primary Tattling

Telling is getting someone out of trouble and Tattling is getting someone into trouble.
We want students to speak up when they see bullying or vandalism occurring in their school.

But

Do your students know the difference between Telling and Tattling?

Some students have not developed these behaviours yet. They need to be taught when and under what circumstances they have the responsibility to report certain actions to their teacher or parents. There is a definite difference between tattling and telling. Many students are not aware of that difference. We need to discourage one and encourage the other.

We designed a PDF of different scenarios.
Print off a sheet for each student and allow them to answer the questions by themselves. After everyone has completed their questions have a class discussion of what is tattling and what is telling.

Children tattle when they want to --
...get someone in trouble
...get attention
...have a teacher or parent solve their problem

Children are telling when they --
...want security for themselves or someone else
...want safeguards for theirs or someone else's property
...are frightened
...are in danger