For anyone with a problem in this matter as one poster noted this is not to be done as a PTO issue (because it is not) but as concerned parents.
What you should do first is contact your principal via email, phone call, or a visit to voice your concerns and see what he/she has to say about the policy they are enforcing or trying to enforce. This will also arm you with all the facts concerning their policy, how they are enforcing it and what the punishments are.
The next step is to contact the Superintendent and attend a Board of Ed meeting. There is power in numbers so get all concerned parents involved.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil and if enough parents speak out about the issue you can effect change. Parents complaining to each other changes nothing. You must voice the complaints to the people who are in a position to change things.
I had an unrelated issue with my one child's school. It was a policy that has been in place for a number of years now. I was shocked to find out that while many parents hated this policy for years no one in all this time went forward to address it and try to get it stopped. Myself and four other parents started to make a stink with the principal, Superintendent, & BOE and in a matter of days parts of the policy were immediately removed and the entire policy is currently under review to continue to be altered. So if you have an issue with a school policy you must bring it to light and you can effect change.
I am totally against silent lunch times. I have told my children "lunch time and recess times are when you talk to your friends, not during instruction time"... I began preaching that since kindergarten.
I also work for a school district (different one from where my kids attend)... I do all three lunch periods (1 hour 45 minutes a day). There definitely are days where I wish it was silent times but it would just be more hectic and cause more problems in class.
I hope you stand up against this. This is definitely not an appropriate thing.
We had “silent lunches†in Third Grade, and these were given as punishment for talking and/or being disruptive during class. The teacher had made theses three-fold partitions of plywood, hinged so they would from a cubicle around your desk as you ate lunch. These were about 3 feet high, light blue in color, and formed a three-sided cube around you as you ate lunch. It was much like a study carol you'd find later at high school.
“Jim†the teacher would say, “you have a silent lunch.†I'd usually get these for talking in class or goofing off during project time. I frankly didn't mind and don't think they were much of a disciplinary tool. As every one had a “silent lunch†by about mid-November there the stigma or embarrassment wore off quickly, and watching Sesame Street was boring. While not traumatized for life, as an adult now I think it quite asinine, and would question the teacher's instructional methods.
Our school has a silent lunch punishment. It is enforced if they do something wrong in class. They will have to have their entire lunch silent. I feel sorry for the older classes since they usually don't get recess and this is their only social time. I understand if they are screaming or something, but I have been their before and even the kids talking would make a silent lunch for everyone. We were talking about this subject at work tonight and said how upsetting school is anymore. NO TALKING AT LUNCH, LITTLE TO NO RECESS, SITTING STILL ALL DAY and then they wonder why these kids all have ADD or ADHD. A lot are labeled that because they are so needing to move and talk a bit. It would be totally stressful to me if I was their age.
help! i just found out that my son's school enforces a silent eating time of 5 minutes every day. when the silence is broken the time gets bumped up until sometimes the entire period is spent in silence or waiting to get yelled at. today, my 7 year old, (and I'm not one of those moms who thinks her children are always angels) who is a REALLY good kid (at school, not always at home!) responded to something a friend of his asked during their five minutes of silence. He was moved to another table filled with other "speakers" and made to sit up against the wall for the entire lunch recess. no warning. first offense. he did not shout. he said three words. and they were nothing vulgar. i'm so ticked off right now, i need some advice on how to address this at our school. our children have so much structure in their lives as it is. my son comes home from school stressed out. i do not remember second grade as a stressful time in my life. he told me that lunch is the worse part of his day. i feel a food fight coming on.
I have to say that when I first read the original post, I thought you were asking about a fundraiser or something. I have never heard anything so ridiculous. Are they training to be monks? or socialized, civilized HUMANS?
