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I ended up finding out when I picked him up from daycare (he told me). I was very angry, and still am, that the teacher did not e-mail or call me to tell me that this had happened. I was very concerned about possible lead poisening...until I looked it up and found that all pencils today are made from graphite. My question is, do you think it is extreme for me to send the teacher an e-mail or call her to tell her that I think I should have been notified when this happened. The other child, I heard, did get sent to the principal's office and I believe his parents were called. I am just really angry about this situation. Am I over-reacting?

2007-01-26 01:01:49 · 28 answers · asked by ANGEL 5 in Pregnancy & Parenting Grade-Schooler

Thank you all for your comments. The lead thankfully did not break off in his skin. He was stabbed through his shirt around his pelvic bone. They cleaned it (he said) and put a bandaid on it.

2007-01-26 02:55:26 · update #1

Well...I just talked to his teacher and she was very appolagetic. Aparently yesterday was a tough day for her because she was feeling sick and there was a staff member who died yesterday. She said she was not trying to make excuses and that I should have been notified. She figured the nurse would have contacted me after she sent him down. She also told me this boy was hiding under my son's desk when they came in from recess...my son kicked him and he retaliated. (He conveniently left that part out) So, all is okay now. I will of course be talking to my son about kicking! Kids!

2007-01-26 03:24:01 · update #2

28 answers

I think you are perfectly within your rights as a mother to contact the teacher and request that you are informed about incidents such as this. It may be a good idea to also ask her about the current situation to clear up any confusions. I would also find out the current classroom set up, because if your son is sat next to this classmate, I am sure an arrangement can be made to move him. It is very normal to be angry, just make sure you take the necessary steps so that an incident doesnt happen like this again, and if it does, you are imediatly notified. Good luck.

2007-01-26 01:13:43 · answer #1 · answered by stacey b 2 · 1 0

How heart-wrenching! The hardest thing must be knowing that your child was hurt, and that you couldn't be there to help him. Then, there is a moment of shock when you find out that your son was hurt and it COULD have been serious. I am really sorry about that. You sound like a caring mother.

I was a teacher for over 30 years. Most of that time, I taught physical education. Children would be bumped and bruised often in my classes. There is one very important piece of information that you have omitted: how serious the injury was that occurred.

Of course, in a day care situation, things might be a bit more magnified because there are fewer children. A phone call to the parent might be more common for a very minor injury. At school, if it is a minor injury that may be treated with a washing of soapy warm water and a band-aid, then no phone call is needed.

If the injury wasn't serious, even though ice or a cold pack might have been applied, no notification was needed. For example, a simple bump or bruise from a fall where there was no broken skin often is treated with a paper towel soaked in cold water or with an ice/cold pack simply to calm down the child. If the skin was broken, but the bleeding was minor and controlled--or was something like a nosebleed that stopped--no notice was needed.

If the injury was a serious bruise or bump, then you should have been called. I could always tell when this was true from the reaction of the child. Just as mothers can tell what is wrong by the sound of a child's cry, so can children's teachers. For these serious injuries, the school office would call home BUT I went over and above that and called that evening to be sure the child was doing well.

Believe it or not, there are MANY parents who yell at the secretary if she calls to report an injury. Sometimes, the secretary has to explain assertively how serious the injury appears to be in order to justify calling!

The school/day care took care of the other child. It sounds as if the other child was disciplined appropriately for a minor incident. In my opinion, based on the information that you included, the whole thing was handled appropriately. Now, with further information, my opinion might change.

Mom, your son is growing faster than you may like. Especially boys seem to ignore minor things; they often don't tell their parents important things. I think that you are fortunate to have a son who shares experiences with you.

I had a student who hadn't told his mother he was elected the vice-president of student council in 8th grade 2 months earlier! My friend has 2 adult sons, and there are some phone messages that are about 20 years old that have never been delivered. I know, because I left them! I could never count on them getting the message to their mother.

BTW, I once caught a freshly sharpened pencil and the point pierced my palm. I had a discoloration there for several years, but that slowly went away. Now, there is absolutely no difference in the pierced portion or the surrounding skin.

