Hey guys, OP here! Just wanted to clarify a few things. First, I teach 8th grade students (not the seniors I saw some of you guys wondering about). This is my first year teaching, so having this event take place on one of the first few days of school shocked me quite a bit, but I knew things at least similar to this might happen, since I was a teacher aid for a few years. After my student starting crying, I decided to tell him that there were other ways to make friends outside of class, whether it be during lunch or in a club. However, I did tell him that passing notes, no matter what cause, is unacceptable, and I let him go with just that warning. Other than this, though, the school year has started off spectacularly!

Shhh.... You hear that? ...it's the sound of my heart breaking.

I wana read a follow up on this.

How old are these kids??! Cut them some slack! This was so sad!!! :(

You couldn't have known, OP. Teach them that making friends is awesome, but that it gets even more awesome when they do it during break. School is a great place for making friends but during class, there are rules that they have to follow.

This is what kids HATE school, you shouldn't have said anything till it was so distracting the entire class wasn't paying attention to you, if it's just the two let them be!

If I recall correctly from that age, getting into trouble with someone else was one of the very best ways to make friends with them.

Aww, this is actually rather sad.

i would of just told him that you just were warning him cause other kids cant get away with that. or you could of told him to do that in free time in class or after class like in the hallway.

So that's how friends are made...