re : Playground problem! 08/02/2013 01:01 - Bullying ----------------------------------- Hi, Maybe the parents could approach the school with a view to organising a roster of parents willing to help out at playtime/lunchtime. Organising skipping, ball games etc. You might fundraise to get money to buy equipment. Enormous chalkboards firmly attached to walls/ fences could be an idea. Maybe a gardening project could be a runner. Don´t be afraid to get involved it´s your child and the school might be delighted at the suggestion. HTH
Playground problem! 02/02/2013 17:03 - Bullying ----------------------------------- Hi, I´d really appreciate other parents´ views on this issue. My 7 year old son (he’s in second class) has being having a lot of stress recently (e.g. tummy aches, not wanting to go to school etc.) and this has being going on for the last few weeks. The problems seem to concern above all the school playground. After talking with him we discovered that he was feeling excluded in particular from the football they play at lunchtime in the school playground. Seemly the same few boys are passing the ball to each other all the time. My son plus a few others never get a chance to touch it. I decided to observe them at play time for a few days, outside the playground to avoid drawing conclusions before speaking with the teacher and in fact could confirm what my son told me was true. The playground looked like a jungle where the strongest wins - a real paradise for potential bullies. In one area 20 /30 boys running madly (shoving, pushing) after one ball and of course my child plus some other kids never seemed to have the possibility to approach the ball, never mind kick it. I discovered later that this playground should only contain approx. 70 children but there are almost 200 children there ( a field which in winter is full of mud but this is the minimum of my concerns). I realise fully the importance of children getting exercise and letting off steam during the school day but surely there could be one or two structured activites guided by an adult for 15 mins. This option would promote social skills such as turn taking, respect etc and as a consequence help children who are not being fully included feel more confident and motivated. Currently in the media they’re speaking a lot about the devastating effects bullying (and that includes exclusion) has on children and teenagers but I haven’t heard of any concrete solutions to eliminating or at least significantly reducing it. Surely a little supervised organised play at lunch time doesn’t cost anything and in return offers children so much more in terms of confidence and happiness? I really feel investing in children’s emotional happiness and self esteem now will allow these children to become more secure teenagers and greatly reduce later bullying episodes also. I will be approaching the school about this issue in the next few days, but I was just wondering did any other parent have similar experiences and how did they resolve this problem? Thanks a lot.
