Vent: Was my kid handed an unfair/unjustifiable punishment in Phys. Ed?
noclady1995
Posts: 452 Member
I'm really angry at my son's athletics coach because of the punishment he doled out to my son last week. As a consequence of not dressing appropriately for athletics, the "coach"/P.E. teacher made my son do 100 burpees. So for FOUR FREAKING DAYS my son could barely lift his arms over his head. He's in Jr. High school. OK...when I was in jr. high, our grades would be docked a certain percentage. This PE teacher was also known to punish kids by making them do knuckle push-ups on the track...the TRACK!! And you all know what kind of pavement tracks are made of!! Some kids' knuckles bled as a result. The parents complained but all the teacher was told was not to do that again. ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME??!! I'm tempted to write him a really angry email, with the principal and superintendent cc'd. Ugh. What would you do??
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Replies
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Life isn't fair. Perhaps next time he will follow the rules.0
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Was the option there for your son to just take the docked grade? He wasn't "forced" or "made" to do the burpees I'm sure.0
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fallenoaks4 wrote: »Life isn't fair. Perhaps next time he will follow the rules.
Yes, I agree, but I believe my son has some rights. These types of punishments are not called for in a middle school setting. If he had just docked his grade, and had my son continued to not adhere to the rules, I would see it and consequence would follow at home, as well. But my son didn't have to tell me his arms were so sore he could barely lift them and barely function for four days. And all this because he didn't comply one day with dress code. I don't know. Maybe I'm overreacting?
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_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Was the option there for your son to just take the docked grade? He wasn't "forced" or "made" to do the burpees I'm sure.
I'm sure he wasn't forced. And I don't have the whole story, but I still need to talk to the coach. But he makes it sound like his life will be hell if he hadn't complied. Because "the other coaches" would know about it and not look favorably upon him if he OR I complained. That's Texas sports for you (we're from Calif.). The funny thing is that my nephew, in another school district, in the same grade, complained of the same thing.
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You should stand behind the gym teacher. Everytime a parent complains that precious Johnny was punished for not following the rules, it becomes harder to govern the kids at school. Kids know they can give the puppy dog eyes to mom and dad and everything will be alright.
His arms are sore. He'll get over it.0 -
What sort of outfit was he wearing that he shouldn't have been?
The school has a specific "uniform" (gray shirt, dark athletic shorts, socks and tennis shoes). Our school district has a strict dress code...even with regular school outfits (khakis, solid colored polos, belts, shirts tucked in, no logoes)...and it is a public school. Since he washed his clothes the night before, he forgot them at home, so he had to borrow some from the school.
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Years and years ago when I was in school, several of us didn't have our gym clothes for the day and the coach made us all do pushups and burpees as punishment. I don't recall how many but it was a lot. As a kid, we didn't like it but didn't question it because we knew we didn't do what we were supposed to. Looking back, I think it was a reasonable thing for the coach to do. We didn't have that issue again.0
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100 burpees sounds a bit harsh. However there needs to be consequences for not following the rules, especially if the rules are clearly laid out. Was this the first time he's gone to class under-prepared? If it was "first offense" then I would agree the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Although if this is a common occurrence, the kid's got to learn a lesson.0
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I wouldn't do anything. I bet your son doesn't forget his gym clothes again! Sucks to learn lessons...but ya gotta learn sometime.0
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And to be clear...my son mentioned he was over it, and he actually begged me not to complain. He was fine with the punishment. I'm the one who isn't fine with it. And don't worry...I don't give in to everything my son does wrong. Just the opposite. I just have a hard time not picturing prisoners of war. Haha. Totally exaggerating. But maybe i just need to calm down.0
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I was upset one time when my daughter's 4th grade gym teacher made them run outside in the rain. It wasn't a nice warm rain, it was cold and damp. I did call and complain and was reprimanded that being cold and wet doesn't give kids colds. But it sure doesn't make them look forward to gym class does it, lol.0 -
It can be hard to see someone else dole out punishment to our kids but frankly I would rather them be a little heavy handed then let things slide.0
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Burpees!? In a P.E. class?! The nerve!
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noclady1995 wrote: »And to be clear...my son mentioned he was over it, and he actually begged me not to complain. He was fine with the punishment. I'm the one who isn't fine with it. And don't worry...I don't give in to everything my son does wrong. Just the opposite. I just have a hard time not picturing prisoners of war. Haha. Totally exaggerating. But maybe i just need to calm down.
you answered your own question.
just calm down.
so a none issue- you're more than likely going to make it more miserable for him being on of "those" parents (my parents were "those" parents. It's humiliating as a child.
If he's fine with it- and he's not hurt- he's fine. Lesson learned. move on.0 -
Exactly. So are going to complain because your son didn't follow the rules? Not a good example that you would be setting. Plus you said he wasn't bothered, he knows better he was just being a lazy kid.I wouldn't do anything. I bet your son doesn't forget his gym clothes again! Sucks to learn lessons...but ya gotta learn sometime.
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Well I'd be pissed too. There should be consequences, but that seems unnecessary and going overboard.0
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I was upset one time when my daughter's 4th grade gym teacher made them run outside in the rain. It wasn't a nice warm rain, it was cold and damp. I did call and complain and was reprimanded that being cold and wet doesn't give kids colds. But it sure doesn't make them look forward to gym class does it, lol.
