Teacher sends feces home with 6-year-old

[qanda]

DALLAS -- A teacher is on paid administrative leave after sending a first-grader home with feces in his backpack because the boy went to the bathroom on the classroom floor.

The teacher apparently was frustrated with the 6-year-old student's actions so wrapped up the waste and sent it home with the boy Tuesday along with a note, Dallas school district spokesman Donald Claxton said.

(more)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2813029

I do not agree with what this teacher did, but I have to ask why a 6-year-old is using the bathroom on the classroom floor.

[StopTheMorans]

1. asking why the kid crapped on the floor

is no excuse for the teacher sending it home (i know you weren't incinuating that; but it's ridiculous that a teacher would even CONSIDER that IMHO).

[qanda]

6. I understand what you're saying, but

I just have trouble imagining a child, who is six, doing something like that. Of course, I cannot imagine a teacher, of any age, doing what this teacher did either-- whatever happened to calling the child's parent? :shrug:

[salvorhardin]

10. Well...

I remember in first grade one of my friends decided for some reason one day that it would be a good day for her not only to pee in the sink but also forget to put the little wooden "Girls" paddle in the slot outside the door so nobody would walk in. Of course, one of the little boys in our class walked in right while she was sitting happily atop the sink doing her thing. She never did anything like that before or after, but she did that one day.

I remember that particular day not only for that incident, but it was also the day I got to help the teacher by tacking things onto the bulletin board with the Official Teacher Stapler -- and wondering what it felt like to staple oneself put a staple into my thumb.

Kids sometimes do wierd things for no discernible reason. Half the time they don't know why they did something either.

Shit happens?

[Eye and Monkey]

14. One possible reason why (true story)

This probably doesn't really apply to this child, but it's a good story anyway.

I emphasize "possible".

My ex and I used to do respite care - short-term foster care for kids in-transition home-inpatient-home.

For a few days, we had one 7 year-old boy - cocaine-exposed, intensely hyperactive, very troubled homelife. The morning after his first night, my ex found that he had pee'd in the corner of the bedroom. She talked to him about it, and he kept saying "I went to the bathroom." She asked me to talk with him about it.

As he kept saying "I went to the bathroom", he was obviously upset and troubled. Thinking back on the case notes, I remembered that social workers had noted that there was feces and pee all over his parents' house during their in-home visits. It dawned on me - he didn't realize that a BATHROOM IS A PLACE. For him, "going to the bathroom" was peeing or defecating - anywhere.

I took him to the REAL bathroom, and explained the functions - it was like watching dawn crossing his face. No one had ever explained it to him. Unbelievable as that seems, 7 years-old and no one had explained how to "go to the bathroom".

We were inseparable for the rest of his stay. And as far as the "going to the bathroom" - he caught on like he was a pro.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

25. Sounds like the bathroom was "off limits"

Because they were cooking meth in there!

[liberalcanuck]

27. Thank you for sharing that with us. That's a great story. I was wondering

because of your story, if teachers or social workers would look at a child going to the bathroom anywhere as an indication that something is wrong at home.

The teacher's behavior is absolutely unacceptable btw. Nothing wrong with a simple phone call. Was the teacher's goal to further humiliate the child?

Asshole.

[LizW]

35. Sad that we rush to judge this teacher

so quickly. The story doesn't give enough details. For instance, wouldn't it be interesting to know if this was the first time the kid had pooped on the floor? And if it had happened before, what was done about it? What else did she try to remedy the problem?

Obviously this is not something your average six-year-old does in school. I'd be willing to bet the teacher had already been trying to communicate with the parents and hadn't been getting any response.

At my younger son's school, there is always a group parent/teacher meeting at the beginning of the year. A note goes home asking us not to bring the kids, but there are always some parents who bring the kids anyway.

When my son was in second grade, there was a couple there with all their kids in tow. There was a 3-4 year old who proceeded to tear the room to shreds during the meeting. The parents never said a word, they just let him go. Occasionally the teacher would stop and go over and rescue whatever he was destroying at the moment. The mother would get up and get the child and try to hold him, but he would start to scream and she would let him go.

Finally, at one point, he went over to the carpeted area of the room, pulled down his pants, and peed. The teacher just ended the meeting then, and we all hurriedly left.

Well, of course, we judged them. We thought they were undoubtedly the worst, most inconsiderate parents we had ever seen. But then the teacher let us in on the fact that they had just moved to the US, and neither the father or mother spoke a word of English. There was obviously something wrong with the child, and the mother and father were afraid to discipline him in front of all of us, because they were embarrassed and didn't know what we would think.

Needless to say, I felt bad for thinking they were bad parents. They were just in an awful situation and didn't know what to do or how to get any help.

And what this has to do with the teacher sending the poop -- well, we just don't know all the facts, is all I'm saying.

[Ilsa]

33. Maybe the kid couldn't get to the bathroom

because of some absurd rules of the teacher.

Some are better than others, but six year olds aren't always very good at timing their bowel and urinary habits.

[Placebo]

2. The lil savage got what he deserved!

Good riddance to bad rubbish, I say.

