Q What can I do to help my child who is being verbally abused by his teacher? Are there any laws against this? I have a 10-year-old son who says his teacher calls him and other children in his class 'dummy,' 'stupid,' 'retarded,' 'dumb,' etc. Is there anything as a parent that I can do? I have spoken to seven other parents who in turn ask their children if the teacher was saying anything to them that she shouldn't. All of the children said the same thing, along with the fact that she yells at them all the time. My son and the other children have all stated if the teacher finds out they said this, she would kill them. This is the fourth grade. Some of the children have stated the principal also calls them names in computer class. A Yes, there are laws, both federal and state laws, forbidding teachers from harassing, teasing, and otherwise verbally or physically abusing kids. I am presuming that all these kids are telling the truth about this teacher's verbal abuse but it is possible that all of them could conspire to 'get her' with a shared false story of her verbal abuse because of their dislike for her. On the surface, it is rather convincing that seven other kids echoed your son's specific complaints. How they were asked by their parents, however, may have influenced the kids' replies, as in, 'Has your teacher ever called you words like dummy, stupid and retarded?' When asked in this manner, all the kids had to do was say 'Yes.' I raise this point not to question your son's honesty, only to point out that I have seen teachers' and other child care providers' reputations ruined by children's lies. The fact that these kids have expressed fear about your possibly calling this teacher on the carpet for this abuse leads me to favor believing them at this time, since kids who had cooked up a group lie to harm a teacher would want her confronted with their accusations by their parents. Pokud zjistím, že všechny tyto děti mluví pravdu, setkám se s rodiči všech těchto dětí a prodiskutujeme jednotný akční plán. Nejprve jsem chtěl shromáždit co nejvíce případů nadávek dětí s co nejvíce podrobnostmi (datum, čas a okolnosti). Pak bych si domluvil schůzku s tím učitelem. Všichni rodiče jsou povinni se tohoto setkání zúčastnit. Na této schůzce předám učiteli váš písemný dokument a požádám ho, aby odpověděl. Na základě získaných odpovědí a spokojenosti se rodičovská skupina rozhodne, jak dále postupovat. Pokud nejste spokojeni, eskalujte problém na další správní úrovně (ředitel, vedoucí, školní rada), dokud nebudete spokojeni.
Leo Childs
Ujistěte své dítě, že ho nebudete trestat, pokud nahlásí, že se k němu tento učitel choval špatně. Chvalte je za to, že mají odvahu mluvit pravdu tváří v tvář nespravedlivému a nepříjemnému zacházení. Děti by nikdy neměly zažít tento druh chování od žádného dospělého, tím méně od učitele odpovědného za jejich výchovu a sociálně-emocionální vývoj. Informujte mě o svém pokroku.
