Two high school seniors were left alone to run a 2nd grade P.E class

[stopschoolpaddling]

Two high school seniors were left alone to run a 2nd grade P.E. class. Two of my children were in it. The principal tried to apologize when I confronted her and said it wouldn't happen again but I am not satisfied. There is no excuse for this. The seniors were even disciplining the children for example putting them in time out. How should I handle this?

[BrklynLiberal]

1. I guess you could start with writing letters to every pubic officer you can...

starting with the head of the school district and going on up the ladder right to your Senator.
And don't forget to write letters to publications...newspapers and such.

This is a disgrace..and they are lucky that no one was injured.

It would not hurt to mention the school budget...perhaps that is one of the reasons
this occurred.

[LisaM]

2. What were the circumstances?

It would be helpful if you explained a little more. I think high school seniors are capable of running games, for example, but as far as putting them in time out, that's ridiculous.

[stopschoolpaddling]

3. The coach was out of the building that day.

The children had to play freeze tag. After one boy said my son tagged him to hard, my son had to sit out the entire hour in a corner. My daughter said it was a trick and the boy who was tagged went away laughing, satisfied that it worked. When my son got thirsty he was not allowed up to go to the water fountain and neither was he allowed to go to the restroom when he needed to that, per the seniors.

[wtmusic]

4. Contact the school board & your local newspaper

These kinds of stories make it to print fairly regularly.

[Fire1]

5. I'm willing to bet this had something to do with the lack of

available substitutes and teachers not wanting to lose their coordinating periods. In said situation, the P.E. classes should have been cancelled for the day and coordinating periods made up when possible.

edited: additional comment

[Massacure]

6. It is hard to say how to handle it, there isn't much detail.

If having two high school seniors run a P.E. class of twenty-some seven year olds was my only gripe, I would probably just let it go.
A couple of years ago, when I was still in high school, a bunch of people in our ecology club took several classes of third and four graders snowshoeing and cross country skiing. The high school students buddied up and took out 6-8 students with them. It was a lot of fun and at times there probably wasn't a teacher within about a half mile of us. :)

[proud2BlibKansan]

27. +1

[jtuck004]

7. O my. They're old enough to go to war and get killed

yet not old enough to run the second grade class for a little while?

What a tragedy.

[madmom]

8. Years ago I was a Brownie Girl Scout leader. I had 22 girls in my troop. According

to their rules I needed one assistant for every 4 girls, must be over 18 years old. Now if they don't think a trained adult can handle that many 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders, how could a couple of high schoolers?

[aquart]

14. Sounds like they handled them very well.

Getting obstreperous kids to accept the authority of time out is no mean feat.

My first question is whether the teens had any kind of training in first aid or anything else that would be helpful if anything out of the ordinary occurred, like one kid accidentally breaking another kid's nose or poking an eye out?

[MercutioATC]

9. It's definitely not something that should be done on a regular basis....

...but why is this such an issue for you?

Tell the Principal that you have concerns, absolutely, but I don't understand the outrage you seem to feel.

[Uben]

10. What's the problem?

Did the seniors do something inappropriate? Putting a second grader in time out certainly is not anything to get upset about. Teenagers have been babysitting forever. In fact, that is the first paying job a lot of them get. My daughter (17 yr old) even got Red Cross certification for babysitting. Her first job was watching kids at a church during services, and she did a fine job.

Of course, I would never want to interfere in your affairs because I think every parent has the right to raise their kids the way they think is appropriate. I don't believe in interjecting my beliefs on someone unless I see abuse to the kids. I would certainly speak up if that happened, whether at home or school.
I guess a lot depends on the students left to conduct the PE class. I feel that most high school seniors are more than qualified to stand in for one day in a PE class, but I also know some that I would not want to conduct a class, as well. My wife and I have spent countless hours and have raised thousands of dollars for our local community youth program (not school or church related). So, I have interfaced with a lot of teens.
If you have concerns about the teens allowed to conduct the class, I would contact the principal or whomever chose them for the job just to make sure they were comfortable with those particular kids.
I can't imagine them allowing someone they were not comfortable with, though.

[Fire1]

12. Well, it becomes a question of 'liability,' if one of the

children gets injured (or worse) in some form or fashion.

[Uben]

15. Is not the liability there, regardless?

How screwed up is this world when a 17-18 yr old (hand-picked I would assume)can't watch a bunch of 7-8 yr olds for an hour? Where do you draw the line? Common sense has to used. Think about it. How many stories have you read about 18 yr olds abusing 7-8 yr olds in a school setting? How many about teachers? It is a very rare occurrence. I know there are some people who are just waiting to file a law suit on anyone who can provide them with an instant fortune. These are the people I would not trust with my kids.

What strikes me as odd is the fact that 2nd graders and high school kids are in the same building. Most elementary schools only have students who are 12 yr old or less. What were the high school kids even doing at the school? Not enough info provided.

[Fire1]

19. It's not about teen-agers 'abusing' kids. It's about injury from

any number of causes, from horse play to organized play. The district is 'covered' in such instances when a trained professional is present and the likelihood of horse play is greatly diminished.

I wondered about the teens being in the building, as well.

