Tattling: 4

Kinders
Perspectives
Benjamin Rathkamp
Tattling or reporting is apart of every classroom social environment.
Whether it comes as a slow drip or a constant flow, every teacher is forced
to take time out of their day to deal with students reporting the
transgressions of their peers. The issue may seem beyond the control of a
teacher. Most students impressions of tattling come from their peers, not
taught by an adult. Whether to report or not is a choice every student must
make on their own, but the influences on this decision are many. The desire
to please teachers and/or peers, conflicting morals, evaluations of
infraction severity and predicted outcomes all come to conflict in a
students head when evaluating a course of action. As a teacher, insight
into this thought process could be beneficial in evaluating the behavior of a
student or evaluating possible steps to adjust a social curriculum. This brief is
designed to highlight and discuss 4 kindergarteners conceptions of tattling
based on interviews (all names have been changed to protect the identity
of the surveyed students) so that future teachers may gain some insight into
the thoughts of their students.
Every teacher will have to deal
with tattling in their classroom
at some point.
Student interviewee 1:
Eleanor
Contents
2
5
3
Student interviewee 2:
Graham
6
4
Student interviewee 3:
Zachary
Student interviewee 4: Ellen
Conclusion and Bibliography
2 Benjamin Rathkamp. July 11, 2014
Its bad if you dont tell on
someone who breaks a rule
because you have to tell the
truth.
- Eleanor
Tattling (as defined for the
purpose of this inquiry):
reporting the misbehavior of
a peer for vindictive reasons
or personal gain.
Student 1: Eleanor
Eleanor will represent the most
simple and uniform conception of
rule and rule breaking. Her
answers to the questions of the
survey were simple and
straightforward. For Eleanor, there
are rules and rules are not to be
broken. Rules are not flexible and
exist and their morality exists in a
simple dichotomy between right
and wrong. Breaking rules is
wrong.
Eleanor was not completely
unfamiliar with the term tattling.
She had heard it before, but could
not recall where. She had no
definition. Even if told a definition,
it is likely that her level of
development would have trouble
comprehending true tattling. She is
not prepared to accommodate a
world where a person could
manipulate such a situation to gain
advantage.
When Eleanor was asked why rule
infractions must be reported,
stated simply that rules should not
be broken and it is bad when
broken rules are not reported. She
followed by saying, you have to
tell the truth.
Further evidence of Eleanors
undeveloped sense of empathy
was displayed when asked about
her thoughts about the feelings of
others. When asked how she felt
when someone reports her for
breaking rules, she replied, I feel a
little mean in my head. But when
asked if other people also felt
angry when they were reported for
rule violations she responded no.
Eleanor has not quite put the shoe
on the other foot, at her young
age.
3 Benjamin Rathkamp. July 11, 2014
Student 2: Graham
Graham represents a slightly more complicated
conception of tattling and reporting in this survey. His
conception of tattling is still fairly limited and his
approach to reporting misbehaviors is marvelously
simplistic.
When asked, Graham replied that he did not know what
tattling was. He said that he had heard the word only in
passing in pre-school but did not know the definition.
Grahams conception of rules and rule breaking does
not accommodate this behavior yet. His social
behaviors are basic and rule driven
According to his responses to other questions, Graham
employs a simple modus operandi when he encounters
an infraction. If a rule is being broken, some action is
required. Grahams first action is to tell the person that
they are breaking the rules. If the person persists, he
moves on to step two. Step two is reporting the
misbehavior to a supervising adult. When asked why he
would tell the person they were in violation before going
straight to a teacher, Graham responded: A person
wouldnt know they were in trouble, and people dont
like it when they dont know. Graham innocently
believes that when a person breaks the rules, they do so
unwittingly. He is not aware that people, at times, break
A person wouldnt know they
were in trouble and people dont
like it when they dont know.
- Graham
rules knowing full well that they are breaking the
rules.
Further evidence of Grahams lack of social
knowledge, specifically empathy, is exhibited when
asked about the feelings of others. When he was
asked how a peer feels when they are reported for
rule breaking, he responded that they would feel
sad. When asked why, his response was I dont
know. Graham has not yet developed the
empathy required to evaluate the source of
emotions of the hypothetical peer in question.
Although, perhaps, more simplistic in his
perceptions regarding rule breaking than some of
his peers, Graham did exhibit some awareness that
peers did, at times, report rule breaking for reasons
that dont compute in his algorithm. When asked
why other students might report a peer for a rule
violation without telling them that they are breaking
the rule first, Graham replied simply, some people
think other things.