[Th1onein]

23. Yeah, let's just put him in the electric chair! He's rubbish!

Why waste all those years and the effort of trying to help this human piece of trash! He's six years old now and look at how much money we will save the taxpayers by just going ahead and putting him to death now, instead of later!

<sarcasm off>

You know, I thought we were liberals here, and believed that all of us had a purpose and a gift and a right to be here, without being abused.

I guess I was wrong.

[foo_bar]

32. Nation was being sarcastic

but it's hard to tell satire from Fox these days.

[Catherine Vincent]

3. Kids do silly things.

That teacher is a moron.

[NYC Liberal]

4. I understand the idea of making a point...

But this is rediculous.

[MountainLaurel]

5. Probably no bathroom break

Because they were too busy preparing for their standardized tests.

:eyes:

[alittlelark]

7. Sad, but possibly true

We've had them here in CA for quite awile.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

18. bingo!

[LWolf]

29. I'm in CA;

my district hasn't outlawed bathroom breaks yet. My school is pretty liberal with them; bathroom breaks tend to be restricted in these circumstances:

1. Child has to go for an extended trip to the bathroom everytime he/she is supposed to begin a task, ensuring that the task is never completed;

2. Child has already been to the restroom in the last period and does not have a medical condition requiring constant trips;

3. It's 10 minutes before recess or break and the teacher is desperately trying to finish an activity and bring it to closure on time.

For the most part, the younger kids have almost unlimited access; the older kids are restricted a bit more, but still have plenty of opportunities.

Personally, I usually will say, "If it is an emergency, go now. If not, please (wait until we go to lunch in 10 minutes,) (finish your test first), (wait until we are done with this whole-group activity), etc.

Public ed is an eye-opening experience. Not all 6 year-olds have been toilet trained, taught to eat with spoons or forks, taught to wash their hands before eating or after using the restroom, expected to sit in a seat and finish a meal before getting up and down to do other things, say "please" or "thank you," brush their teeth....I could go on.

[Not Me]

8. This person should find a different career

I remember to this day, a girl in my kindergarten class that had an accident similar to this. She was tormented until 8th grade. It wasn't until she went to high school (on the other side of the city) that I imagine it finally went away.

The kid may have had an accident for God's sake. He was probably terribly embarassed by it, and the teacher actions will only serve to justify taunting by his peers.

[acmavm]

11. A kid in my first grade class kept raising his hand to go to the bathroom

and the nun wouldn't let him go. He couldn't hold it so the poor kid wet all over himself and the floor.

The nun made him have newspapers under his desk for the rest of the school year.

[Endangered Specie]

12. I, for one, would have dropped the pants and pissed on her.

sorry, but refusing to let kids go to the bathroom ought to be a fucking crime.

I know on several occasions I didnt ask (only with teachs who didnt let us freely go), I just up and went, regardless of the punishment.

[A_Possum]

9. Some kids have difficulty with potty training

Even at that age. It's virtually a certainty that this was a terrible and humiliating accident for the kid in and of itself--the teacher's reaction just makes it more awful.

[DemBones DemBones]

16. Hold on, if it were an accident, the teacher could have

just sent him home in his poopy pants. The fact that she had to pick it up off the floor shows he pulled down his pants and deliberately went on the floor.

THAT's a behavioral problem.

[A_Possum]

17. I would not be so sure of that

Had some experience of this in my family (without going into details.) Kids can become very upset about the whole thing because of the pressure it generates. Well, I won't get into details, but just take my word for it, it doesn't neccesarily follow that he did what you are suggesting as some kind of deliberate defiance. This is a 6 year old. In an emergency situation, in public, they can easily panic.

[Ms. Toad]

36. Not necessarily.

This child could have been my daughter, who was potty trained at age 3, and did not have behavioral problems.

Unfortunately, she developed a chronic illness at approximately age 3 1/2 that her doctor refused to take seriously, so by age 5 she was back in diapers because she had could not reach the bathroom between when the urge hit her and when the poop hit the floor - literally. If she was not wearing water (and poop proof) pants, it hit the floor without her removing her pants. Sometimes even poop proof pants didn't help.

After 18 frustrating months of taking her repeatedly to the doctor, only to be called a worry wart, obsessive mother, I demanded (for the second or third time) to see a specialist. I was handed a phone book and told, "good luck."

The specialist was relatively certain what was wrong from the first visit, based on her classic symptoms, and diagnosed her within a week, and fortunately had her condition in remission before she started kindergarten. She has to take daily medication for the rest of her life (or as long as she has her colon) and very carefully watch her diet to avoid becoming that six year old again, at age 14.

Fecal matter landing on the floor does not necessarily mean the child pulled down his pants and went deliberately on the floor.

The fact that a child is in this condition and attending school does not necessarily mean it needs to be brought to the parents' attention. They may well be as frustrated as the teacher is, if this is happening (as it was with my daughter) multiple times a day.

[Endangered Specie]

13. If I were his parents, I'd take said feces...

add my own to the mix, drive by and throw it at her!

