The Elementary School Drama

SO, I talked to the principal today. I asked Caleb yesterday if he had talked to the principal. He said he had, but we kept getting interrupted and then we had church so I never really got much of an explanation. I was kind of irritated that the principal did not bother to call me or send a note home or anything. I called this morning and left a message for him to call me back.

Here is what I got:

He said that the boy Caleb was playing with was telling Caleb to rough house with this boys sister. I still don't know how a big group of fifth graders got involved, but Caleb was apparently on the ground grabbing someones foot and they were trying to get away, that is how he got kicked.

The principal said that he still needed to talk to some of the fifth grade boys, because it does sound like he was being teased and called names.

Caleb was fine with everything yesterday afternoon, so I am assuming this really is how it happened. I am fine with the outcome of THIS part of the issue.

The main issue here is not that Caleb got hurt (as long as he was not bullied). I told the principal that the bigger issue was NOT the elementary school drama, but the fact that a couple of students told me (and they were not together when I talked to them) that there are only two or three teachers standing outside during recess and that they are usually standing at the building talking to each other. The students have apparently been told that if there is a problem or someone is doing something they are not supposed to be doing to come tell a teacher.

WHY ARE THE KIDS RESPONSIBLE FOR BABYSITTING EACH OTHER?

I told him I was upset because during all of this taking place none of the teachers saw anything. He said there was an adult that witnessed some of it (this, by the way, would not be the best thing to tell me at this point!!!).

IF AN "ADULT" WITNESSED PART OF IT - WHY WAS IT NOT STOPPED BEFORE IT GOT OUT OF HAND?

He said he was unaware of the lack of supervision outside during recess. I told him that I knew that playground and if teachers were not seeing THAT happen, then a student could be taken EASILY without anyone even noticing!

He said I had a valid concern and as a parent, he too is concerned about that and will look into the problem.

He ended the conversation by telling me that he was very proud of Caleb. He said yesterday when Caleb was having to go to the office to talk to the principal he was pretty nervous to start with, but he relaxed after a few minutes and was very "mature" about the issues and talking to the principal. He said he did a great job and he actually enjoyed talking to Caleb. I know, a lot of that is probably him trying to make me less upset with the school - but it is still nice to hear (and I am not any less upset with the issue at hand).

I went into this saying that I did not know that I was getting the whole story and that if it came out Caleb had something to do with it, he would have to suffer the consequences at school AND at home. At this time, there have been no consequences other than speaking with the principal (he used to be a coach, so he is big and can be intimidating to the kids). I do not disagree with what happened because Caleb was fine with the outcome yesterday, but I am not fine with the supervision issue. We will see what comes of this.