Something seriously shocking and disturbing happened at my son's school... - Page 2

[diamond lil]

Originally Posted by rmzbm

: Something similar, but not, happened with my cousin. Years back. It was mindblowing, made the papers...I'd relate it but noone would believe it. And the school took no accountability. I don't trust them.

I'd believe it. Post it, if you get the time.

[mommy68]

OMG! wow. I do know this is one reason I'm going to start homeschooling all my kids starting next school year. I just don't trust others with them. They just go on field trips and I'm there because I'm afraid the parent that is supposed to be watching them won't do it properly. No one can care for my children like I can. How sad that they lost track of those children like that.

There's no way kids can get out of the doors at our kids current school. They have locked doors and going out from the inside will turn on an alarm and at the front of the school there is a receptionist that watches the doors which also have locks on them and she has a buzzer from the outside to let people in. She knows almost every child in the school.

I would go to the PTA or contact whoever is in charge of it and talk about the issue. I think other parents need to know about this happening. I would not trust the school. If it happened one time it can certainly happen again.

[mommy68]

Originally Posted by becoming

I should add that I think this happened a very long time ago, like months ago, and I was just told about it.

Another reason to be very upset. I can't believe it happened once before! That one time should have been the ONLY time in my opinion. They should have done something back then to prevent it from happening in the future.

[Benji'sMom]

I would bring it up to one of the teachers that you know, like "So, anything wacky happen at school recently?" As a test, you see, I wouldn't let on that I know. And if she lies and says no, talk to the head of the school and raise hell about it. But if she's honest about it, I'd feel better about the whole thing.

[junipermuse]

Originally Posted by diamond lil

The teachers were not doing their jobs. They should be fired, but if this school is in the US and if the teachers have tenure, they likely will have no action taken against them.

This comment is awfully presumptuous. It is standard practice to have only one teacher supervising young children during naptime. Even in classrooms with children as young as 2. It is likely that the teacher that was out of the room was on a lunch break for which she has both a legal right and a physical and emotional need. Even if the teacher who was left in the classroom noticed the two girls had not returned she would have been unable to leave the room to go find them because she can't leave the room unattended. I think its more of a school issue, than a teacher issue. There have been some great suggestions so far such as putting an alarm on the door or adding bathrooms inside the kindy classroom, or hiring an aide so that there is an adult to escort children to the bathroom. But I think it is unfair to blame the teachers. Also it is the responsibility of the administrators, not the teachers to choose how and when to inform the other parents of this incident.

[gilamama]

Only read half the responses but a boy in my dd's pre school ages 3-5 - he is 5 walked home by himself abt 2 weeks ago when in his mom was taknig his lil sis to the bath room. I am thinking that maybe this is normal for this age (that still does not make it safe). Since you are friends with the teachers maybe talk to them in a very GD kind of way "when I heard this, it made me feel ...." and see how she responds. "How can I feel secure that my son is properly supervised etc.."

[HikeYosemite]

I also have a friend whose kindergartener started walking home from school and no one noticed--at least, not for quite awhile. She has since homeschooled.

Originally Posted by oceanbaby

I have a friend whose 6yo got out of his Kindergarten classroom and no one noticed.

She is now homeschooling.

[A&A]

Originally Posted by choli

I was thinking the same thing - if I plotted with a friend to sneak out of school, and did so, my Mom would certainly have blamed me and not the school. If one of my daughters did the same, I'd be having a very very serious chat with her, not with her teachers.

:

[innle]

I agree that really, the teacher should have noticed but also the children's decision to sneak out of school warrented consequences. Children do wander on occasion; I know I did once or twice. (And frightened the living daylights out of my mother.)

Honestly, I would be more concerned with the response to the incident than the incident itself. I think that encouraging that locks be put on the doors could be a potential safety hazard in an emergency, but perhaps some alarms, or the like?

Definitely, some sort of bulletin should have gone out, though.

[merpk]

Honestly, since this happened months ago, I don't think I'd pursue it. There haven't been any similar incidents, have there? Or other major lapses in teacher attention that you're aware of? If not, then it doesn't seem worth it to start something about it at this late stage ... probably safe to assume for the teachers it was a pretty strong personal kick-in-the-butt moment, you know?







I would, however, find out if my child was aware of the incident altogether, and then have a discussion with my child about it, to make sure they totally and completely internalize that they should never ever go off like that.















Totally OT but ...

Originally Posted by gilamama

Only read half the responses but a boy in my dd's pre school ages 3-5 - he is 5 walked home by himself abt 2 weeks ago when in his mom was taknig his lil sis to the bath room. I am thinking that maybe this is normal for this age (that still does not make it safe).

Am surprised to read this. In my city *all* the preschools are padlocked. No padlocks up there? Or was it just one of those open moments ... ????

[Spritz]

Originally Posted by diamond lil

The teachers were not doing their jobs. They should be fired, but if this school is in the US and if the teachers have tenure, they likely will have no action taken against them.

Wow, that's pretty harsh.

Take a moment and imagine yourself as that teacher. You're probably vastly underpaid for the work you do, and your days are full and hectic being a supervisor for 30 kids, but you probably love your work and feel as though you can make a difference. Every single day, 30 kids. You do your best, like the rest of us.

Then one day two very smart five-year-olds make a plan to sneak behind your back and get out of the school. Heck, I have one two year old and she can keep hidden from me in our own house if she sets her mind to it, and she doesn't have a fraction of the abilities a 5-year-old would.

So here you are, a good teacher with too many kids to look after, and some overly judgemental parents want you fired because their own kids willfully deceived you.

That's a really abysmal attitude to take.

I don't mean to be harsh or snarky, but I think we've gone overboard in our society with what we expect from teachers. They're only human, and they have a heck of a difficult job. This is something that needs to be addressed at the school level, as other pp have mentioned, but tactfully. I wouldn't say I'm 'shocked' that it's happened... obviously from reading this thread, many kids have snuck out of their various schools over the years! But just ask the principle whether some system can be set in place that would prevent them from leaving.

And I'd also hope the parents had a heck of a chat with those kids. I'd be willing to bet the teacher was pretty upset when she found out they were gone.