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As a teacher, my responsibility begins and ends with subject material. Behave properly in class, respect the classroom, do your classwork, participate and do your homework. THAT is what I am certified and qualified to do and evaluate.
The rest is the PARENTS' job. School is SCHOOL, and home is HOME. It only takes a village to raise a child when the parents are idiots.
Teachers please focus on teaching and stop getting so personal with your students. And for Pete's sake, PLEASE stop having sex with students!!!!!!!!!
P.S. Next time, DAD, get your highly qualified and educated butt to the school and take care of your business instead of trying to get attention by posting it "out there".
Another staff member came to her with this concern...in a case like that, she has to follow up on it. if it turned into something later she would have been crucified for ignoring it. All she did was send a note home, for goodness' sake. I see nothing in the slightest in the least bit offensive about the note she sent and to me it seems so trivial it boggles my mind they couldn't discuss and resolve it in any way but to take it to the 'net. It's stupid and attention-seeking and to me the very act of him doing this very extreme thing in response to a note removes all credibility from him, at least to me. It's a ridiculous over-reaction.
thinkalot Yea, I guess a teacher should stick to teaching.
If the kid shows up bruised after being beaten, keep your mouth shut. If a kid is malnourished, keep your mouth shut. If a kid can't see because they have no glasses, keep your mouth shut. If a kid has no shoes, keep your mouth shut. If a kid says daddy touched me there, keep your mouth shut.
Just stick to teaching.
Whoa Nellie! Long way from chocolate and marshmallows! Maybe you're "overthinkingalot"?
It seems a lot of folks here have never dealt with children who are picky eaters.
Dad said, "Sure, I'd liked her to pack a few more veggies and maybe a piece of fruit, but we compromise on pickles occasionally ... "
My younger son did not like vegetables, and he grew up being served cooked from scratch meals that had veggies every day. His usual dinner veggie was plain iceberg lettuce (I know, but at least it provided a little roughage) with a little dressing. Once, when he was about the age of the girl in the OP, I tried to get him to eat some green peas. He did - swallowing them whole, like pills. He grew up fine, eats all sorts of veggies (even broccoli - and green peas!) and has a daughter who loves vegetables.
My older son still does not much care for vegetables. His wife disguises them in things like spaghetti sauce to get him to eat them.
As other folks have pointed out, there is no point in serving a child something he will not eat, and the waste that the new school lunch rules generate is unconscionable.
The problem with the teacher's note is that it was based on bad information (no one told her the child had meat and cheese and the dessert was to share). In addition, perhaps the compromise at lunch results in her agreeing to eat something the teacher might consider more nutritious at home, something the teacher has no knowledge about.
Especially if you raised your kid the way he is. I can't say I know a whole lot of children that will choose vegetables over chocolate bars and marshmallows and crackers. Take even a non-picky eater and put some candies on the same plate as dinner and see how much dinner they eat. It won't be much. They'll fill up on chocolate bars and ignore the rest.
If the kid shows up bruised after being beaten, keep your mouth shut. If a kid is malnourished, keep your mouth shut. If a kid can't see because they have no glasses, keep your mouth shut. If a kid has no shoes, keep your mouth shut. If a kid says daddy touched me there, keep your mouth shut.
Just stick to teaching.
Yes, stick to teaching. What should be happening is that guidance counselors, deans and administrators should get off their behinds and interact with students more. They have more time and resources to deal with non academic issues. Instead many sit in their offices and look for ways to abuse teachers. Also, many schools have School Based Support Teams that include psychiatrists and social workers. They are much better equipped to handle these matters. Another crew hiding in offices. The general public does not always understand the resources in a school. Everyone focuses on teachers to do EVERYTHING.
By the way, kids say a lot of things. Much of it is not always credible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
Another staff member came to her with this concern...in a case like that, she has to follow up on it. if it turned into something later she would have been crucified for ignoring it. All she did was send a note home, for goodness' sake. I see nothing in the slightest in the least bit offensive about the note she sent and to me it seems so trivial it boggles my mind they couldn't discuss and resolve it in any way but to take it to the 'net. It's stupid and attention-seeking and to me the very act of him doing this very extreme thing in response to a note removes all credibility from him, at least to me. It's a ridiculous over-reaction.
