Co-op Discipline Policies

[SonshineLearner]

Co-op Campus Discipline Policies/Spankings?

 

I would love some feedback about discipline policies at your co-ops, especially in relation to spankings.

Do you permit mothers to do as they need to do in private or do you have a "no spanking on campus" policy ?

I realize that many churches have policies in place that don't permit this even among workers/volunteers with their own children

Does this affect your co-op, if so, how?

[NorthwestMom]

I think spankings are always a bad idea, both in terms of philosophy and liability. I would not send my kids to a co-op where they might get spanked, and I would never spank anyone, even if the "behavioral rules" or whatever at the co-op called for it as a consequence.

[Hillary in KS]

I think spankings are always a bad idea, both in terms of philosophy and liability. I would not send my kids to a co-op where they might get spanked, and I would never spank anyone, even if the "behavioral rules" or whatever at the co-op called for it as a consequence.

 

I think she's asking how to other co-ops handle it if a parent wants to spank *their own child* while on the campus of the co-op.

[melissel]

Well, we are only members of an informal sort of co-op, but I wouldn't let my kids anywhere near one that thought it appropriate for anyone other than me to physically discipline my children. I can see having a rule where members couldn't physically discipline their own children on the premises for possible liability reasons and because that could be very upsetting to other kids and parents. (For example, I know how I'd feel about it, and my kids would be pretty traumatized if they witnessed that.) So I could see where it would be prohibited. FWIW!

[Soph the vet]

We have a set code of conduct for families. This outlines discipline that will be administered by the teachers if kids are acting up in class. It involves talking, removal from class, etc. We do not have a policy addressing parents spanking their own children during co-op. I don't believe that has ever been necessary for anyone to do at this point.

[Joanne]

I didn't vote.

 

I believe any physical discipline of children should be done in private Well, actually, I don't believe in spanking at all. But I believe that spanking should only happen in private for the child and the other famlies who are around.

 

The policy should be that parents discipline in public but punish in private.

[abbeyej]

It's never, ever come up. Goodness, I'd just be glad if some families would discipline or direct their kids' behavior at all! ;) (That said, I'm sure there'd be a huge scandal if anyone spanked their kids at our group in sight/hearing of anyone else.)

[sleepy]

No formal policy regarding discipline.

 

We attend a very small co-op, and I guess it's just assumed that each parent is responsible for disciplining her own child(ren). I've never even seen the need for any of the kids at our co-op to be disciplined... other than a quick "Hey, stop that" or "Please share with so-and-so." (Usually directed at one of the toddlers.)

 

If spanking were even an issue at our co-op, I doubt I would attend at all.

[LaxMom]

We have a set code of conduct for families. This outlines discipline that will be administered by the teachers if kids are acting up in class. It involves talking, removal from class, etc. We do not have a policy addressing parents spanking their own children during co-op. I don't believe that has ever been necessary for anyone to do at this point.

:iagree: Those teaching handle classroom disruption as outlined in the policy. People discipline their own children, privately, as they deem appropriate. I have no idea if anyone has ever spanked their child at co-op in the last four years. If they have, it has been done very discreetly.

[abbeyej]

I wanted to add that we *do* have a system for teachers (or other witnesses) to report "behavioral incidents" and all issues are handed over to the parents pretty much immediately. There are rules in place for removing a child from classes if they are a consistent problem and the parent is not willing or able to deal with the situation. That said, the reality is that the group is pretty lenient, and I'm not sure it has reached that point with any particular family (though a couple of voluntarily withdrawn when it became clear that their child was just not thriving -- and by that, I mean hitting other kids on a regular basis, sigh)...

[Emilylou]

I belong to a huge co-op... and I have no idea what our "spanking" policy is????

 

We have classroom/teacher "rules" but I have never paid attention to how other moms are disciplining their own children. I guess if they spank their kids it must be in private.

[Harriet Vane]

I didn't vote--none of the categories fit.