That's just stupid on their part. Then the kids have to sit in class wet for the rest of the day. How distracting.
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That's a lot of burpees. but I do agree that he should have been punished.0
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Okay. Thanks guys. Maybe I was just being overly sensitive. I'll let it slide. My son will be grateful0
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When I was in school if I didn't dress out/participate in gym I just had to do a paper assignment or take the docked grade. However, we only took PE for half a year and an actual health class the other half.
I guess things are different depending on where you live but if it was a one time thing he did this I think that is a bit extreme but I also HATE burpees with a passion. I will never do them EVER again.0 -
Sounds like a light punishment compared to what I remember from school.0
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your son could have said no and taken docked marks, no one can make him do anything,
though a 100 burpees isnt that bad, 10 sets of 10 in what? an hour?
we did that when i was a kid just when we were warming up, not even as a punishment and we were all fine,
I understand you dont want your child to be in pain, but most jr high kids are capable of doing 100 burpees without experiencing that much pain, they might be sore for a day at most,
he learnt a lesson, and really? thats considered a punishment?0 -
Help him be successful by making sure he has enough sets of PE clothes.0
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I don't really feel bad for your son. And I think you're overreacting. I don't know why parents are so quick to jump to the rescue - he didn't follow the rules and was punished accordingly (in a physical education setting I think paying in athletic activity is appropriate). They are burpees. Anyone will get sore doing burpees, ffs. Kid needs to learn to follow the rules and then he won't have to pay the piper in burpees.0
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When I was in HS, your grade was docked for not "dressing down." In fact, lots of kids failed PE for simply not dressing in their PE clothes. 100 burpees does seem excessive for his age. I think 50 would have sufficed but I don't know that you should get that upset over it. It was a lesson learned. I work for a school district myself and it's insane how much the kids these days disrespect their teachers and such. If all teachers were like his PE teacher, it would be a better place haha.0
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pechepanda wrote: »your son could have said no and taken docked marks, no one can make him do anything,
though a 100 burpees isnt that bad, 10 sets of 10 in what? an hour?
we did that when i was a kid just when we were warming up, not even as a punishment and we were all fine,
I understand you dont want your child to be in pain, but most jr high kids are capable of doing 100 burpees without experiencing that much pain, they might be sore for a day at most, so maybe the gym teacher wasnt aware of your son's fitness levels?
the knuckle push-ups on the track is a bit much, but the burpees are acceptable in my opinion
If my kid had of said no to that particular punishment, there would have been a much bigger punishment at home and it would have included 100 burpees. That actually would have gotten me a 3 day suspension when I was in middle school.0 -
noclady1995 wrote: »Okay. Thanks guys. Maybe I was just being overly sensitive. I'll let it slide. My son will be grateful
Totally the right plan. This way, your son both learns that actions have consequences and that he's going to have to fight his own battles (if he's going to fight them!).0 -
noclady1995 wrote: »_incogNEATo_ wrote: »Was the option there for your son to just take the docked grade? He wasn't "forced" or "made" to do the burpees I'm sure.
I'm sure he wasn't forced. And I don't have the whole story, but I still need to talk to the coach. But he makes it sound like his life will be hell if he hadn't complied. Because "the other coaches" would know about it and not look favorably upon him if he OR I complained. That's Texas sports for you (we're from Calif.). The funny thing is that my nephew, in another school district, in the same grade, complained of the same thing.
Dont blame it on "Texas Sports" it has nothing to do with the state your in.. I live in Texas now and did as a kid.. I have three kids in school from my youngest in Kinder and my oldest in 12th grade fixin' to finish school in a few weeks.. if they get in trouble at school they deal with what the school gives them and then they come home and get in trouble by me.
He forgot his gym stuff so he got punished oh well.. he will learn from it0 -
we only got one day suspensions for forgetting our uniform, except for gym, where we got 5% docked for each class we didnt have our uniform, and we got to choose between running laps, push-ups or crunches for the whole class but we couldnt take breakspechepanda wrote: »your son could have said no and taken docked marks, no one can make him do anything,
though a 100 burpees isnt that bad, 10 sets of 10 in what? an hour?
we did that when i was a kid just when we were warming up, not even as a punishment and we were all fine,
I understand you dont want your child to be in pain, but most jr high kids are capable of doing 100 burpees without experiencing that much pain, they might be sore for a day at most, so maybe the gym teacher wasnt aware of your son's fitness levels?
the knuckle push-ups on the track is a bit much, but the burpees are acceptable in my opinion
If my kid had of said no to that particular punishment, there would have been a much bigger punishment at home and it would have included 100 burpees. That actually would have gotten me a 3 day suspension when I was in middle school.
i dont have kids and i dont know what id do if i did, but my parents put me in karate everyday after school after i forgot my uniform a few times and refused to do the punishment cause skirts and crunches are a bad idea,
I got to do 100 burpees, 100 crunches, 100 sit-ups and run laps with a medicine ball held up over my head everyday day for a year... never forgot my gym uniform again...
though i wasnt particularly sore after the first few days
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