Every evening our 7 year old gives a full report on who broke which rule at school

mint_diary_995327 Apr 2026

Who talked during prayer, who took two biscuits, who said a bad word (it was 'stupid'). She tells me with names, and she tells the teacher too. At the PTM her teacher said, kindly, that she 'helps a lot with discipline'. I'm not sure that was a compliment. I don't want to stop her telling me things, especially when something really is wrong. But I'd like her to step back from being the class police. How have you taught the difference between telling and tattling at this age?

2 comments

mint_swing_51627 Apr 2026
My brother was exactly like this in class 1. He reported everyone in the village school to our amma, even me 😄 What amma told him was: tell if someone is hurt or in danger, otherwise keep it in your pocket. He is 16 now and still says 'pocket' when he has something useless to tell.
moss_hammock_589827 Apr 2026
Our son went through this in class 1 and 2. We started asking, 'are you telling me so someone gets help, or so someone gets in trouble?' It took a while, but he began answering honestly, sometimes with 'in trouble' and a grin. It faded by class 3.
- mint_diary_995327 Apr 2026
  Tried the help-or-trouble question at dinner. She thought about it and said 'both'. Work in progress. She loved the pocket idea, though, and has announced that her pocket is 'already full'.