Parent volunteer who interacts badly with your child?

[karne]

This is a spin off from the volunteering in school thread, which got me thinking about a current concern I have. How can I best handle a situation where I don't care for how a parent volunteer interacts with my child? I have first hand experience, as well as anecdotal examples from other parents. The volunteer in question has an extremely gruff and authoriatrian manner, and doesn't seem to care much for boys, or boys who need to move around a lot. Her own child is very compliant, and quiet. This is a regular volunteer.

I volunteer regularly. The school relies heavily on volunteers.

[Linda on the move]

Talk to the teacher, nicely.

[angelpie545]

I agree. Either send of a nicely worded email or have a quiet, private that with the teacher highlighting your concerns.

[Aquitane]

This is why having parents volunteer in the classroom is difficult. I teach 4th grade, and although I encourage parents to volunteer for school functions and field trips, I really don't like parents in the classroom.

Multiple times over the last several years I thought I'd give it another go, but there are always those parents who should NOT be volunteering. They want to bad-mouth a child or his/her family, they discipline a student in a way I do not agree with, they dress or speak in an inappropriate manner, etc. I have a talk with my volunteers, but it doesn't matter.

A teacher at my school has parent volunteers check papers and I HATE that. Those parents have absolutely NO business knowing how other students do in class. I know that their child will tell them "Jimmy doesn't do well, or Suzy is really smart," but they should not have access to student work.

The good parent volunteers are golden, but the bad ones wreck the experience.

[ssh]

Our preschool is a co-op so there is alot of parent involement. There are guidelines for adults when they are in the classroom and participating in any school activity. How we are allowed to talk to the children and the rest of the discipline policy is completely spelled out. Talking about a student, their family or another parent in anything other than a neutral or positive manner is against the rules. Every parent signs a paper agreeing to follow the behavior policy.

[momtoS]

Can you discuss it with the principal?

[loveandkindness]

I would share your concerns with the teacher and ask that the teacher assign that volunteer some work that doesn't involve direct contact with the children (such as putting up bulletin boards, cleaning overheads and filing them, organizing the supply closet, reshelving books in the library, etc.) There is always plenty of work to be done that doesn't involve supervising the kids.

I volunteer one full day every week in DD's school. I would be horrified if a parent thought I interacted inappropriately with a student. I am also mortified that a previous poster thinks it is inappropriate for me to grade students' work. I would never discuss grades of any child with my own child or any other parent. I don't know any volunteers in DD's school who do not behave professionally at all times. I don't think it is any different than having a teacher who has a child in the same school.