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My Question of the Day: Should all K-12 schools (public or private) require students to wear uniforms?
(today’s question inspired by a Twitter rant by @md20737; haha; thanks!)
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The Question: You’re standing at the window/screen door watching your child/niece/nephew/close friend’s child, we’ll call him/her Chris, playing with some children in the neighborhood. One particular child in the group has a habit of being too aggressive with the other children, we’ll call him/her Tracy, which is why you’re watching in the first place. All the children are playing nicely together, and you’re about to walk away. All of a sudden, Tracy shoves Chris to the ground. You step out of the house to find out what’s going on. The children all explain that it was a misunderstanding and Tracy overreacted. You ask Tracy to apologize to Chris, and he/she refuses to do so. You do the next responsible thing and walk both children to Tracy’s home to speak with his/her parent(s). You explain to the parent(s) what happened, and you let the parent(s) know that all you’re asking is that Tracy apologize to Chris and the matter will be over. Tracy’s parent(s) look(s) at you with indifference and say he/she/they doesn’t/don’t think what Tracy did is a big deal, and he/she/they accuse you of being too sensitive and overprotective. What do you do?
My 2 Cents: This is too easy. My child/niece/nephew/close friend’s child, who is mine or in my care, would not be playing with a neighborhood child who is too aggressive if I tried to get the parent(s) involved and he/she/they didn’t see anything wrong with his/her/their child assaulting another child.
My instructions to the child in my care is that he/she may not play with anyone who assaults him/her.
I’d even go a step further, to try to deal with the aggressive child’s behavior since his/her parent(s) won’t, and invite all the children except that child to play in my backyard or on my property. I would tell the aggressive child what the rules are for playing on my property, and if he/she can respect my rules, he/she can play, too. If he/she doesn’t want to respect my rules, he/she can’t play with any child, the one(s) in my care or any other child from the neighborhood, who is on my property.
The “village” concept has been significantly eroded in most neighborhoods, so you can’t depend on every family on the block having the same value system that you have. Since that is the case, and some people are not people who can be reasoned with, I make sure to control the rules and regulations on my property, which means I can invite whomever I want to come on, or exclude whomever I want from coming on, my property. More often than not, children will comply if they are made to comply, so the average child would rather follow your rules than be left out. It’s nothing personal against the child. It’s the behavior that must be checked. This option leaves the choice to the child.
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Take a few moments to check out the tweets from Twitter on this subject:
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ankomaguy i will ignore it and advice chris to stay away from tracy to avoid future occurance.
jazzzyone I would teach Chris how to fight and suggest not dealing with Tracy (or his/her scary parents) anymore.
acmeek Stop them from playing together. Now my level of chocolate defieciency dictates whether or not I kick Tracy
DILLIGAF_09 its a catch 22 boys will be boys yet seein how I tried 2 talk w/ the parents I would tell my kid not 2 play with him again
PROTECTED TWEETER Typically as I understd it, the school principals RARELY takes sides-both child stop playing altogether.
LilMrsPerfect2u 1st I’d try 2 let the kids work it out themeselves. If it happened again lil Tracy & parents get a verbal restraining order 
MuataAdebamgbe Tell my child that next time that happens with Tracey,knock them in their [bleep] (sorry ghandi).
DerekIsNormal That’s actually a tough one. With my patience level, I’d probably get a little aggressive with them and demand an apology.
IamRah U explain 2 Chris tht what Tracy did was wrong & that u can’t force any1 to do anything.U don’t allow them 2 play anymore.
sunshine625 Never allow Chris 2 play w/ the brat again…
TankaBar_JasonD handle it like adults and apologize in front of the kids and try to find an understanding and let the kids see your example.
BLKMGK Chris will not be playing with Tracy anymore. Period.
md20737 on the real I wld kick lil Tracy’s tail & dare her to try me again.. Her momma can get some too lol
linde09 I would not allow my child to play with Tracy until he finds some sence of caring for others. He may be ac
queenesther Walk away, keep an eye on T, don’t let C play w/T & you’d better warn the other parents/kids.
LadyJay91 if the parent(s) are null on the issue then I’d have to express 2 them how I feel about it & let them know I’m keepingan eyeout
tclarkusa Trying to deal with immature people on a mature level NEVER works. You did the mature thing. It didn’t wo
rishaholmes Well, you are obviously dealing with folks that are one brick shy of a load, so consider the source, and w
rahsheen I would make those parents aware that if Tracy ever touched Chris again, I’m whooping *their* [bleep].
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The commentary doesn’t have to end!
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