We went to a local ball game and took all students that didn't have any discipline referrals all year.
Two brothers had multiple referrals so of course they were not allowed to go. The mom didn't send them to school and bought tickets to the game for her boys and two cousins. What a crock! What a message to send to these kids! They got in trouble throughout the year and didn't deserve the reward, but got the reward anyway. The tickets are only $10 so it's not very expensive, but she was willing to spend $50 on tickets just so her kids could go to the game and basically rub it in everyone's face.
I really liked and respected this mom. Not anymore.
Yep, you can see why these boys have had multiple referrals all year- they are never held accountable for their actions.
Well, it'll bite this mom in the butt over the long term. They'll be living in her basement at 30 because they won't be able to manage living in the world.
Happened with one of my students earlier this year. There really isn't much you could do as it is a public place. However, in my case the enabling mom worked at our school. She took the day off, called school and said mini muffin was 'not going to be in school today ' with no other explanation. And low and behold they show up at the same venue.😠
Since she was an employee, I think principal and superintendent talked to her about setting good examples and consistency in expectations for ALL students.
I think the student received an unexcused absence for the day.
I see it all of the time: spoiled kids whose parents tell them that their teachers are completely out of line for expecting them to follow any kind of rules. I guess it isn't too surprising considering that our profession has been on the receiving end of a massive smear campaign by the media, politicians, and hedge fund billionaires. No wonder our credibility has been completely destroyed in the minds of the public.
I used to do one of those 'earn your reward' systems with ice cream sundaes. Everyone started with ice cream, then they earned fudge, whipped cream, sprinkles, etc. every time they 'passed' a level in math. I sent lots of notices home, gave them tons of practice time in school, extra help/encouragement to kids who weren't progressing, etc. They had MONTHS to do this, so anyone who was motivated could earn as much as they wanted. Some of the lower-functioning kids managed to earn everything by sheer determination.
A less-motivated kid fluffed around and earned about nothing. His mom came to the celebration, tried to serve him everything anyway, and then left early with him to take him out for ice cream when I re-stated the system to her.
That's okay, Mom. You'll be the one supporting him through adulthood. I just want to give him a leg up in learning to use small goals to get to a big one....You know, like we do in life?
I think we've all been there, and that's precisely the reason those kids act up, because of the lack of consequences. We took our group who read and turned in their reading logs to a local baseball game, and the same kind of thing happened. The ones who didn't read stayed back to work. So, two of mine who didn't get the reading done mysteriously got sick and didn't show up. And one of them told me the day before, that his mom said he didn't have to show up.
Thank goodness there are plenty of people who look at things differently and do the right thing. And you must always focus on those people.
Unfortunately, if I were in your shoes, I would not be able to let this go!!! This parent needs to know her actions have consequences!!!
However, rather than having the much needed "get your act together as a parent" conversation face-to-face with this moron of a parent, I would type a letter, not sign it, and mail it from another community so the postmark does not reflect your community.
The letter would say exactly what I want to say to her face!!!
She needs to know she is not doing her children a favor...her parenting skills need improvement...she is a poor example of a adult!!!
Many years ago I had a student wrap his belt around the neck of a second grader and start to pick him up before someone stopped him. Due to this action I told the mom I was not taking Snowflake on a field trip. She of course complained to the principal who, get this, agreed that I was being too harsh on Snowflake. Well, long story short, Snowflake was "sick" the day of the field trip.
Flash forward to last year. There on the local news was Snowflake. He was arrested along with a number of other poor misunderstood young men for running a drug ring, burglary and other felony crimes.
Usually I find that students who need to stay at school in these situations have work they are given to do while they spend the day on campus. If you wanted to be really snarky, I suppose you could make the brothers complete that work next week. Recess and lunchtime sounds like it would work.
actions eventually if that is any help...I think we may have been lied to here..lol We were told that you are not allowed to withhold a field trip from a kid due to bad behavior. WE were told that all trips planned during school time have to have an educational value to them and that legally you are not allowed to withhold an educational experience from a kid. Does any1 know if we've been lied to for yrs? lol It wouldn't be the 1st time...lol
This is a trip for any student that hasn't had a referral all year. The only educational value of this trip is that kids really do want to earn the trip so classroom behavior is better which leads to better learning. Now don't get me wrong... the hard core cases could care less but for those borderline kids...it's helped.
, but we have been told we can't do reward field trips ( unless everyone goes) on "school time." We were quoted some law on it...and had to stop doing these types of outings. Sometimes,I think someone makes stuff up to stop what we are doing...
> 
05-18-2016, 07:46 PM
It wouldn't be the 1st time...lol
