Don't treat us like children

From: Emma GastonMuddles Green, Chiddingly
Call the newsdesk on 01780 758951 or e-mail smeditor@stamfordmercury.co.uk SUS-170809-161328001Call the newsdesk on 01780 758951 or e-mail smeditor@stamfordmercury.co.uk SUS-170809-161328001
Call the newsdesk on 01780 758951 or e-mail [email protected] SUS-170809-161328001

To suggest that parents shouldn’t be offended by the Get a Grip campaign if it doesn’t apply to them is quite frankly missing the point entirely.

Parents are not children and you cannot talk to them as though they are and not expect an outraged response. The council has been very high handed in this matter.

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One councillor suggests that parents are too gullible, keeping their children home when the child ‘pretends’ to be ill.

This is utter nonsense. We know our children, if they are acting up and pretending to be poorly there may be a problem at school that needs addressing or they may just be fooling around but I once read the lines ‘always tell your mother the truth because the chances are she already knows the truth anyway’ and I couldn’t agree more.

We use our discretion as parents. Children get tired and a tired child can disrupt a whole class. Let them rest for a day, it’ll be more productive in the long run. We are, after all, teaching our children how to live without us – that is what parenting is, it is teaching them how to get on in the big wide world when they fly the nest – and part of that is learning how to manage their own energy.

We are not running an army camp, this is childhood. We are as parents not answerable to the local council or the school, we are adults in our own right and this campaign suggests that the council thinks of itself as a stern headmaster that we should all stand to attention for at every bark or repulsive missive it sends out.

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Let us instead make an environment of mutual respect and work together to solve problems. Talk to the parents.

Why would a child not want to go to school? Has anybody asked this question?

Perhaps there is something inherently wrong in the schooling system. Children are not machines.

Parents will never take criticism well, it is part of the parenting response to guard their young. Should parents launch a Get a Grip campaign against the council?

I think not, we already know it would cause great offence because we are good human beings who consider the feelings of others.

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