A Facebook post this week by a Bartow County mother alleges her 8-year-old's teacher humiliated the girl by instructing her third-grade classmates to write letters about her bad behavior. The child remained in the classroom while her peers penned their letters, says the mother.
The post is going viral, with virtually all comments thus far critical of the teacher. I asked Bartow County about it and received this response from Alisha Evans, public relations specialist.
We are dedicated to the enforcement of our school system's policies. Once the situation was brought to our attention, we took swift action and met with school administration. We are confident the issue was handled quickly, firmly and fairly. Since this is a personnel issue, we cannot release additional information.
I recently read about a discipline approach in which students write letters to offenders who disrupt class. In their letters, the students explain how the misbehavior affected them and their learning. It was not cast as punitive, but as a way of having other kids get a chance to voice their feelings.
Is this an effective method? Does it work? Is it better for older students or for no students? Was this a botched attempt that could be done better? Or, should this never be done with young students?
The letters never made it home to the girl’s parents. The mother told me some of the children were upset they were asked by their teacher to write letters and told their parents that they felt bad about it. The parents of those students notified the school. “We were not told about the letters until they were already thrown away,” said the mother.
Here is an edited version of the mother's Facebook post. (I removed the child's name.)
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