When You Start Duct-Taping a Kid's Shoes, the One Whose Behavior Needs Changing Is You

What is it about shoes, do you think, that causes educators to become unhinged? Reading about the 8-year-old with Down syndrome in Indianapolis who came home from school with her shoes duct-taped to her socks because staff had apparently had it with her shoe removal or refusal to put shoes back on, I remembered my own family's shoe struggle when my son was in fourth grade. He developed a habit of slipping his sneakers off in the classroom, in response to which a paraprofessional developed a habit of nagging him unceasingly. I've written some thoughts about why these little things get so blown out of proportion (by school personnel, and if we're honest, by parents sometimes too) in a new article, "When Goals Get Out of Control." Has an educator made some little thing about your child into a big deal? Have you? Share in the comments.