The mother of a 6-year-old who forged a note in highlighter pen written on finger paint paper in order to get out of his after-school program is asking that disciplinary action be taken against her son's school. And I, for one, say she is right.
The school claims it had an old cellphone number for the mother and left a message on it "approving" the absence. But the child was alone and not in his after-school program.
The boy had apparently wanted to go home instead, but for the poor mother, there was a period of time where her son was "missing" as neither the school nor his after-school program knew where he was. Someone did something very irresponsible and wrong here.
Sure, it's funny and somewhat diabolical that this 6-year-old did this. But I can see my 5-year-old pulling something like this, too. I would hope her school officials wouldn't let her go from school until they had me on the phone, especially since any note MY daughter would write would be full of misspelled words and likely drawn on with crayon as well.
Seriously, school, get with it.
We trust our schools to care for our kids and see through their little tricks. If a 6-year-old can forge a note that fools ANYONE, then we have a serious problem on our hands. Come on. Does anyone really think this is possible?
What went on at this school was sheer laziness, and for any parent, that ought to be chilling. We aren't talking about a 10-year-old or a 12-year-old. We are talking about a 6-year-old.
At that age, children are nearly the youngest in the school. They are at most in kindergarten or first grade and they need more adult supervision and care than any other age. What kind of school official thinks a memo on voicemail is enough to warrant letting a child leave the school on his own? Where he went isn't clear in the piece, but it's implied that he went home. In which case, how does that happen? How does a SIX-YEAR-OLD get released to anyone but a parent?
This is the kind of story that will haunt your nightmares. We expect school officials to be smarter than our kids. After all, that is why they teach them. What happens when they aren't?
Do you think disciplinary action should be taken?
Image via laffy4k/Flickr
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Comments 21
on one hand, the school is in the wrong. while i've seen 6 year old's that have pretty good writing, i can't fathom any case where they'd think a child's note is from a parent.
however, i have to say, the mom is a little at fault here too. not because she didn't know about the note, but why didn't the school have current contact records for her? sure, we fill out a form at the beginning of the year with our contact info, but if it changes, you have to notify them. how else would they know that they called a wrong number?
the school is glaringly wrong, the mom should feel a little bad about not having current info for her child's contact records, and the kid should get his little hind parts in some trouble.
The TEACHER was suspicious but the idiot secretary signed off on it. This school is lucky that this mom doesn't choose to go after a lawsuit, she just wants them to fix the problem.
dirtiekittie, if you read the linked article, it states that Mom DID give the school her new info but they failed to update their records.
dirtiekittie, the article says she changed her number with the school, daycare and bus company, but the school never updated their records. Not her fault.
The boy was found at a neighbor's home.
I know this is a highly disturbing scenario and I understand why the mother is upset, but I don't think the secretary should be fired like the mother is calling for. Yes, it was a bad judgement call. But the teacher just should have nipped it in the bud when she saw the forged note. She should be smart enough to recognize her student's handwriting.
sorry guys, to those who corrected me... i did the bad stir reader thing where i forget pertinent info is only in the linked story. :(
Bad (dirtie)kittie! No Meow Mix for you!
lol @butterflyfreak - awwwww darnit!! ;)
I'm really curious. Neither story state if this kids is in kindergarten or first grade. I know in our district kindergarten kids are not even released off their school bus unless there is an adult who is authorized to pick them up waiting at their stop for them. Even first graders are NOT allowed to walk home alone even if they are only 3 houses away from the school.
I'd like to see my kids try this stunt. LOL the staff all knows both my husband and I quite well.