Submitted 1 day ago by howler@lemmy.zip to [deleted]
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?
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.
That stuff typically only works if you want to stop.
My mom used to threaten me with hot sauce, but I love hot sauce.
Ooooooh very nice idea!!! Thank you!!!
Long shot but it could be a sign of iron deficiency. Eating, smelling and licking odd things like paper, erasers, I’ve heard of these associations. I even read about a woman who would spend her lunch hour smelling the concrete in the stairwell. Turned out to be iron deficiency.
Chewing ice as well, supposedly it is motivated by iron deficiency.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)?wprov=sfla1
Maybe a vitamin b or magnesium deficiency?
Something similar to the spray they use on animals after a surgery? It’s safe for consumption but it tastes god-awful to stop the animal licking the wound.
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 of 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.
1,000,000% this
Yeah, this is exactly what I was thinking, too. You redirect the behavior somewhere safe while still fulfilling the essential need.
Cover them in spicy
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.
Well, there is stuff you paint on kids nails to prevent them from biting them, which basically tastes bitter. Maybe apply this to the eraser?
Maybe get connected to this guy
Some pharmacies sell a bitter liquid (no idea how it’s called) intended to to put on children’s fingernails to prevent nail baiting. I guess this would also work in erasers.
I had this, it was called Stop n Grow
I eventually got used to and, even liked the taste
Yeah… I discovered I could file the upper layer of my nail to remove the polish.
I had a bitterant put on my hands and now I just like bitter flavors lol
Roundhouse kick that kid to the moon.
Give him a piece of gum?
Don’t bother trying. It isn’t going to hurt the kid.
It can easily be a chocking hazard, it’s unsanitary, and it can cause the child to be ostracized by peers which can limit their social development.
Is eating erasers going to get you more ostracized than constant nagging from the teacher to not eat erasers?
It doesn’t sound like they’re necessarily his erasers though
They are not
Why do you want that? Is there some inobvious harm in chewing erasers? Or money is the main problem. Let him chew his own erasers then.
He’s not chewing them. He’s putting them in his mouth whole. I don’t think he’ll choke, but other people want to use the eraser too. Yes I paid for them myself, as someone else guessed in the other answers.
I paid for them myself
Understood. This was the inobvious nuance to me. In my culture we expect pupils to have their own writing tools, paper, etc.
Other kids have to use them.
Communal erasers? Are they extremely expensive in some countries?
Give him gum to chew instead?
If they are the school’s I would simply not give them to that student anymore, for very obvious reasons that every 9yo should understand. Let him use his own.
Is the act itself disturbing the class or his own ability to concentrate? If not, I do not see any further problem.
Haven’t we all chewed on pencils to concentrate?
Well, yes, it interrupts the class because every few minutes I have to stop him. The other lemmings have given me some great ideas
Do like my ol’ dad did make him smoke a whole pack. It’ll put him off forever.
“you can put that eraser in your mouth as much as you want, but first you have to eat this pallet of erasers from the supply storage”
Did the parents take Tylenol? Equip him with erasers.
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?
I don’t think it would be a good idea, that seems like it would only open up opportunities for bullying, without doing anything to address the source of the issue.
I want to highlight again that this suggestion was preceded by a lengthy checklist.
I think you and I have a different idea of what bullying is. I remember kids picking their nose in class and eating it in elementary school. I don’t think it took an intervention from the teacher to get that to stop. Just some kids going “ewww, that’s disgusting” got the message across. This is how society corrects behavior. I wasn’t suggesting a teacher goes before class, does a Nelson Ha-Ha, “look at that loser, go beat him later and take his lunch money.” Just something like “Kevin, the other kids need to use this eraser as well and they don’t like it full of spit. Please don’t chew on it. Thanks.” It signals to the kids this is not okay and I don’t think they will go full Lord of the Flies on him - keeping in mind the preconditions I had outlined above.
Kids at that age are ruthless, I absolutely can’t do that
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’.
Make him write in pen?
dontbelievethis@sh.itjust.works 3 hours ago
Kick in the nuts will do.