In my son's school if you break a rule you are often made to pick chewing gum off tables!!?

The problem I have with this is surely chewing gum contains saliva which in turn "can" contain diseases such as:

Types of Diseases contagious from saliva
Types list:

The list of types of Diseases contagious from saliva mentioned in various sources includes:
Common Cold
Flu
Upper Respiratory Infection
Meningitis
Bacterial meningitis
Mononucleosis
Epstein-Barr virus
Cold sores
Cytomegalovirus
Molluscum contagiosum
Hepatitis B
Chronic Hepatitis B
Polio

Luckily, he has not had to do this, but am I right on insisting he be provided with gloves?

Yes Laura, they are asked to do it with bare hands - this is my problem. I have been told however that "some" teachers provide gloves - I still think its gross

You need to make sure that this is stopped in your school. As a nurse I can tell you that this is a biohazard situation in which a professional person who should be trained in such things should be the one in charge of disposing of this nasty material.
Are these children wearing gloves to do this? Have they been trained in proper handwashing techniques to protect themselves from carrying or spreading disease? Do they know about universal precautions when handling biohazardous waste? ........... of course not
Kids should not be made to touch this material, and they should not be made to work for the school doing cleaning and maintenance.
There are strict rules about how children may or may not be punished and such things are Federally mandated. The school is breaking some pretty major rules by allowing this to go on.
I would write a letter to the school board, or attend a meeting and bring this up in a calm yet assertive manner. Let them know that this won't be tolerated one more second.
Come to the school board meeting armed with the information you posted above and make sure to have enough copies for everyone on the school board.
If this is just one teacher doing this...... try going to talk to that 'one' teacher first before getting the whole school board involved. It may be just an isolated incident.
If it has become a 'school policy'.... then yes... I would take it to the school board... and maybe even call the local newspaper to get some action on this.

yes he should be provided with gloves

yes he should be given gloves they dont cost much

well i would think this to be a very disgusting punishment , but the bacteria which you mention would not be alive in the gum as it has dried out .. still there will be other little lurkers that i would hate to be in contact with.. yuk.. id complain..x

What a disgusting punishment!

Yuk!

Yes, his school provides either a scraping tool or gloves, no school would make them do it with nothing else besides their hands.

Id tell them that if they do this to my son then they will be getting a call from my solicitor! They cant do that to kids.

Im actually in favour of kids being disiplined but I would rather my child got a thick ear that do that its disgusting!

Yes he should be provided with gloves, but as it could affect his health, i would go to the school and tell them you don't mind him being punished, but you will not allow him to pick something like that off tables or anywhere else. That is a caretaker or cleaners job.

That is the most disgusting thing i have ever heard. There is no need for punishments like that in this day and age. When i was at school, even the cleaners refused to pick chewing gum from tables, claiming it "wasn't in their job description" If cleaner's can't do i'm sure as hell your son shouldn't be made to do it either! If i were you i would write a letter to the school, telling them that while you are all for him being punished if he misbehaves, you do not agree with that particular punishment and will not allow him to do it! Saliva is very dirty indeed, and knowing little boys' handwashing habits (or lack there of...) there is a danger of him making himself very poorly indeed.

wtf. if a teacher asked me to take gum off a table that wasnt mine id tell her to go f herself. dont u have illegal janitors for a reason?

there are some good deals on cotton wool on ebay

first of all that is not right for a kid to do that and YES he should he should be provided with gloves

YOU, WOULD BE MORE RIGHT NOT ALLOW YOUR SON TO DO THIS DISGUSTING JOB, get to the school and complain

If a vote were taken and the principal or whoever is responcible for this silly punishment, and it was decided that the principal wasn't doing a good job and his/her punishment was to clean toliets, the person in question would balk.

I would complain about this forever and a day. Schools in the U.S. get their funding according to attendance. Take your kid out of school but have a doctor's excuse; it'll cost them money. If you make this statement during a PTA meeting and enough parents do the same thing, the person responciple for this silly punishment will be no doubtedly, required to clean up this gum him/herself.

I think you have every right to complain, to protest and keep your child from this type of perverted enviroment.

Ask to what address should you address a lawsuit should your son contract some of the illnesses you've mentioned and I guess that this policy will soon end. If not, I would not support the school in any way and would push for the removal of the officials incharge of such.

What's next? Mowing the school yards to save the school money? Washing the windows? How about sweeping the floors? All this could save the school money and if you strongly express these views that the school may be doing this to save on labor charges, you may gain some ground.

Oh My God??? Your Son is sent to school for an education and not to clean, never mind that his is in contact with potential hazardous material (ie the gum) with out providing protection

I'm sure no teacher, principle or cleaner would do that, without gloves

I would immediately go to the Principle and demand him/her to end this punishment straight away, or even write so u have documents to prove if it does go to court, otherwise say that u will form a petition (I'm sure other parents will sign) and that u will go to a Counsellor, solicitor and the board of education.

I guarantee that they will back down

when i was at school we were made to eat it , and bloody greatful we were too .

Well I think its entirely up to you but it does seem a little odd for a school. We used to get the cane or the belt or lines or detention. I think I would have opted for chewing gum removal myself.

You're right, it is disgusting and the kids should get gloves and a scraper at least. But as somebody who works in a school, I have to say that as punishments go it is a great deterrent, it makes the kids think twice before transgressing.