Today I got a call from Mrs. Clouse, Garrett's special education teacher. Apparently, he was having a rough day and was overly defiant to his teachers. Time outs weren't working, so he was sent on two separate occasions to the "behavior" room (equivalent to the principal's office). But the most disturbing part was when he got mad at his ESL teacher, he pointed his finger and pretended to shoot her. I was told he was mad at her, so it wasn't like he was fooling around. I was also told (and agree) that this is TOTALLY unacceptable behavior. In fact, if he were to do it again he'd be suspended. From kindergarten, no less.
Has anyone experienced something like this with their child? Help.
4 comments:
Karen, where do you think he picked up the finger-as-gun? Is there something he sees on TV like that?
Im wondering if anyone in his class also does it. Or a cartoon character? Wow. Let me know what you find out...
I was thinking the same thing. At 6 years old, does he even know what that means? He clearly saw it somewhere. Odds are the previous comments are on track- tv, someone in class or another child, etc. What does he say when you ask him what that action means. Does he even know? I imagine not. The reality is that children's behavior is always correlated to confidence and academics. Usually when they feel like they can't keep up academically, they resort to behavioral things.
I am not in any way undermining Garrett's action, but really, suspension? He is in kindergarten. He doesn't even have a clue the significance of what he is doing. It is a means of him expressing his frustration, and kids do that in different ways at different stages of development. It is comparable to kicking a kid out of preschool because they bite. It happens. They get frustrated and they resort to "unacceptable" means of expressing their frustration. This just happens to be one of those "taboo" ways of expressing frustration. I get it, and I'm not condoning Garret's behavior, but really, was the ESL teacher really afraid for her safety?
I agree with Sara. I have little patience when schools get their shorts in a wad, I am not condoning what he did but come on. He's six, he's not going to actually shoot someone. Jabari & Gunnar are getting into the whole killing thing, they saw it on video games & heard their cousins say "oh no, your dead" & this was in Mario Kart. Not some graphic game. I'm also sure they have seen previews of movies & shows with shooting & they do pick that stuff up. I guess my point is my kids do that too. We also are trying to get them to understand you don't act like you are killing someone. Line upon line. They also have gotten into pretending their bats are swords..from us reading "the bravest Knight" by Mercer Meyer. We are just seeing the all boy thing coming out in our 2. Oy! :) You aren't alone in this.
((hugs))
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