Classroom Chronicles: 11
I don't think kids understand the concept of "stranger danger" anymore.
I had a student call his mom in the middle of my lesson one day. He hadn't done anything awful, just couldn't seem to find an off button. He dials the number and I'm standing by my desk so that I can monitor the phone call and still teach my other kids. The phone rings twice, and someone answers. The kid immediately repeats the statement I told him to say, "Mama, Ms. Williams told me to call you because I won't follow directions." The voice on the other end hesitates, then says "what?" So the kid repeats himself. The voice says something I don't catch, and the kid hangs up the phone and calls another number. I ask him who he's calling now and he tells me, "I dialed the wrong number, I'm calling my mom." Confused, I let him listen as the phone rings 8 times without an answer. At this point, I'm trying to figure out who the hell the kid called the first time and held a full conversation with.
I finally told the kid to hang up the phone and that we'd call back later. As he walked back to his desk, I had a couple of questions for him:
Me: "[nameless] who did you call the first time?"
Kid: "I dialed the wrong number."
Me: "Did it sound like your mom when someone picked up the other line?"
Kid: "No."
Me: "So why did you keep talking?"
Kid: "He said his name was Roger."
Me: "Again, why did you keep talking to him?"
Kid: "I don't know. He sounded nice."
Me: "You held a full conversation with a stranger about you misbehaving in class?"
Kid: *blank stare*
Me: "Just go sit down and think about that for a little while."
I never did call his mom back. I think she's going to have a few bigger issues in the future with this one.
I had a student call his mom in the middle of my lesson one day. He hadn't done anything awful, just couldn't seem to find an off button. He dials the number and I'm standing by my desk so that I can monitor the phone call and still teach my other kids. The phone rings twice, and someone answers. The kid immediately repeats the statement I told him to say, "Mama, Ms. Williams told me to call you because I won't follow directions." The voice on the other end hesitates, then says "what?" So the kid repeats himself. The voice says something I don't catch, and the kid hangs up the phone and calls another number. I ask him who he's calling now and he tells me, "I dialed the wrong number, I'm calling my mom." Confused, I let him listen as the phone rings 8 times without an answer. At this point, I'm trying to figure out who the hell the kid called the first time and held a full conversation with.
I finally told the kid to hang up the phone and that we'd call back later. As he walked back to his desk, I had a couple of questions for him:
Me: "[nameless] who did you call the first time?"
Kid: "I dialed the wrong number."
Me: "Did it sound like your mom when someone picked up the other line?"
Kid: "No."
Me: "So why did you keep talking?"
Kid: "He said his name was Roger."
Me: "Again, why did you keep talking to him?"
Kid: "I don't know. He sounded nice."
Me: "You held a full conversation with a stranger about you misbehaving in class?"
Kid: *blank stare*
Me: "Just go sit down and think about that for a little while."
I never did call his mom back. I think she's going to have a few bigger issues in the future with this one.
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