Does this ever happen to you?

[PeggleStar]

As alot of you work in schools or colleges I assume you would see children on a daily basis, have there ever been a time where the children have made fun of you? I would be interested to know if this happens quite alot in schools and when it does happen how you would go about dealing with it? I ask this as I would like to possibly do some volunteering in a school next year to get some experience of the whole school and I.T area of working but I do have a disability so I am nervous. My disability is noticeable and I do know from my own experience that when out and about I do get alot of stares and looks by children especially primary school age because they don't understand what I have.

[hardtailstar]

Yeah it does happen to me but I tend to brush it off or make some comments about myself with them.

 

Because you have a disability and if they make fun of you, the child/children should be reported and the correct action taken according to the behaviour policy.

 

Mostly children will be curious as you say its because they don't understand but there will be a few that will be nasty.

 

It may even help the school to add in to the children's learning about disabilities.

[synaesthesia]

Yes. Been working in schools for 5 years now (so quite new to it) but have a very noticeable disability too - a stutter. Some kids do pick up on it and I've heard them taking the mick a little but that's a miniscule minority. Kids will be kids - I remember picking on my German teacher something rotten.

It's best not to worry about it; there are plenty of people who will be able to support you on site, if you are employed there you have a responsibility over the kids and you will be able to apply discipline if you feel comfortable doing so. As an adult you'll learn to cope and it'll make you a better person for doing so.

[andrew_91090]

I worked in a school for 5 years and the school I worked in, I used to be a student in, so I was there for 5 years as a student, left for 4 months and started working there for another 5 years, so needless to say, the kids did pick up on it and did say stuff every now and then, best thing I found was if they know it didn't bother you, they didn't do it, but if it got really bad, threaten to tell a senior member of staff to deal with it, thankfully, it never got to the stage where I had to tell someone to deal with it.

 

I do understand that my case maybe a little different than yours, but this was my experience

[SovietRussia]

I wouldn't necessarily say "made fun of" in my experience, mine is a little unique to say the least. I left Sixth Form after 7 years at my school, to join the same school as a member of staff, so it was odd going from student to staff member overnight. I find it somewhat weird sometimes when people, who are only 2 years younger than me are now in Sixth Form, and I have to be the responsible adult. I would say sometimes, I don't get the respect I deserve from lower members of the school, as they still remember me when I was a student, but it is nice, when Year 7's, who do not know who I am, respect me and call me sir etc. As someone said earlier in this thread, kids will be kids!

[Garacesh]

I don't so much get bullied, victimised or anything on the aggressive side of it, but I certainly get mocked by some of the more.. ahem, 'work-shy' students. I have a bit of a goatee going on, and long hair. I'm a dude. So what's the appropriate action to take upon seeing me? Oh, right! Call me Jesus, obviously. This isn't done in an friendly way, that's obvious. It's done in a mocking way, because they're too immature to understand that it's not just women that can have hair past their ears. But I just brush it off. Plus some of the teachers yell at the kids when they do. I had to put up with this when I was at high school for the first time, it's easy the second time.

 

If you're planning on doing some work in a primary school with a physical disability, I think honestly you'd have kids stare, but I don't think many of them would actually make fun of you, they just wouldn't understand what it was. You might sometimes get a few of them being a bit blunt "What's wrong with..", but that's not meant to be insulting, it's just that they don't know how to be more tactful about it. They don't really mean to imply you're wrong, just different. And from my short experience in primary schools they do genuinely try to understand different. But I personally think you'll find if they do mention it, it won't be done to poke fun. More just because they're confused. I'm sure some of them could even relate, they may have family members with physical disabilities.

 

If you're planning on doing some work in a secondary school, however, I'd say yes, chances are you will get mocked. I'm sorry to say it, but that's how it is. It won't be by the majority and it certainly won't be all-day-every-day but it likely happen because, at secondary school age, some kids really know how to be vile. But even then, try not to take it personally - they'd find a reason to laugh either way. Because they're dead 'ard innit and you're an adult so legally you can't hurt them you're totally scared of them because you recognise how alpha they are.

[bladedanny]

I work in primaries so there's not too much deliberate mocking. But one thing I have found is kids are brutally honest. If a child notices a flaw, they will point it out. Not in a derogatory way, but more of a curiosity way.

[Oaktech]

I work in primaries so there's not too much deliberate mocking. But one thing I have found is kids are brutally honest. If a child notices a flaw, they will point it out. Not in a derogatory way, but more of a curiosity way.

