Do you think I was wrong for making one of my student give a slice of pizza to another student because he ate hers?

[Anonymous]

Is it bad that I make a student give the other student his pizza? So one of the students yesterday in my classroom (I work with SPED kids) at her pizza just because she was jealous that she had pizza. We stopped him from eating it which was too late. We had to throws it away. So earlier today he had pizza and I made him give him a slice. He was upset and I said, “Well YOU at his pizza slice yesterday so you owe him. Stop eating other peoples food.”
Some teachers said I’m cruel and that wasn’t nice but I though it was fair and my two assistants said they would do the same.
Can’t be a too nice teacher.

I’m a young teacher for special education in a classroom of 5-6 year olds.

Updates

3 mo

He cried and threw a temper because I stopped him but I yelled, “Well stop taking food for others! That’s rude! BUMMER!!!”
I don’t deal with crying kids. I ignore crying kids unless they are injured or had something sad happened. If they crying over doing work, or someone pushing them around, I will encourage them to stand up for themselves and not coddle them.

[AI Opinion]

Balancing fairness and teaching consequences is important. Encouraging the student to share a slice as a gesture of making amends seems reasonable, given the context. It's crucial to ensure such actions are also accompanied by discussions on empathy, understanding, and the impact of one's actions on others. This teaches valuable social skills and accountability. Continue to engage with your assistants and reflect on feedback from other teachers to ensure a supportive learning environment. Ultimately, it's essential to create a learning atmosphere where all students feel safe and respected.

[AviatorTom]

Sometimes Tough Love is appropriate. So long as you didn't take all his pizza, you tried to teach him an important lesson. Not sure if he learned anything though.

[Asker]

Well I made him give her a slice since he wants to eat her food. Sorry I keep saying “him”. The student is a girl. I told the girl, “You can tell him to stop that’s mine! Hands off. You gotta stand up for yourself babe.”
Yep gotta toughen these kids up for life. Nobody is going to care how special they are or if they have disabilities.

[Iron_Man]

Nope

[Asker]

We’ll I had to do what was right. He’s still angry at me for what I did but I don’t care. You screw up, you gotta own up to your mistakes.

[Iron_Man]

You did good

[Asker]

Thanks

[Iron_Man]

You are very welcome