 

I have been involved in MANY group learning and co-op experiences over my seven years of homeschooling. There has never, ever been a policy about a parent's private discipline of their own child.

 

On the other hand, in the club I directed for a number of years, we spelled out the CLUB policy for discipline each meeting--the first infraction would receive a warning, and the second a time-out in the hall, and the third would mean that child would have to sit with their parent. In one of the co-ops we use now, the policy is that teachers either verbally address a child with a warning or impose a time-out.

 

I think it's a bad idea to try to mandate a family's personal discipline policy.

[HollyinNNV]

Co-op Campus Discipline Policies/Spankings?

 

I would love some feedback about discipline policies at your co-ops, especially in relation to spankings.

Do you permit mothers to do as they need to do in private or do you have a "no spanking on campus" policy ?

I realize that many churches have policies in place that don't permit this even among workers/volunteers with their own children

Does this affect your co-op, if so, how?

 

This has never ever came up.

 

(Not because we don't spank, because we don't spank in public.)

[SonshineLearner]

:lurk5:

[Pamela H in Texas]

No co-op I've been part of has had a policy that I'm aware of. And I believe parenting is a private matter. However, I also put that I would be upset if my family was exposed to spanking. That also has never been an issue though. The co-ops I've been part of have had a variety of parenting beliefs, but all have been sensible enough to be private. I have never heard a harsh tone, inappropriate word, swat or anything like that. I never knew anything like that was going on either...if it did.

 

There are parents that just can't seem to do decently. Regularly I go to Walmart and see parents acting like toddlers. But that just hasn't been an issue at co-ops.

 

ETA: the ONLY time I've know of a spanking policy was the one *I* wrote for my home childcare. I did state that parents could not use spanking on my premises.

[Tree House Academy]

I am assuming you mean during co-op classes?

 

I have never read a discipline policy as in what the PARENT is allowed to do. That just seems a bit intrusive to me. If I wanted to spank my child, I would...BUT I would do it privately anyway. However, I have also NEVER had any need to spank my child in co-op and can't see the need arising. I don't think that spanking in public teaches anything but humiliation anyway...

 

I am absolutely 100% AGAINST anyone other than a parent spanking a child and I would never send my kids somewhere I thought they might be spanked by someone else. UGH!

Edited March 1, 2009 by Tree House Academy

[SonshineLearner]

I am assuming you mean during co-op classes?

 

I am absolutely 100% AGAINST anyone other than a parent spanking a child and I would never send my kids somewhere I thought they might be spanked by someone else. UGH!

 

Yes, I didn't mean spanking done by someone other than the parent...that's a definite no-no....

 

At our co-op, there just aren't many spots...and the restrooms are multiple stalls...not private...

 

Carrie:-)

[chaik76]

There is no formal discipline policy at our co-op. Mostly...if a child is a discipline problem in class they are sent out to their parent (who must stay on campus or designate someone in charge) to be disciplined. Most of us take our kids to some part of the building that isn't being used to discipline them...and we discipline them in any way they see fit.

 

Our co-op has doubled in size this year and now has around 80 students. Most of the parents like how it is set up. I like that I am the one disciplining my child, not the teachers. They do tell children to sit still and stuff like that...maintaining authority in the classroom.

 

As far as I know you may discipline your own child as you see fit.

[mom2att]

"We have no formal discipline policy, Anything done by the parent goes."

 

This one, with stress on the "by the parent" part. I can't imagine a policy that dictated how a parent disciplined her own child.

[SonshineLearner]

It's one of those.."does your right to spank trump my right not to have my children around spanking." things...

Carrie:-)

[Mommyof4ks]

We have a set code of conduct for families. This outlines discipline that will be administered by the teachers if kids are acting up in class. It involves talking, removal from class, etc. We do not have a policy addressing parents spanking their own children during co-op. I don't believe that has ever been necessary for anyone to do at this point.

 

Same here.