. Teacher clearly did not believe DD so she asked DD to have a look in to her mouth in front of her peers and show her that there was no gum and that she had an ulcer… Whilst I appreciate that gum in schools is a pain I don’t think it is ok for a teacher to inspect a child’s mouth for gum in front of her class mates…

Not happy about this, especially not that it was done in front of her peers.

Just wanted to vent...may mention it on parents evening...

thanks

OP posts:

FannyFifer · 11/12/2015 16:14

It's not like she did a strip search & looked up her arse ffs.
[Hands op a grip]

SpaggyBollocks · 11/12/2015 16:16

sigh.

it must be very tiring to give a crap about something so minor.

LonnyVonnyWilsonFrickett · 11/12/2015 16:17

Can you articulate why you don't think it's ok for a teacher to look in a child's mouth?

WorraLiberty · 11/12/2015 16:18

I don’t think it is ok for a teacher to inspect a child’s mouth for gum in front of her class mates…

Why not?

IHaveBrilloHair · 11/12/2015 16:18

I was wondering where the child's gums had gone

AuntieStella · 11/12/2015 16:19

This wouldn't bother me in the slightest.

cuntycowfacemonkey · 11/12/2015 16:19

good grief.

honeysucklejasmine · 11/12/2015 16:20

Why is this a problem? Did the teacher grab hold of your child's face and poke about with a stick or something?!

Original poster

BlueBrightFuture · 11/12/2015 16:23

I bothers my daughter. She felt embarrassed and therefore It bothers me.

BrilloHair, do you think all DC are liars?

OP posts:

AuntieStella · 11/12/2015 16:26

I would help an embarrassed DC deal with their embarrassment. But I still would not think the teacher had been in any way unreasonable.

WorraLiberty · 11/12/2015 16:35

She's 11 or 12 years old

Being singled out by the teacher for anything is embarrassing.

She'll get over it.

cricketballs · 11/12/2015 16:36

Not all DC, but when it comes to chewing a lot don't tell the truth....I have done this before; told a student to put gum in the bin (chewing gum is banned in school for a very good reason! ), student replies "I'm not chewing", I ask them to open their mouths and all of a sudden they do visit the bin (before they are issued with a DT, which before anyone moans about is a widely published consequence for gum)

honeysucklejasmine · 11/12/2015 16:50

I got so fed up with "I'm not chewing, honest!" I would just hold the bin in front of them and glare. 95% of the time they'd sigh and put it in there.

dotdotdotmustdash · 11/12/2015 21:55

I got so fed up with "I'm not chewing, honest!" I would just hold the bin in front of them and glare. 95% of the time they'd sigh and put it in there.

I work in a High School too and the above is completely true, although the figure may be nearer 98% in my experience. Hate to break it to you OP, but many teenagers tell porkies, probably even your one and possibly some of the porkies are told to you. On the plus side, the vast majority of them will go on to be good people, but the staff working with them have to be consistent and follow through with instructions otherwise we aren't teaching them what they need to know.

clary · 11/12/2015 22:53

Why is it not OK OP?

Gum is not allowed in our school at all and it has been/is a real struggle to enforce this. If I see a student chewing I ask them to empty their mouth or just bring them the bin. If they deny it or just put a tiny bit of gum in, then I may ask them to open their mouth, yes.

Please don't mention it on parents' evening.

EYDavis · 11/12/2015 23:20

No wonder it's so hard to recruit teachers these days. They must have to make tiny decisions like this hundreds of times every day, each one of which risks enraging a parent.

The teacher asked your DD to open her mouth, she did, the teacher was presumably satisfied no rules were broken, the end.

Perhaps in an ideal world the teacher would have set an example and apologised to your DD - maybe in a mischievous "okay, well you were right this time" way - but omitting this minor courtesy really doesn't seem worth getting annoyed about.

MrsPCR · 11/12/2015 23:33

Most volunteer to show you their empty mouths as normally it's the one occasion where you've asked for gum and they don't actually have any. In fact I'd say in my school it was almost the natural reaction of an innocent child.

HarrietSchulenberg · 11/12/2015 23:38

Last week I was working with a boy whose jaws were working furiously and who smelled suspiciously minty. I asked him if he was chewing. "No miss!" was his wide-eyed reply, during which I caught a glimpse of gum.
"Are you sure, certain, positive that you are not chewing any sort of gum?" I asked.
Boy nodded fervently.
"Show me" I said.
Boy got up and dropped his gum in the bin, sat back down and opened wide.
"See", he said, "No gum" .

mumsneedwine · 12/12/2015 08:49

I daily feel like Ant and Dec. My favourite was a young man vigorously denying gum chewing, as the gum flew out of his mouth onto my foot. Litter detention is the punishment - a fun packed after school detention wearing a fluorescent tabard picking up litter with a grabber. Or scrapping gum off chairs and desks.

hesterton · 12/12/2015 08:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pilates · 12/12/2015 09:03

Kuppenbender · 12/12/2015 09:57

I'm at a complete loss. Where exactly would you prefer the teacher to inspect your child's mouth? Should classrooms have a special cubicle installed for such a purpose? Or maybe you'd like the teacher to perform some kind of mass hypnosis on the rest of the class to avoid your DD's embarassment?

Or is it that the teacher had the audacity to question your DD's word?Seriously? Is it okay for teachers to check for attendance or that homework has been completed? Is this all too embarrassing too?

Is it possible that your DD made the whole situation an awful lot more embarrassing than it needed to be by making a big deal it? I wonder where she gets that attitude from?

Orangeanddemons · 12/12/2015 10:02

In my experience of 20 years as a teacher, it seems to me to be the opposite. Most kids like to open their mouths to show you that they aren't chewing at all. I'm sick of staring into endless mouths, usually with a carefully concealed bit of gum😐

timelytess · 12/12/2015 10:05

Usually, if as a teacher you ask a child if they are chewing, they immediately open their mouths wide to show you how "empty" it is. In fact, the gum is hidden, under the tongue, in the upper left or right cheek, or if you have a really clever pupil, pressed firmly into the teeth to disguise it.
Nobody wants to see in their lovely to their mothers but to everyone else, disgusting mouths.
OP, please speak seriously to your child about good manners and the importance of not chewing if she is not actually eating a meal, at mealtime.

Pipbin · 12/12/2015 10:06

BrilloHair, do you think all DC are liars?

There is a famous experiment where children are told that just behind them is a brilliant toy. The adult then leaves the room with strict instructions not to turn round. Most children will look, who wouldn't, and they are asked if they looked when the adult comes back. Under the age of 6 some will tell the truth. Over the age of 6 ALL CHILDREN lie. All of them. Even yours.
I know I lied as I child, only small stuff like not washing my hands, and I think we all lie as adults.

So yes. To sum up, all DC are liars.

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