Photo: Yan Krukau / Pexels
Temperatures were below freezing.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Jan 27, 2023
A primary school in the UK has come under fire after enforcing a cruel punishment on a group of four-year-olds who were caught misbehaving.
Parents are deeming the punishment as “disgusting,” claiming that it reduced some of their children to tears.
The school forced the 4-year-olds to stand outside in freezing weather without coats after they were caught ‘chatting.’
Before class started at Francis Askew Primary School in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, the students were lined up in the hallway outside, when a supervising teacher caught a small group of them “chatting” with each other.
The teacher reportedly instructed them to remain quiet. However, after they failed to do so and continued with their conversation, she decided to give them consequences.
She ushered the students outside, where she left them there for over a minute.
Temperatures that day were below freezing (around 19F) and the students were not wearing coats at the time.
A relative claimed that some of the children “were brought to tears” due to the frigid climate conditions they were forced to endure.
"My niece and nephew are both four-years-old and attend the school. That day it was absolutely freezing, we had just had snow and it felt like -7C,” the relative told Hull Live.
"They were dressed for inside so had no coats on, no jumpers or cardigans on, and were just wearing t-shirts. They were made to line up outside in the cold, which brought some of them to tears because of how freezing it was.”
Parents were outraged over the unnecessary punishment, especially considering that the students were not given outdoor recess that day due to how cold the outside temperatures were.
"I just feel disgusted by it and so do the other parents. Everyone is reluctant to send their kids back and we would like my nephew to move to another class,” the relative added.
"When parents are at work, they shouldn't have to worry about their children. They should be safe with teachers - I don't want the school to just brush this behavior under the rug."
The relative believes that the school “realized that they made a mistake” after sending the children outside, although they did not want to be a “pushover” and left them there for some time.
The parents were informed of the punishment at home time and CCTV captured the incident.
The school has since apologized to the parents of the affected students.
A spokesperson for The Constellation Trust, which works with the school, confirmed that some children were sent outside for a short period of time.
"The school took the concerns of parents very seriously. Children in EYFS are encouraged to use the outside space throughout the year,” the spokesperson addressed.
"A small number of children were asked to line up outside for a brief period. The school has apologized to the parents of the children involved."
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.