You are correct about blowing things out of proportion on the internet. However, a substitute teacher should really not be t he one to send notes home to due lack of familiarity with students' situations. Also, the matter should have been referred to a guidance counselor or administrator and the parent called in for a discussion. Notes, texts, and emails can be impersonal and misinterpreted. Face to face conversations are more efficient and effective. Might also motivate everyone to be a little more attentive in an attempt to avoid the inconvenience of a meeting.
Also important to note here: The child HAD a lunch. There are many personal and cultural reasons for what children eat. THAT is why it is dangerous for schools to get TOO involved in personal matters. With the diversity present in schools, in both staff and students, there is a significant lack of knowledge and familiarity with each family's practices. It can lead to many wrong judgments and conclusions.
yeah, I think the school is within their rights to take that crap away from the girl, charge them a lunch, and demand the dad pay for it.
Wow! So now schools' judgments supercede parents' decisions? What if, as a teacher, I think a student is wasting too much time on video games? Should I demand the parent take them away? Or what if I think a child is overweight? Should I demand the kid does more exercise? If I don't like the clothes they wear, should I buy a new outfit and charge the parents?
By the way, many of us grew up on white bread, red meat, full fat milk, candy, ice cream, snack cakes, etc. and we were fine. As a matter of fact, in much better shape than the average child today. Maybe we need to look at other factors than food? Go ahead and try and take away TV's, MP3 players, video games and cell phones from kids and see how far you get.
Are you one of the parents that would make his child sit at the table until he ate everything on the plate whether he liked or wanted it or not?
I assume you think a child's lunch should never include dessert? The girl in the OP had already eaten the meat and cheese, by the way, and the chocolate was to be shared with her brother and a friend.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by quixotic59
You are correct about blowing things out of proportion on the internet. However, a substitute teacher should really not be t he one to send notes home to due lack of familiarity with students' situations. Also, the matter should have been referred to a guidance counselor or administrator and the parent called in for a discussion. Notes, texts, and emails can be impersonal and misinterpreted. Face to face conversations are more efficient and effective. Might also motivate everyone to be a little more attentive in an attempt to avoid the inconvenience of a meeting.
Also important to note here: The child HAD a lunch. There are many personal and cultural reasons for what children eat. THAT is why it is dangerous for schools to get TOO involved in personal matters. With the diversity present in schools, in both staff and students, there is a significant lack of knowledge and familiarity with each family's practices. It can lead to many wrong judgments and conclusions.
Lets stop and think for a moment.....
First the father is the one who chose to take this into cyberspace not the school or any reprehensive of that organization. Second just because the teacher is a substitute does not make them any less qualified to realize a child is eating garbage for lunch. There is no way of know if they spoke with anyone prior to sending the note or actually showed initiative to inform a parent that the lunch was not suitable for an 8 year old child. Calling the parent in for a conference is overkill for what is potentially a singular incident now if there is an on going issue then yes a face to face would be best.
Schools are in the spotlight for establishing good eating habits and are one of the first to be blamed for the obesity problems in this county. Please clarify for me which culture believe in eating the way this child was observed? I think the biggest joke is that this father is a doctor, chose to publish this on mass media and has basically whined like a five year old... Maybe this explains why his child acts as she does..
I've seen much worse lunches then this. Lunchables, for example are pretty disgusting. As are some of the meals served in the cafeteria. I know kids who survive on dairy and white carbs due to pickiness. The worst thing in this girl's lunch would be the marshmallows and we have no idea really how many she had and who cares anyway. That might be her one day of sweets for all we know. Four chocolate bars sounds bad but how big were they really? We don't know. Were they milk chocolate or dark chocolate? the latter can actually be healthy in small amounts. The darker, the better. A pickle isn't so bad. Neither are ham and cheese. Protein. I don't see why some people are freaking out about this one lunch.
Growing up, I generally ate my fruits and veggies without complaining (other than brussel sprouts...I still can't stand those things), but my brother was the complete opposite. My mom would spend what felt like hours begging, pleading and threatening my brother to eat "just three bites" of his veggies.
If a parent knows that his child isn't going to eat an apple, then it's kind of pointless to put one in the lunch box. Food is too expensive to be thrown away. Plus, my brother was the type that wouldn't eat a thing if it wasn't what he wanted. I think it's better for the child to have ham, cheese, a pickle and a sweet treat than to not eat at all.
I would imagine that a physician -- who specializes in weight issues, no less -- ensures that his child consumes healthy food. When the kid's at school, though, it's out of the parent's control.
I think the teacher should have minded her own business.
I also think the father should have taken it up with the school rather than posting it online, but that's the world we live in nowadays.
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