classroom situation

[baby]

Hi all
I am new to this forum. I have heard a lot about this from a friend.

I have been associated with a school where there is a situation where I could do with some help.

This is about a boy who is in Grade 4 (age - 9+). He took someone else's pen and claimed that the pen was his. After that the same boy admitted that the pen was not his. Although this was not told in the class, his classmates came to know about the same and started calling him a thief. And now he has been branded as a thief and nobody plays with him.

Now what this boy is doing is - he is taking his pen and putting it in someone else's bag so that the other guy is known to be the wrong doer.

Can you please tell how to deal with a situation like this

[stik]

It sounds like a difficult peer situation.

Especially in the elementary grades, I think it's important that teachers help students find ways to make amends and re-integrate with the peer group when they make mistakes. Kids at this age are really concrete thinkers, and they sometimes have a lot of trouble understanding that in most situations, the consequences of an action don't need to drag on forever.

At this point, the problem is no longer that this kid took someone's pen, it's that he's being treated unfairly by his classmates. It sounds like the class needs to have a big talk about how it feels to be left out, and perhaps work on some cooperative activities that highlight this child's strengths.

[Redifer]

Exactly what Stik said.

An idea used in my own elementary school class after something similar occured: students were asked to remember a time when they did something wrong. Did they admit it? Did they apologize? And did anyone treat them differently after the incident, if not, how would they feel?

At this age, I'd really definitely stress that the boy did ADMIT to the offense, and I'm assuming apologized. That, in itself, was a GOOD thing to do. Sometimes, schools forget that these bases aren't always covered at home, either (If you admit you did it, and apologize, more than likely you'll be forgiven)...

Another idea: talk to the boy's parents. explain the situation. See if they would be willing to do a "peace offering"... be it a pack of pens they buy for the boy to distribute to everyone, or have given out for him, from him; or something along those lines... peace offerings tend to go well in kids that age...