I love working with children in the public education system. However, like with all jobs, there are days that stress me out. With the letter B, I would like to discuss one term that usually upsets me to no end- blame.
Some parents are quick to blame all of their child’s troubles on everyone except who should be receiving it. They refuse to see that any responsibility could fall within their own child or their parenting skills.
I have one child that continuously played too rough on the playground. He enjoyed hitting and kicking and grabbing other children. After sending numerous notes home about his violent playing, his father came to talk to me.
His father insisted that the behavior was due to the child’s boredom in my classroom. He said that he felt his son was too advanced for kindergarten work. However, I never had trouble with the child in class. I felt that the blame came from the violent video games and cartoons that he child was imitating.
The father suggested that I give the child more class work to solve the problem. I tried to explain that the only way more work would help is if the child completed the work instead of playing on the playground.
The student was average in intelligence and was a good student. However, he was nowhere near mastering all of the kindergarten skills and needing more work.
This is not the only case at my school when parents feel that the school or teachers are to blame for their child’s misbehaving.
Some parents feel so strongly that their child is not to blame for bad behavior that they move their child from school to school. They are looking for a teacher who will treat the child ‘fairly’ and not ‘pick’ on him. And of course it is the same at every school, the child continues to get in trouble.
Some parents blame the teachers, some blame the school, and some blame the other students. However, before placing blame anywhere, they should make sure that it is deserved.
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