I think that a big part of the reason that kids don’t want to tell adults about important things is that they can’t trust that the adults will not let everyone know the kid who “told.”
All it takes to have kids turn on a kid who tries to do the right thing by reporting an important event is to have the adult tell others that he or she was a “tattletale.” Plus, then other kids will be afraid to do the same thing.
I think teachers need to be more approachable and be great at keeping confidences. I think they need know that most kids do not want to “rat” on anyone.
I also think that parents need to be able to communicate their worries to teachers without their kids having to deal with any consequences.
I am going to try to think of an idea of how kids could report something without having to tell their names. That means anonymously. Sure, there might be some dumb stuff that way but there might be that one thing that saves a kid’s life. I think that is really a good idea. Don’t you?
Do you who what Rugby? I think you are exactly right because I remember when your human brothers and sister were in school. They never would be “tattletales” and sometimes they got in trouble because they took the blame for things they didn’t do.
No matter how hard I tried to convince them that there were times that they needed to let an adult know the facts, they just wouldn’t. Maybe you are right that an anonymous way that kids could “tell” something important is a really good idea. Let’s see if any of our friends can suggest something. In the meantime, let’s try to come up with some ideas. You are one smart guy Rugby!
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