WHAT THE HELL is the purose of not allowing little kids to go to the bathroom, that is worse than corporal punishment?!?!?! Can you imagine doing that to adults in the real world!

[lostnfound]

19. Actually, they DO 'do that to adults' in the real world -- in factories.

Molly Ivins writes in Bushwhacked about working conditions in a catfish factory in MS. A union strike "came down to rest-room breaks".

"In order to keep her job at Freshwater Farms, Durst has to skin a minimum of twelve fish a minute."
<snip>
"The company opened with an offer of six bathroom visits a week (have you ever taken a road trip with a pregnant woman?). When the union rejected the fixed number, the company’s position hardened. "They told us they gave us six breaks, but since we said no, we were going to have to go once a day–at lunchtime," said White. "They added five minutes to our lunch break and said we would have to go then. We couldn’t abide it. We tired of it. The workers couldn’t abide it anymore.""

Nice job, eh? But don't worry. To protect these people, George Bush, in his infinitesimal wisdom, appointed Eugene Scalia -- son of Antonin Scalia and an anti-ergonomics lawyer -- solicitor of labor.

[DemBones DemBones]

15. The teacher did the wrong thing but I wonder why she

thought it was necessary to do this to get the attention of the child's family

"It generally appears the teacher was trying to help raise awareness with the family," Claxton said. "It's just an unfortunate incident. Unfortunately, she took this course of action."

I would guess from Claxton's comments that this wasn't the first problem with this boy and that the teacher had tried before to contact the family.

A 6 year-old wetting his or her pants would be an accident. Early childhood teachers see that from time to time and aren't fazed by it. For that matter, I had an eighth grade student with Down syndrome who had to keep extra clothes in the office because she sometimes had accidents.

It's not an accident when a 6 year-old pulls down his pants and defecates on the floor of the classroom. That's a deliberate act by the child and he needs to understand that it won't be tolerated.

[K-W]

21. Not tolerating things is rarely the right way to solve the problem.

Human beings exhibit all kinds of odd behaviors and children more so than anyone else.

It is impossible for us to specualate on the precise factors surrounding this behavior, but I would venture a guess that the problem is much deeper than the child not knowing that this action would not be tolerated.

[951]

20. So he crapped himself and she sent the nasty little bugger home,...

what the hell was she supposed to do, clean him?

Its not her fault this kids parents were too lazy to potty train their kid.

[K-W]

22. Why dont we just kill all children.

I mean seriously those little buggers are constantly acting childish, how dare they have behavior problems. Its as if they dont have fully developed brains or social skills yet or something...

[951]

24. You're right

6 year old kids should be allowed to pull down their pants in a classroom and crap on the floor like 2 year olds whenever they please and the teacher should clean it up and give the kid a sticker. lets not stop there we should make a law where all children with social problems under the age of 14 should be allowed to kill anyone they please without facing any consequences.

[K-W]

28. Wow, classic straw man argument, if I didnt know any better

I might think you were just trying to be argumentitive and irritating.

If you are going to blatently and visciously lie about the contents of my post, there is little point in trying to discuss anything with you.

I never said, implied, or suggested anyting you put in that post. If you would like to participate in a discussion, I suggest you learn to read posts and comprehend them properly, or dont bother to try and respond to them.

Or perhaps you are just have an extremely backwards view of children and arent willing to even consider anyone elses opinion...

either way, I dont see any way to discuss the issue with you.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

26. If I had a teacher like that...

If I had the kind of teacher who would send me home with a pile of feces in my backpack for shitting on the floor, I would probably shit on the floor.

[oldlady]

30. happened to me

just this summer. I was going to the park with a group of kids & my arms were full of supplies. On the way, we came across a 3 year old boy with his pants down. I stopped and helped him get his pants up and sent the other adult along with the rest of the kids to the park. The boy didn't have his shoes on and had an unbandaged cut on his foot. I picked up the boy, his shoes, and the supplies the other adult couldn't carry. As I was standing up, I noticed the boy had made a "deposit" in the grass and somehow wrapped it with a grocery receipt tape. I thought for about ten seconds about another kid stepping in it, or kids throwing it at each other, or similar disasters. I picked it up and walked across the grassy playground (no trash cans around) and delivered the boy, his shoes, and his gift-wrapped excrement, to his apartment. I was not unfriendly and just explained what happened, setting the shoes and poop on the porch. The next day, the mom wanted to speak to my boss & was furious with me. I explained that I had to get to the park and had nowhere to deposit the poop. (I did have wipes at the park I was headed to, and there was a trash can there, but that was down the block). Anyway, she was furious. So... the board would find me cruel? really.. it wasn't a big deal to me at the time.

[HEIL PRESIDENT GOD]

31. Poop on the porch

Is not quite poop in the backpack!

Does anyone remember that other poop in the backpack story? Republican school administrators in Orange County who got convicted of child abuse?

[gollygee]

34. It seems like the logical way to handle that problem would be to

make the child help clean the mess up. And then drop it.

Making him take it home sounds like an attempt to humiliate him. I don't think teachers should be humiliating their students. Even if they do something stupid.