2007-01-26 11:30:45 · answer #2 · answered by birdshell 2 · 1 0

Not over reacting at all. I got stabbed by a pencil when I was in 8th grade. The spot is still there but never had any pain or problems so I wouldn't worry too much about that end of it (I am now 36). I would be talking to the principal and the teacher to find out why you weren't notified. Then I would go to the school board to find out the policy.

2007-01-26 09:08:42 · answer #3 · answered by Brian G 2 · 1 0

No. You are not over-reacting. You have every right to be angry about the situation. I was stabbed in the palm of my hand with a sharpened pencil when I was in third grade and my parents were called right away. Your son will probably have a faded black mark under his skin for life unless you have the skin removed. I'm 21 right now and I can still see where I got stabbed. The child that stabbed me was suspended for 3 weeks. I feel for your son because I know what its like. I just hope that other child received a severe punishment. Hell, just reading this makes me want to hunt down both the child and his good for nothing parents and beat both of their sorry asses. Anyway as with all wounds, it will heal and the pain will go away. I wish you and your son the best.

2007-01-26 09:43:42 · answer #4 · answered by Marcus M 1 · 1 0

I used to be a supervisor of the school resource officers. I can't believe the school didn't call you! I would make an appointment to see the principal of the school straight away.
You have a legitimate concern and definitely need to address this. If the teacher and principal don't seem concerned, I would go and talk with the superintendent of the schools.
I know kids will be kids, but you should've been notified so that you could make the judgement call on how to handle this, or at least have the courtesy of being informed!

2007-01-26 09:11:25 · answer #5 · answered by Lt. Dan reborn 5 · 2 0

Heck no, you are NOT overreacting. If the other parents were notified, that means the teacher and administration were fully aware of what happened. They should've told you about it.
As far as lead poisoning goes, no that's not a risk, but that doesn't mean that there is no risk involved with a puncture wound. I am a teacher, and a fellow teacher at my school accidentally got a puncture wound from a pencil and he didn't think anything of it until it got infected. So keep an eye on the wound.
I would go raise a little h*ll at the school if I were you. Good luck.

2007-01-26 09:11:55 · answer #6 · answered by annieohbee 3 · 1 0

First off - if the pencil broke your son's skin, take him to the doctor for treatment so it doesn't get infected.

As far as you being notified - you're justified in being angry that you weren't called. Many schools today are so scared of lawsuits they call the parents over every little thing. I personally would put a call in to the teacher and speak to her to let her know you would appreciate a phone call for things like this.

2007-01-26 10:39:11 · answer #7 · answered by zippythejessi 7 · 1 0

Anytime your kids health becomes an issue, there is no overacting.
You have the right to be notified and it should be the law. I think you should contact the teacher and request to be notified if something in the future happens with your child. I too would be very angry if something happened with my son at school and I wasn't notified.

2007-01-26 11:17:20 · answer #8 · answered by hecc24 2 · 0 0

any time a child gets hurt, the teachers should be responsable and call the parents. They can leave a message if the parent doesn't pick up, but they should at least try to contact you the second they realize that your child was hurt. There are times where a child will get hurt by another child and the teacher won't know about it, or they didn't realize that such a situation occured for various reasons. However, if the teacher knew that your child was injured, he/she should have attempted contact.

2007-01-26 09:33:49 · answer #9 · answered by crodriguez1010 3 · 1 0

Sometimes, the school thinks they can deal with things to the best of their ability. I remember this same thing happened in our grade one class. Sometimes, after the child is referred to Principal than discipline is handled by the Principal.

It happens all over - Staff failing to notify when a child gets hurt. I think it should fall over the administration itself. How come the Principal did not notify you too? There should be an overall policy.

A pencil stabbing incident happened in Grade 1 when I was younger. We all remember like it was yesterday, it may have traumatized us too - you never know.

It could've been worse and I realize it is upsetting when your child gets picked on in school.

2007-01-26 09:18:40 · answer #10 · answered by Emily L 4 · 1 0

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