>>Frankly, this policy is idiotic. And if one of my kids were in this school, I'd be raising hell to get it changed.<
Have you worked a school lunch lately?
If assigning seats is such a problem, it makes me wonder what would be ok?
It's not like these kids can't see their friends on the playground afterward. Does this child also have a problem with her assigned seat in the classroom? Would her father also complain about that? (Sorry, I did assigned seats in the lunchroom as a kid, I have no deep seated psych problems).
I have been in a lunchroom of 200 kids. I never want to go there again.
Darling little girls like this are used to getting their way. Daddy is just feeding into it. My six year old had a classroom full of these dumplings who had the world rise and set on their little butts. Remind them of a rule and they will smile as they do what they want. The parents back them because, "Little Suzy is just not that way."
Thank you God and all the FReepers who helped me convince Dad to let me homeschool.
Maybe the principal can assign them friends to play with, too.
I finally get to disagree with you. You can't assume that these kids are getting an afternoon recess. At the school my kids attend, they get one 15 minute recess per day (only one grade has it after lunch, the class recesses are all staggered because the playground is too small for more than a couple of classes at a time). Recess is 15 minutes and lunch is 20 minutes. For the rest of the day, the kids must be quiet, stand in line, sit in their seats, do their work.
There is so little time to let off steam or be self directed, that I wonder if they are creating behavior problems for themselves.
As for this kid, I would have told her to serve out her punishment, show me that she can behave properly for several weeks, and only then would I approach the Principal about the rule.