[stopschoolpaddling]

21. This is a high school and an elementary, very small school,

but the elementary and high school have seperate buildings. Both of the seniors, one boy and one girl, are on basketball teams.

[provis99]

11. think of it this way:

Imagine two high school kids, right off the street, immediately started telling your son what to do while he was in a mall, and punishing him if he didn't do it. Let us also say that the cop who was overseeing the situation decided not to get involved, except to say sorry. That's no different than the current situation you described.

Two punk teenagers who had no business having authority over your kid pushed him around. I would be damned mad at them, and even madder at the principal who permitted this.

[Uben]

16. So you think they weren't hand picked?

Are you assuming these kids just walked into the gym class? That's what your analogy assumes.

[On the Road]

13. I Had a Cabin of Elementary School Kids at an Overnight YMCA Camp

when I was fifteen. Nothing you've said implied that the kids did a bad job.

[stopschoolpaddling]

17. I already have a problem with their discipline

and the fact that he had to sit out the entire class is
outrageous to me, not to mention thirst and the bathroom.  My
daughter recently had to ride 30 minutes home on the bus,
"holding it" because she asked  to use the bathroom
and was denied.   

[stopschoolpaddling]

18. Oh, I forgot to tell you that I went to the school today to talk to my son

about an issue and I was completely freaked out when the secretary said she needed to call the principal to see if that was okay. What? I need permission to talk to my child? I don't think so!!! There are multiple issues going on simultaneously.

[Fire1]

20. Another precaution and a damned good one I might add.

In many schools this is standard procedure.

[stopschoolpaddling]

22. Precaution? Not at this school.

If it's a precaution for anything it's that they don't want parents catching them doing something wrong. Like a teacher that you can hear screaming at the children from the hallways or the one I was right next to addressing another class (5th graders)and telling them all to "shut your mouth". (No she didn't say it nicely, she screamed it!) Good grief, they were hardly even talking. This place is full of paddle wielding Nazi's, all quite perfectly legal here in good old Arkansas. You bet I'm going to make a big deal out of this and anything else that I can.
I asked the principal today to give me the courtesy of calling me (BEFORE)my child ever had to spend time alone with her and she said no she didn't think she would do that. I told her it wasn't personal but I wouldn't allow my children to be alone in a room with anyone who was capable of committing the act of using a wooden object to strike a child EVEN ONCE!!! She then informed me that legally she could hit my child without even calling me but the school board has requested that they do. I told her that "NO, LEGALLY SHE WOULD NOT TOUCH MY CHILD, NOT EVER." You bet, I am out to get these freaks in anyway I can!!! Obviously, they think they can get away with murder and I'm here to say, "NO SOMEONE IS WATCHING YOU'

[Fire1]

23. Sounds like you have a good argument against what was once

an age old 'tradition' in many school districts across the country. If you're in it for the long haul, it'd be a good idea to get a state wide petition going starting with the parents at this particular school and presenting it to the district school board, the Superintendent and the state board, as well. Present the petition at the board meeting with as many parents as possible in attendance.

[wtmusic]

25. You're in the wrong state.

Really. If someone pulled that crap in CA they'd be hauled away in handcuffs.

Not that schools are great here, we've got the myriad assortment of louts, do-nothings, and incompetents too. But physical abuse is, in general, not an issue.

[proud2BlibKansan]

28. If we let parents come up and pull kids out of class whenever they wanted

we wouldn't get any teaching in.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LWolf]

26. Have you ever

had a public school experience you weren't outraged about?

[stopschoolpaddling]

30. Yes and it's called "Richardson School District"

That's where we came from and if all the schools in this country followed their example then in 10, 15. 20 years country would be visibly changed.

[LWolf]

31. I'm glad you recognize

that public education, and public schools, are not evil and are not out to "get" your family.

I don't think "all schools in this country" need to follow one district's example; that kind of one-size-fits-all system is what is WRONG with public education. That and the constant political moves to privatize and union-bust.

I do think that all schools need to serve their families well, regardless of what model they use.

[proud2BlibKansan]

29. Did all the teachers get fired?

That might explain it.

[tonysam]

33. LOL!!!!

That's probably where it is headed.

Instead of Future Teachers of America, the organization should be called Current Teachers of America.

[noamnety]

32. Couple thoughts here.

1. Generally I don't think the kids would have been in much actual danger having teens supervise them. At that age, teens are well allowed to babysit (be responsible for children).

2. I believe denying bathroom access is illegal. The school needs to address that, and ensure it never happens again.

3. If you really want to put a stop to it, I believe the way to approach it is to come after it in terms of qualified instructional hours. At our school, a class that isn't taught by a certified teacher or qualified sub doesn't count toward instructional hours. That issue came up when I was going to be gone for training for a week. Our plan was to get a sub to meet qualifications standards, and a guest speaker so the kids had something really of value to learn instead of having a sub babysit them. The county school district (a level up from us) rejected that plan, stating that even if someone who met teaching standards was in charge of the room, if the instruction was coming from someone else (a guest speaker) it had to be deducted from our hours (just like a snow day). I'm still in shock over that and don't agree with it, but I'm passing it along because it's a technicality that might be true in your district as well.