Tattletale!

“Don’t be a tattletale!”  How many times, as teachers, do we say that?  Of course, we want to hear about the serious incidents that happen on the playground.  But, it does get a little “old” when we hear about all the poking, mean words, and insensitivity of our students.

Jesus taught his disciples how to deal with wrong doing in Matthew 18:15-16, “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.  But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”

Teach the students, that before coming to the teacher, they could first try to solve it between themselves.  Teach them to say things such as, “You’re hurting me, please stop!” or, “You are disobeying the teacher, please stop!”  If the situation cannot be solved between the attacker and the attacked, then both should come to the teacher, preferably with a “witness” to the offense, and discuss it openly.

We need to also reduce the amount of “reporters” that were not even involved in the situation.  The person that was hurt needs to be the one seeking an apology or a restoration of friendship. There are too many situations where a student is being a “busy-body”, making an issue greater than it needs to be. Let us use Jesus’ words in Matthew as a way to tone down the tattletale and teach him to be more Christ-like.