My teacher hit me

I finally read one of the weekly notes Penny's preschool sends home, and it asked for each parent to make some play-dough and send it to school with their student. I had some on hand, so I am pretty proud of myself for remembering to send it. 

So tonight when I was getting Penny ready for bed, I asked her, "So, did you play with play-dough today at school?"

She looks up at me and says, "My teacher hit me," and points to her cheek.

I tried not to put any words in her mouth while I asked her what happened-- which is not easy with a 3-year-old. But from what I understand, while they were playing with playdough, her teacher slapped her on the face, and then while she was crying, another teacher gave her "star candy" to help her feel better. 

I don't know why. Penny doesn't yet understand "why" or "because," and this isn't the first time I wished she could explain those concepts.

I'm going to talk to the principal tomorrow. I want to know what happened. I want to know what their discipline system is. What are the usual consequences for a child misbehaving (or in Penny's case, probably being stubborn about something)? I want them to know that there is no situation that calls for their hitting my child.

Having said that, I do have to admit that I have spanked Penny before. I spank that little butt when it runs out into traffic or something else quite dangerous. I've slapped her hands when she touched something she shouldn't have. I've spanked her on MY bad days, and those are the ones I regret.

I'm American, though, and I think that corporal punishment doesn't belong in schools, and especially preschools. I know it happens in Chinese schools, and I think I remember it happening in my classroom once. I was teaching some middle schoolers, and I think the other teacher roughly took a kid out of the room, if I remember rightly. But Penny's school needs to know my standards. I've recommended this school to other friends, and they need to understand that none of us tolerate that kind of discipline. 

And if they don't step it up, then Penny doesn't need to be subjected to this just to learn some Chinese. We can just have Chinese friends over for playdates at our house, if needs be.