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Child Behavior (Expert Forum)
7 Year Old Boy Playing With Feces In School Bathroom
Answered by
Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D. - Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy, Family Therapy, Crisis Intervention
Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
This forum is for questions and support regarding child behavior issues such: Child Discipline (behavior management), Normal Child Development, Parent-Child Communications, Social Development
7 Year Old Boy Playing With Feces In School Bathroom
by twinstoo, Feb 16, 2007 12:00AM
I have a 7 year old boy that seems to be having problems in school. He is in first grade and the other day I received a phone call from the school psycologist about something he did. He went into the bathroom and had a bowel movement, then wrote on the walls of the stall and the toilet with it. This is the first time this has ever happened. He has an IEP at school and only earlier developed a problem with urinating frequently. There was nothing physically wrong, but he has been to see a psychiatrist and has been put on celexa for depression to help with his anxiety. He would not get on the bus before this and wanted to stay home with me. Now he gets on the bus. He just wants to stay home with me and he does not want to go to school. The school thinks the incident in the bathroom is a cry for help, but I think he does not want to go to school, he does not like the work, so he hopes if he does something extreme, they will throw him out of school. He has told me he does not like school and he thinks he is a failure and he can't do it. I just can't understand why he would go to the extreme of writing on the walls with his own feces. He also then told his teacher what he did. He is seeing a psycologist outside of school also. Everyone, including the psycologists in school, thinks that he should not be punished for this incident in the bathroom. I am so upset and confused and don't know what to do already.
Doctor's Answer
by Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D., Feb 16, 2007 12:00AM
, Feb 16, 2007 12:00AM
It goes without saying that your son is unhappy. Your note indicates that he displays both learning problems and emotional problems. If school is not experienced as a place where success occurs, children often do develop a negative reaction to it. So two things will be important: (a) be sure his emotional problems are being addressed - I assume they are in light of your mention of therapy and medication; and (b) be sure his learning needs are being addressed. Does the IEP contain services that are sufficient to meet his needs? Does he need additional supports in school? And, relative to the episode of smearing the feces in the bathroom, it is certainly OK to discipline him for this and at the same time understand that the behavior is symptomatic of his unhappiness. The two are not mutually exclusive.
Member Comments (1)
by Shannon804, May 07, 2008 10:22PM
A related discussion, Help with child with Autism was started.
by beccab222, Jan 15, 2009 12:56PM
A related discussion, feces smearing was started.
