I can’t take away the eraser or give it to him only when he asks, because I have more students.
He’s impulsive but nice. His parents know he does stuff like that.
Any ideas?
Cover them in spicy
Sounds like it could be a stim thing - impulsive, you say? Any chance there’s (undiagnosed?) ASD there? The mentions of bitter spray reminded me of when my mother tried that to get me to stop biting my nails. I just stopped using my lips and tongue, and only used my teeth…
Anyway, if it’s a stimulation thing, maybe finding an alternative would be easier than getting him to stop entirely.
I’ll find something else too, then. I don’t want to harm him
I’d be curious for a follow-up post if you find a way to help him with this! I was this kid when I was little, and needed help and kindness, but there was no understanding for autistic behaviours back then so what I got instead was bullied. I appreciate that you went looking for help instead of just throwing up your hands 🤗
Hi! So I suggested nail chewing deterrent to the boss, checked that the kids have no allergies, bought the deterrent in a pharmacy and coated all the pencils and part of one eraser (they stop working with the polish).
All it took was one lick (and OMG their faces), they didn’t put the pencils/eraser near their mouth again. I hope they remember the lesson next week lol. I coated all pencils so the kid I wrote the post about wouldn’t get targeted.
I watched the kid that has me particularly worried and he didn’t show interest in putting anything else in his mouth, nor did he have a change in attitude. Now that he isn’t licking stuff, he is somewhat more focused in class?? I have to keep watching.
I’ll update you!!
Talk to parents, get their written approval to put bitter apple spray on the erasers.
Agreed, putting something repulsive is the key here. This kind of strategy is used for nail biters as well.
That only works for so long. My mom got special nail varnish from the doctors that was supposed to stop me chewing my nails. Properly vile rotten stuff.
I ended up developing a taste for it.
If the parents don’t support you, and you can eliminate the existence of mental issues that require treatment or special attention for chewie, and you can’t use a spray solution, I would go for gentle peer pressure. Point it out in class, do a friendly dressing down how none of the other students want to use the chewed on eraser. If he won’t stop if you say so, maybe you can get other kids to do the trick. The unwanted public attention from his peers might be enough. Would your principal be up for a bad cop routine where you can be the good cop?
Peer pressure would be a disaster. Kids are vicious creatures when they have the chance, and I know that several of his classmates are certified brats with a taste for blood.
In summary: you have the cooperation of the parents, you cannot exclude the existence of a mental issues, and you are allowed to spray the item then. These are conditions I put ahead of any other suggestion.
Point it out in class, do a friendly dressing down how none of the other students want to use the chewed on eraser.
Seems like a great way to get your own private eraser!
They sell stuff called Chewelry; it’s a necklace or wristband you can chomp on.
Maybe get the kid one of those? If not, maybe make one out of a piece of string and eraser?
This one’s for chewin’, this one’s for undoin’.
This is something the parents should do - along being in the driver’s seat of correcting this behavior in their 9yo. In times of teachers crowd funding classroom supplies, I don’t think it’s fair to suggest “throw money at it” to a teacher. It’s not going to cost $5 just once and that’s it. If you have to beg for boardmarkers in general, this will be a line item that matters.
Talked to the parents because this kid is known for doing weird/illogical stuff. They say that they know that something is not right and that they are trying to figure out what it is.
So till we know if the student has an issue or of he’s simply the Herald of Chaos, I will keep coating the pencils with bitter stuff.
Also, yes I have to beg for board markers and all the materials in my class have been paid by me, and I’d like them to last.
Kick in the nuts will do.
Don’t all children do that?
I used to shew on everything, my friend used to literally destroy pens by shewing them too much. I think it’s normal.
Could be just a bad habit as you say. Boredom. Might be worth checking to see of some kids have any other issues that might put them on an au/dhd spectrum. One of ours habitually destroyed pencils and erasers no matter what we did. Found out later It was anxiety and stress from undiagnosed neurospicyness.
Yeah… Parents noticed something wrong too and he’s being checked.
I have things for students of all ages that for whatever reason need to destroy stuff, and they know I’ll give them the item they prefer no questions asked (but I’m always there to listen to them). Before I figured out why those students were behaving the way they were, lessons were miserable.
One day I offered a girl a tray of used paper sheets to shred instead of the textbook and it changed my life lmaoo
This kid is not destructive, so my usual tactics don’t work. The bitter spray did, tho.
