Hellobee Boards

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: "We teach kids to respect teachers and follow their instructions, but teachers abuse power." ??? That's an all-encompassing and accusatory statement. As a teacher, I'm insulted by your words. There are a few bad apples in EVERY bunch. I do not know ANYONE who would do this.

That is gross and awful. I agree with @swedishfish: that teachers like that are very few and far between. That being said, you raise a good point in wondering how we raise our children to know where the line is and when to obey and when to refuse. I guess the best we can do is carefully screen the environments we are sending our kids to and then teach then that if it doesn't feel right to them then they have the right to call us. If someone refuses to let them then they can make a scene or refuse. Poor kid though.

I think things like that should be treated on a case by case basis as there are very very few teachers who would even think about doing such a thing

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I work in education and while I would never do this at work, I would do this at home with my own child.

The kids clogged the urinal with paper towels (creating work for a janitor). If that happened at home, the natural consequence should be, you get the clog out (and remove the paper towels). Then, obviously wash your hands.

That's exactly the kind of punishment my parents gave. I break a dish? I get the hand sweeper and clean it up. I clog the toilet? I get the plunger and learn how to unclog it. My brother misses the toilet and pees on the floor/side of the toilet? He gets a sponge and some lysol and gets to get on his knees and clean it. We never had gloves for this type of thing. We just washed up after.

I get that a parent thinks it's gross, but at the very least this child (or all the boys who were in the bathroom at the time) should have had to write a letter to the janitor apologizing for purposely clogging the toilet and then also missed out on recess that day and had a phone call home so parents can also reiterate bathroom etiquette.

Anyway, again--at school I guess it's extreme, and 99% of educators are smart enough to realize that they have to come up with something else. But I don't think the punishment itself is extreme.

@Anagram: I def agree w/ you that when I grew up, you reap what you sow. No breaks, no handicaps just b/c you're a kid! Okay, maybe it wasn't THAT harsh but I do think the social sensitivity to child abuse and things like that do blow up certain situations. It's tough to define what is a punishment intended to teach the kid, and what becomes public shaming/scaring incident for them. But then again, I grew up in a strict culture so public shaming = discipline. We all lived with it.

If he did clog the urinal, it probably would have been a fitting punishment... if she had given him gloves.

Meh. She should have given him gloves, but other than that the punishment fits the crime, I think.