'We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas': Kid punches teacher and breaks his glasses, Parents suggest 'calming banana' as the solution

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

Mar 14, 2024 6:00 AM EDT

Kids misbehave in a multitude of ways. Misbehavior can be chalked up to developmentally normal deviance or it can be indicative of more dangerous behavior to come if it's not properly dealt with. The key is knowing the difference. When I was a kid, I got in trouble for talking too much in class (I'll never forget the day I had to pull my card from green to yellow for this very reason), but I was never getting into fights with other kids or being violent towards adults.

One teacher recently went viral after receiving an email from the parents of a kid who punched him and broke his glasses. Instead of saying, "We're so sorry, can we pay to get your glasses fixed?" or "Our son will be grounded for a month for this behavior," they instead offered to pack him a "calming banana" because they assume he punched his teacher because he was hungry.