 

We had some guys in from Help for Heroes to both our primary and secondary sites. The primary kids noticed in seconds that the lady had a prosthetic leg, and the chap had an arm missing. The secondary school seemed far more interested in the fact that both of them were quite attractive than that bits weren't there!

[CAM]

It's all part of working in schools, kids will always test the water in secondary to see what they get away with. So long as you have a sense of humour and know where to draw the line you'll be fine. Besides, it isn't like I give them much sympathy when they muck around and fall over after doing something stupid.

[BassTech]

As alot of you work in schools or colleges I assume you would see children on a daily basis, have there ever been a time where the children have made fun of you? I would be interested to know if this happens quite alot in schools and when it does happen how you would go about dealing with it? I ask this as I would like to possibly do some volunteering in a school next year to get some experience of the whole school and I.T area of working but I do have a disability so I am nervous. My disability is noticeable and I do know from my own experience that when out and about I do get alot of stares and looks by children especially primary school age because they don't understand what I have.

 

Yes, kids are kids. Take it on the chin an move on, if you show that it gets to you then you are encouraging them to carry on as they are looking for a reaction.

Best thing to do is ignore it, only report it if it gets REALLY bad and turns into bullying.

[mthomas08]

There was one incident a long time ago when I was a fresh staff member. There were a couple of students I had some what known out side of the job, there was occasional snarky things they would do. This actually went on far too long.

 

One day I flipped, got my boss involved and he chewed their heads off while I stood and watched.

 

Lets just say it never happened again. You have to remember you are a staff member, if it was a teacher they would be dishing out punishments, you are no different.

 

Of course right now I have the bravery and experience to do the chewing my self (done it enough) in fact I now tell my tech lads that any trouble don't be afraid to come to me.

[AMLinington]

As alot of you work in schools or colleges I assume you would see children on a daily basis, have there ever been a time where the children have made fun of you? I would be interested to know if this happens quite alot in schools and when it does happen how you would go about dealing with it? I ask this as I would like to possibly do some volunteering in a school next year to get some experience of the whole school and I.T area of working but I do have a disability so I am nervous. My disability is noticeable and I do know from my own experience that when out and about I do get alot of stares and looks by children especially primary school age because they don't understand what I have.

 

Yeah. Kids have a tendency to pick up on anything and make fun of it from physical disabilities to birthmarks, speech impediments and odd or rude-sounding surnames. The best way to deal with it is to ignore it - they do it for the reaction. The more you react the more 'kudos' they get from their peers. You'll find that kids will rarely make fun of you if they are on their own - it is always done with an audience.

 

A teacher I once knew had a great put down. I vividly remember walking down a staircase with a group of girls who were taking the mickey out of him without realising he was literally right behind them. They reached the bottom of the stairs and paused at which point he negotiated his way past and said 'It's alright, everyone gets my name wrong.' You could have cooked eggs on their cheeks. When I was teaching I found the best way to get around these issues is to turn them into a joke. Take the power away from the student by being in control of the funny. If you own the joke, the power to embarrass or humiliate you is gone.

[tech_guy]

I have a hearing disorder - which even adults find hard to understand when I explain it to them as it isn't deafness - as most of them perceive it to be. I have APD - the problem is with the way my brain processes (or doesn't ) certain sounds - so I try and avoid letting the students know as I have had snarky remarks in the past.

 

The best advice is to ignore it. But report anything really horrible.

 

I can lip-read from fifty paces so it can be very useful! I can also use it as a disability to my advantage sometimes as it allows me to legitimately ignore nagging, etc.

Edited November 25, 2013 by tech_guy

[bushby]

its true its kids being kids i remember at my last place i use to roller skate in as i didn't live that far, and every so often i would trip up in epic style im slightly dyspraxic (once in to the heads car in the traffic due to a stone kicked at me )

but the kids saw this and took the mic but that only lasted till they saw me teach roller hockey.

they take the mic that's part of being a kid. hay we all done it at some point in time. but as the other have been saying if it gets to a point just raise it with the person who will be supervising you and they will get it sorted, or just talk to them and explain why it happens as they are like a chimp inquisitive and just want to know. eg i had a arm in a sling, heard the kids saying it was from too much w***, just told them it was a sporting injury and how it happened (also showed the video from the match) and they respected me after.

 

so in the end just tell them most of the time if its visuable but if not only say something if its hitting a nerve

[PeggleStar]

Thank you all for the replys, it was something I had to get some answers and peoples experiences on.