4 Benjamin Rathkamp. July 11, 2014
Student 3: Zachary
Zachary can be noted for a more
complex and conflicted view of
reporting/tattling. Although he,
too, was mostly unaware of tattling
as an activity undertaken for
personal gain, his view was
complicated by the beginnings of
morale ambiguity. His views
lacked the black and white,
dichotic logic of Eleanor and
Graham.
Zachary stated the definition of
tattling to be telling on someone
who hurt someone or did
something bad they arent
supposed to do. Like the others,
he learned this definition in
preschool and it is not fully formed
to match the classic, more
complex definition of tattling. It
lacks the addendum of personal
gain or malicious intent.
Despite his incomplete definition,
Zachary did hint at the beginnings
of awareness that reporting could
serve alternate, non-altruistic
purposes. He mentioned that
sometimes students tell for no
reason. When asked why they
might do this, Zachary replied that
he didnt know but added that
they just dont care, which can
be interpreted as an awareness of
the malicious intent often present
in tattling.
Zachary was also dealing with
some moral ambiguity. When
asked what he thought about
tattling, he first responded that it
was bad because it would make
the person feel bad. Zachary
seems to be complicating his view
of rule breaking and reporting by
empathizing with his peers.
Later in the interview, however,
Zachary noted that tattling isnt
always bad and at another point,
described an example of tattling
as being a little bad. He clearly
has begun to categorize these
actions along a spectrum between
good and bad, opposed to a
dichotomous good versus evil.
He also seemed to be
experimenting with the idea that
different levels of infraction might
warrant different reactions:
reporting or not reporting. At one
point he stated that he might not
tell, but if someone was doing
something really bad, he would
come to a teacher, borrow their
phone and call 911 (a behavior
which he describes as different
from tattling). To me, this indicates
that not only is he beginning to
deal with a gray area of morality,
but that he might also be realizing
the negative social effects from his
peer group when reporting
misbehaviors to a teacher or
perhaps, that reporting all
transgressions to a teacher, no
matter how minor, might not be
necessary or desirable.
Knows of the
term but lacks a
definition
Knows a
primitive
definition of
tattling
Knows the full
definition of
tattling.
Eleanor Yes No No
Graham Yes No No
Zachary Yes Yes No
Ellen Yes Yes Yes
Awareness of tattling as a concept

Rules are dichotomous:
Right or Wrong
Rules vary in severity
along a spectrum
Eleanor Yes No
Graham Yes No
Zachary No Yes
Ellen No Yes/No
Flexibility of rules

Reporting is
imperative at all
times
Reporting is
sometimes
necessary
Reporting is never
necessary
Eleanor Yes No No
Graham Yes No No
Zachary No Yes No
Ellen No Yes No
Necessity of Reporting

5 Benjamin Rathkamp. July 11, 2014
Question: Why do you think your
brother tattles on you?

Because I tattle on himwhats
the next question -Ellen
Student 4: Ellen
Ellen represents the most
advanced student in this survey in
terms of her conceptions regarding
reporting and tattling. Ellen was
aware of the formal definition of
tattling, the difference between
tattling and reporting, the negative
intentions behind tattling and was
working with a coherent rationale
behind the moral thought
processes involved in tattling.
When Ellen was asked what tattling
means, she stated specifically,
someone is telling on you, on
purpose, trying to get you in
troubleand it makes you sad.
When asked why someone would
try to get you in trouble, Ellen
replied, I dont really knowto be
mean.
This was the only student of the four
that was aware of tattling in the
classic sense. Not only was Ellen
aware that a peer might tell on
another peer to get them in
trouble, but she was also aware of
the malevolence behind such
actions.
Ellen also had a much clearer
rationale when evaluating the
actions of reporting. Unlike
Zachary, who wavered
considerable over the course of
the interview, Ellen stated clearly,
Its ok to tell on some if they are
breaking a rule, but not purposely
trying to get them in trouble.
Ellens firm awareness of the
difference between reporting and
tattling allows her to draw more
defined moral lines. She presented
herself clearly as the most savvy of
the four students interviewed.




As teachers, it is important to
keep in mind the vast differences
between the conceptions of
tatting in students.
Conclusion
The interviews in this brief highlight
the substantial amount of variation
present in the conceptions
kindergarteners have regarding
reporting and tattling. Different
levels of development provide for
striking differences in attitudes and
behaviors on the topic.
Considering this brief only
concerned itself with 4 students in
the same class at the same school,
one could easily suppose that the
range of conceptions regarding
reporting and tattling is even
greater.
With this vast variation in mind, this
brief encourages teachers and
future teachers to refrain from
attributing motivations to
kindergarteners during times of
reporting. Although it is easy to
assume that a student who reports
rule breaking often might be doing
so for personal gain or out of
malice, it is important to keep in
mind that for many students, their
developmental level does not
even allow for tattling behaviors on
a conscious level.
Students are constantly learning
and changing their conception of
social norms. It is very difficult to
say for certain why a student
reports or tattles.
References:
Kipp, K., & Shaffer, D. R. (2007). Developmental Psychology: Childhood to Adolescence, Seventh Edition.

Leadbeater, B. J., Ohan, J. L., & Hoglund, W. L. (2006). How childrens justifications of the best thing to do in
peer conflicts relate to their emotional and behavioral problems in early elementary school. Merrill-Palmer
Quarterly, 52(4), 721-754.

Loke, I. C., Heyman, G. D., Forgie, J., McCarthy, A., & Lee, K. (2011). Childrens moral evaluations of reporting
the transgressions of peers: age differences in evaluations of tattling. Developmental Psychology, 47(6),
1757-1762.

Gartrell, D. (2007). Tattling: It drives teachers bonkers. YC Young Children, 62(1), 46-48.