On Friday, I got a phone call from Riley's first grade teacher. I wasn't surprised by the call, mainly because she keeps in touch with me often and figured that she might've needed something for the Field Day happening that morning. The call, however, came with some interesting news...something I really didn't expect.
Without quoting her, she basically told me that on Wednesday, a "situation" occurred in the lunchroom and she wanted me to know about it before I heard it from someone else.
(And after conferring with Riley...this is what I found out):
On Wednesday, all the kids in the lunch room were punished with a "silent lunch." What that means is that because they were loud the day before, they were not allowed to do anything but eat their lunch...no talking, no whispering, no nothing. Well, Riley and two other kids (who according to their teacher are "not trouble-makers") were playing with some small toy one of the kids brought in. Riley said she and the other two were whispering...clearly something not allowed...and the CRAZY lunchlady singled the three of them out, reprimanded them and made them stand up and face the wall.
Face the wall.
My 6-year-old daughter and two other children were put in "time-out" for whispering.
They were singled out among all the children in the lunchroom and told to face the wall.
Un-freaking-believable.
Don't get me wrong, I don't agree that Riley should have disobeyed the rules. In fact, I would have reprimanded her myself by separating the three that were whispering. But really, she made them stand up and face the wall until the end of lunch, when their teacher finally came in and got them to bring them back to class.
I was infuriated by it. I called Ryan and told him and he suggested I talk to someone at the school. I called my friend, Christine...who told me to go straight to the top. And I did.
I went to the school, with Ronan still in jammies...and met with our school principal. And for as busy as this lady is, she made time for me and made me feel like my child was the only one in the school. I was assured that the situation was addressed and that she and the vice principal spoke with the CRAZY lunchlady and informed her that it isn't something that the school does and noone should ever single a child out and make them do what she made my child do.
So here is what my brain has assessed since I've had time to think about it:
If you are a freaking lunch lady/lunch man or bus driver, you should expect that children will talk. If you can't handle steady noise like that, then don't sign up for the job. And honestly, get a bunch of ladies at a Pampered Chef party and I'll tell you that we are so much louder than a roomful of kids.
Anyway, my intention wasn't to make a big deal about it...but I had to get it off my chest. I was mortified when I heard it and thought about how Riley must have felt when it happened. Surprisingly, she didn't tell me about it (she said she forgot because she went home with a friend afterschool that day and just forgot to tell me!)...but did assure me that she's "getting over it."
No comments:
Post a Comment