"We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

A time when you witnessed an adult (or you) reprimand or silence a child after he or she pointed out someone they saw as different Before I was a Kindergarten teacher I used to three year olds. One morning I only had one child in the classroom with me, a little girl named Leah. As I was setting up the room for the day, a little boy named Alex was getting dropped off by his mom. Alex’s mom was extremely over weight. She had recently had a heart attack and was trying to get her weight under control for the sake of her health. I was saying good morning to Alex and his mom when Leah approached us. She looked at Alex’s mom and said “Why are you so big?” Immediately Alex’s mom’s face turned blood red. I looked at Leah and in a harsh voice said “That is not very nice, go have a seat in the Library center”. Leah walked over to the library center and sat on a cushion. I apologized to Alex’s mom, but she just quickly said “That’s ok, I hear it all the time”, she was clearly bothered by the comment. I may have acted a little harshly with Leah because I felt so embarrassed for Alex’s mom. I did not take the time to realize that Leah was just asking an honest question and that she was entirely too young to understand that it is rude to comment on other people’s weight. After Alex’s mom left, I apologized to Leah for speaking to her harshly and explained to her that people come in all shapes and sizes. She seemed to understand and did not seem phased by the situation at all. Children are very honest and often speak very bluntly due to lack of knowledge when it comes to social rights and wrongs. One of the hardest things is trying to teach a child that you cannot always say exactly what you are thinking.