The Importance of Moral Education

From parents to teachers

Have you ever experienced the feeling of picking your child up from school, finding them upset or frustrated? This can be difficult to see as a parent. We strive to protect our children and keep them safe, as long as we possibly can. When we are unable to control what happens to them while at school, we teach them strength and perseverance.

The other day, I picked my little one (3rd grade), up from school. I asked her how her day was, and she said bad, then immediately started crying. She then explained that the prize she won from earning money for the school Fun Run, was stolen from her backpack in the hall. I began to ask more questions and asked if she let her teacher know what happened. She did let her teacher know, and her teacher instructed her to ask other classmates if they took the prize from her backpack. This was a little upsetting to me for several reasons.

First, I couldn’t understand how her teacher would put the responsibility to investigate by asking fellow classmates. This was uncomfortable for my girl and in my opinion, not something that should be left to my eight-year-old when she was the one that was violated. Second, why did the teacher not address the other students or at the very least send an email to parents or a note home in their backpacks to alert them that a student had stolen from another student. I realize the prize may not have been very expensive, but it is the principle of taking something that is not yours from another student’s backpack. Lastly, when I reached out to the teacher a few days later after my girl told me that nothing had been done, I was shocked by her response. I asked her what progress had been made in helping my daughter find her prize and what steps were being taken to replace the prize. My daughter had worked incredibly hard to earn money for her school and went as far as donating $10 of her own allowance to the cause. Her teacher replied saying that when she spoke to my daughter earlier in the week, “she talked with her about this at the beginning of the week and found that she left them in the hallway with an open backpack. We talked about how if we have important things in our backpack, we need to keep it zipped so no one can see it. She was super understanding with this when we chatted earlier this week! I am not sure what replacement prizes look like, but I can ask the fundraising team if they have any more.” I highly dislike that she made my daughter to feel at blame by not zipping her backpack (which could have been the case but may not have been the case), either way I find it to be unimportant when a child takes anything from another student’s personal property. She was hesitant to help replace the prize. Unacceptable. Shaming a child for something they had been wronged by is infuriating. Finally, I was distraught that she instilled a sense of distrust in my daughter and that she was not reinforcing right from wrong with the other students and placing the blame and responsibility on my daughter.

Teachers should at minimum be holding all students accountable when wrongdoing occurs in the classroom. I feel this strongly. By the end of the day, her teacher replaced the prize. However, no repercussions for the student that stole.

What are your thoughts and have you been through a similar experience as this?