What This School Did To A Child Who Was Late Is Unacceptable

by S. Longfellow

Children are tardy sometimes for school. It happens, and sometimes it’s completely out of their control.
When Laura Hoover of Oregon found out what her grandson’s school was doing to him as a form of punishment for being just slightly tardy, she was livid and took her frustration out on Facebook with a post that has now gone viral.
Hoover said:

“This is my grandson, Hunter. He’s a little first grader. His momma’s car sometimes doesn’t like to start right up. Sometimes he’s a couple minutes late to school. Yesterday, he was 1 minute late and this is what his momma discovered they do to punish him! They have done this to him 6 times for something that is out of this baby’s control! They make a mockery of him in front of the other students! The principal is responsible for this. His mom found him there, crying, and took him home for the day. Anyone want to help me flood this lady principal with calls telling her how inappropriate this is?”

She also posted the phone number. See below:

This public shaming is ridiculous and not an effective consequence whatsoever. Secluding a child in front of his peers only makes him a target of ridicule, and does not provide what the child may need to get to school on time.
Did the school even think to contact this young boy’s parents and let them know his tardiness was becoming an issue? Did they seek to find a solution that could bring that child to school sooner? Did they maybe think that after the first FIVE times trying this technique that maybe, perhaps, his tardiness was completely out of his control, and slapping a horrendous public shaming punishment on top of a consequence of actions is ineffective until you get to the root of the problem. These people call themselves educators? I think not.
I truly hope this grandmother gets to the bottom of this fiasco and her grandson can return to school without the fear of being publicly humiliated.