I’ve been taking my 5-year-old to swim lessons for the past couple of weeks. At the end of each lesson, the teenage instructor plays a few rounds of Sharks and Minnnows with the class. The kids love it and splash around, frantically trying to escape the “shark.”
Here’s my problem–the instructor picks from the same three kids to be the shark EVERY day. All the other kids raise their hands, wanting a chance, but the three boys who are the loudest and most visible, are the ones who keep getting selected. I know my little guy wants a chance at being the hunter rather than the hunted, but he goes with the flow, but this Papa bear isn’t so agreeable. I want to go to the instructor and tell him to give some of the other kids a chance, but I don’t want to be “that parent.” So, I sit there in my sunglasses, seething on the inside as, once again, the same boys get chosen to to be the shark.
It’s never easy seeing your child ignored or overlooked, and I really am trying not to make it into a big deal, but as the days go by, it gets more and more difficult. Have you ever been in a similar situation with your kids? how did you respond?
Olivier.Narawa says
August 6, 2013 at 8:43 amhow can the teacher know how you feel if you just sit there and say nothing..the instructor is also a human he does not have the gift of reading peoples mind.So if you don’t want your child to be mistreated than why don’t you just go straight to the teacher and be a man and tell him your sideof the story,tell him about the fact that you don’t like it when he is favoring students…say something smart that will make him feel guilty….
mboutidem emmanuel says
August 15, 2013 at 2:42 amthe teacher treated the children unfiarly without given them chance a brave parent need to tell him the truth perhaps he might change
barry says
August 15, 2013 at 10:04 amJust throw him in the pool and let the “sharks” eat him
Carol says
August 19, 2013 at 9:34 amI would just say something to the instructor. Maybe he doesn’t realize what he’s doing. Say something but be diplomatic about it. There is a way to voice your opinion without offending the instructor. Are there other parents that feel the same way?