Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Bad Influence I have two students, both girls, who have started to become friends. One, Amelia, is a genuinely good student, tries her best, and always listens. Or, until recently. The other is Amanda. Amanda is a new student, and has been a constant disruption to the class since her arrival. Shes quite the class clown, is nearly always off tasks, and talks back to me. Amelia became friends with her and since then, the two have been engaging in these off task behaviors together. So I decided to inform them I was going to call home. Amelia starts sobbing and screaming "No! Please don't call home, I don't want my Dad to hear, please!" I can understand the child being upset, but she was.. beside herself. I let her off the first time and told her she would instead lose half of recess (I did the same for Amanda too) and they would both write a reflection on their behavior. Their behavior started to deteriorate again, so again I mentioned calling home and got the same reaction. Obviously I cannot let the behavior continue, but I've never seen a child so terrified of a teacher calling home. How should I handle this? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I would privately ask the student as to why she did not what her dad to be informed. Maybe there is underlying abuse that needs to be addressed with the correct officials. After this conversation, if there was abuse then I would not call home, inform DCF, separate the students, and also explain to her that Amanda is not really her friend because she is causing her to get into trouble. I would explain to her that if this happens again she will not be going out for recess for a week. However, if there is no case of abuse at home, I would call home and inform the parents. To be effective you need to do what you said you would do, or the students will know that they can get away with what they want. Plus, you already let her off the hook the first time and it did not work.                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: This was really insightful, thank you! Rated On: February 23, 2015 3:04 am Rated By: TeQaqe                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I would also try and get to the reasoning behind her reaction to a teacher calling home. I think that having the conversation privately is smart but if she is reluctant I would also ask around school and see if anyone else can give some insight. Rated On: February 23, 2015 4:05 am Rated By: HeraPy                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I would agree with this, you would definitely want to rule out abuse. Rated On: February 23, 2015 2:32 pm Rated By: Tabitha Tirado                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I do not think this solution is in the best interest of the child. I do think that you should be watching for abuse but telling the student that another student is not their friend is not a good strategy. I believe that you can separate the students and due to their age they would create new friends by themselves. Rated On: February 23, 2015 7:31 pm Rated By: anuhag                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I don't think that it would be a good idea to tell Amelia that Amanda is not really her friend because that will cause even more stress on Amelia and Amanda will be labeled as a bad friend for using her. Rated On: February 24, 2015 8:30 pm Rated By: LeqeHe                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Great idea. Rated On: February 25, 2015 8:07 pm Rated By: Jen                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: You would need to know the whole story to help the child. Rated On: February 25, 2015 9:49 pm Rated By: qyMeda                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I do not agree at all. there is obviously something going on that would cause a child to become hysterical on mentioning the phone call. Secondly, you can't determine on your own if there is child abuse at home based off one conversation with a child. As a teacher you are not authorized to make these decisions without the help from a professional like the school counselor. Rated On: February 25, 2015 10:21 pm Rated By: aSaByN                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Very helpful! Rated On: February 26, 2015 9:44 pm Rated By: BuMynu                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: Taking away recess for a week is not a logical consequence and will, more than likely, contribute to more behavioral problems. Rated On: February 27, 2015 4:41 pm Rated By: eQyvyT                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: I would not tell a student that another student is not her friend because they want her to get in trouble. There are other ways to separate the girls during the classroom hours. Rated On: March 1, 2015 4:17 am Rated By: LedaQy                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: I agree privacy is key Rated On: March 1, 2015 8:22 pm Rated By: gumeje                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Great solution! Rated On: March 1, 2015 9:21 pm Rated By: Maureen Esalomi                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) No The suggested solution is relevant to the case No The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue No The suggested solution is original No Comments: This is not a good solution in any way and telling Amelia that Amanda is not really her friend is not your call to make nor will it help. Rated On: March 3, 2015 2:55 am Rated By: eWeHaz                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Asking her questions privately to figure out why she gets so upset about calling home. Notify the counselor as well. I would this in your situation, as well as separate the girls. Rated On: June 30, 2015 10:33 pm Rated By: TaPeBu