The Case
Modern public schools provide classroom teachers with the opportunity to develop additional skills such as psychological stability, diplomatic communication, and anger management. In preschool X, one of the five-year-old children stole a toy from the locker of his groupmate. The preschool cameras allowed the security guards to determine the criminal within minutes, and John Y was caught not far from the place of the crime.
After a long talk with the preschool administrator and counselor, he admitted the intention to steal this toy from his classmate. The reason was rather strange. John said it should have been “fun” as he saw his father watching a movie about the robbery on TV not so long ago, and at that moment, his father exclaimed, “How fun is that! Huh!” The father did not know that his son was nearby and heard these words. It was necessary to resolve the situation since the child should not think that stealing could be “fun.”
The Response
Considering the fact that this is a public preschool, the influence of the preschool teacher is less significant than it is in the case of a Christian preschool (Ekeland & Walton, 2016). However, I, as a Christian preschool teacher, would do the following: I would speak to the parents and John separately. I would emphasize the importance of the parents’ example in John’s life, considering the lack of proper examples and Christian guidance in the public preschool of their son (Slayton & Slayton, 2015; Ekeland & Walton, 2016).
I would say to the father that he should be the role model for John and should avoid the behavior that would influence the boy negatively. I would try to explain to the parents that children at John’s age perceive parental behavior as the guide to action (Laursen, 2016). Depending on the religious preferences of the parents, this conversation would be either very effective or would have almost zero effect. However, I would know that I have done something instead of doing nothing.
It is very important to help both children and their families to see the need for spiritual development and self-improvement. They should realize that this could be the path to a better life in terms of morality and mental well-being.
The conversation with John would be focused on the boy’s vision of his present and the future. I would ask John about his dreams and the occupation that he would like to have once grown up. It would be interesting to listen to his answer regarding his world, his family, and the time he spends with his father. Then, I would like to listen to his answers regarding the other children in the group and John’s understanding of the concept of friendship, support, teamwork, and interactions in a team of peers. I would say to John the words from the Bible: “Honor your father and mother” (Ephesians 6:2, New International Version) because these are the people to listen to.
I would say to this young person that stealing could not be “fun” by any means. The Bible says, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15, New International Version) because stealing is a sin. I would ask John how sin could be better than a decent life of a good boy. I think that these conversations would give positive results, and John would understand that he acted wrong. He has made a mistake because of a misunderstanding of his father’s exclamation, but the good thing is that these mistakes can be fixed as long as there is a chance for communication and redemption.
Reference List
Ekeland, J., & Walton, B. (2016). Ten differences: Public school and Christian school. Web.
Laursen, F. (2016). School choice: Home school? Christian school? Public school? Web.
Slayton, G., & Slayton, M. (2015). Homeschool vs. public school: How a Christian parent should decide on education. Christian Post. Web.