I just had quite the afternoon, I'll be substituting once a week at a school nearby in September and today was "meet the teachers and kindergartners" day. I was asked if I wanted to go in, and I mean, sure! I'll get the chance to see the kids and they'll get a chance to get to know me. This wasn't the first time I got to do this, so I was also feeling pretty confident.Anyway, principal introduces us (teachers and stable substitutes) and we get the kids distributed to us. My teacher colleague agreed that she'd do 30 minutes with the children and that I'd do the last 30 minutes. Okay, cool. So go to the office and catch up with the secretaries and whatnot while I wait, then I take over.I was not ready for that. I said hi to the kids and told the kids to come gather for story time. One kid didn't want to. They had name tags so I said "Kid's name, come along, we'll read a story!" He was completely frozen. I got closer to him, got down to his level and told him "Is everything okay? Do you want to come read a story or do you want to stay here? It's up to you." And he screamed at the top of his lungs "HELP HELP, CALL 911 HELPPP." He screamed so loud that the teacher next door came running in panic, that kids were panicking and that parents that were attending a meeting in the library heard him. I mean, the kid was PANICKING.The kid's parents were called to the classroom and the principal met with them and turns out the parents have been teaching him since he was really young that if ANYONE he doesn't know approaches him, to scream as loud as he could to scream HELP CALL 911. The mom was also a Stay at home mom and he didn't really get any interaction with "stranger adults." Apparently the mom had gone in the classroom with her son initially to show him he had nothing to be afraid of but when he saw me, he froze.Parents, don't do that to your kids. Don't do that to your teachers, substitutes, lunch supervisors, other kids, other parents... Please find a way to teach your kids about "stranger danger" that isn't black or white. Teach them that adults in school are to be trusted (within limits of course) and that there is nothing wrong about going to an adult at school if you are lost, scared or not feeling well.Also, if the principal or staff tells you that you're the one who might be in the wrong, don't argue back, not in front of your child. How is your child supposed to respect his teachers, staff and/ or principal if he sees you get angry at them. Just keep an open mind, most of the staff is very willing to meet you halfway.Today was just very eye opening about being a parent and how extreme our kids might take what we teach them. It reminded me to not make generalizations and to not only think about me or about my child but also about whoever is around them. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2r59ME5
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