Livid with a teacher! Update livid with myself!

[DisneyMomx7]

I think it is wrong to create mass hysteria and a high tech teacher lynching on the DIS prior to having the facts straight. Though it has been a while since we had a "LIVID with the teacher" thread.

Student enrollment lists are not top secret. Schools routinely publish honor rolls and other information. Teachers are routinely confronted by relatives and friends of students who want to know "how their nephew is doing" or "are you Susie's teacher." While a teacher should not disclose personal information to anyone but parents or guardians, the disclosure of the fact that an individual is an enrolled student is not harmful.

We know most of the students that go to school with our children. If my child is having a problem with another student we should be able to discuss the matter with the teacher. Should the teacher say "I cannot discuss the other student and cannot confirm that he/she is a student at Hubert H. Humphrey Elementary." That seems to be what some of you are implying.

Are you kidding me - mass hysteria? Sorry but I would be LIVID if a teacher emailed information about my dd without at least checking with me. When we fill out our parent information cards the school has both DH and my email addresses - no one else should be getting any email information about my kids. In this day and age of internet predators you can be I would be furious if it was my child. Obviously the OP did the right think - contacted the teacher and the principal.

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

I think it is wrong to create mass hysteria and a high tech teacher lynching on the DIS prior to having the facts straight. Though it has been a while since we had a "LIVID with the teacher" thread.

Student enrollment lists are not top secret. Schools routinely publish honor rolls and other information. Teachers are routinely confronted by relatives and friends of students who want to know "how their nephew is doing" or "are you Susie's teacher." While a teacher should not disclose personal information to anyone but parents or guardians, the disclosure of the fact that an individual is an enrolled student is not harmful.

We know most of the students that go to school with our children. If my child is having a problem with another student we should be able to discuss the matter with the teacher. Should the teacher say "I cannot discuss the other student and cannot confirm that he/she is a student at Hubert H. Humphrey Elementary." That seems to be what some of you are implying.

Wow, sensitive much?

The teacher was wrong. Period. All I had were visions of some whacko looking at some innocent picture of a concert or something in a local newspaper and trying to track down this girl...to overreact in a bizarre situation like this is prudent - not hysterical.

How different your post would have been had this teacher not been able to identify who the email came from...

The OP should not beat herself up over it at all. Can I guess that you are a teacher?

 

[Sanchez]

Are you kidding me - mass hysteria? Sorry but I would be LIVID if a teacher emailed information about my dd without at least checking with me. When we fill out our parent information cards the school has both DH and my email addresses - no one else should be getting any email information about my kids. In this day and age of internet predators you can be I would be furious if it was my child. Obviously the OP did the right think - contacted the teacher and the principal.

Who said that there was anything wrong with contacting the principal and teacher? Obviously, that was the correct thing to do. I would have done the same. My point is that running to the DIS and starting a teacher bashing thread BEFORE you know that facts is a bit ridiculous.

Once again, what information did this teacher give out (that we know of) except that the child was enrolled in the school? That information is readily available by other means.

 

[Sanchez]

Wow, sensitive much?

The teacher was wrong. Period. All I had were visions of some whacko looking at some innocent picture of a concert or something in a local newspaper and trying to track down this girl...to overreact in a bizarre situation like this is prudent - not hysterical.

How different your post would have been had this teacher not been able to identify who the email came from...

The OP should not beat herself up over it at all. Can I guess that you are a teacher?

Once again you are overwhelmingly incorrect. I am not: 1) sensitive (just ask) or 2) a teacher. On the other hand, you and many others have visions of "whackos." Isn't that a bit oversensitive? Apparently because the inquiry was made though the internet somehow makes it more scary.

We all should protect our children and in this case the OP should have contacted the school given the information (or lack thereof) she had. I just do not see how inviting a teacher bash on an internet forum did anything to help the situation or makes the OP a more caring parent.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Don't beat yourself up OP. I would have been upset too. Glad this issue was addressed with the teacher to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

Oh yeah, and I would be LIVID too.

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I am a teacher, and I did not feel bashed at all. My first concern is the safety of a child. The OP did the right thing based on the information she had. The teacher was wrong. It might have been a young teacher who made a rookie mistake, or a veteran teacher who should have known better. Either way it wasn't appropriate to provide the information without contacting a parent first. I would be livid with my daughters' teachers.

Unfortunatley, we have reason to be alarmed when situations like this happen. It is better to investigate - which the OP did. Offering advice for a parent to keep her child safe until facts are uncovered is not mass hysteria.

OP- glad that it all was a misunderstanding. You have no reason to feel bad.

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

Once again you are overwhelmingly incorrect. I am not: 1) sensitive (just ask) or 2) a teacher. On the other hand, you and many others have visions of "whackos." Isn't that a bit oversensitive? Apparently because the inquiry was made though the internet somehow makes it more scary.

We all should protect our children and in this case the OP should have contacted the school given the information (or lack thereof) she had. I just do not see how inviting a teacher bash on an internet forum did anything to help the situation or makes the OP a more caring parent.

Teacher bashing? I didn't see it that way - I was clearly focused on making sure this child was safe - I couldn't have cared less if it was the school nurse, custodian, bus driver, crossing guard, etc. who was STUPID enough to give out any information to a stranger over the internet. The only priority is the safety of the child.

This had creeper stalker written all over it to me...some "uncle" inquiring about which school his niece goes to? Creepy. Period. These types of inquiries do not come into school buildings every day and when they do, they should absolutely be taken seriously.

Hey, whatever floats your boat - I'm neither a teacher basher nor overly sensitive - but I will call a spade a spade and any teacher - any adult for that matter - who gives out information about a child to a perfect stranger is an IDIOT.

So - with that, I'm glad the OP's daughter is safe, that this was a false alarm and that proper protocol will be followed in the future.

Sheesh - lots of thin-skinned people out there looking to argue over the stupidest things.

 

[smphbear]

I am the technology director for a school. All you have to do is go to a seminar by the state attorney generals' office or the FBI. Talk about scary how easy it is for predators to find information. Over and over, the stories show that predators will track their victim down and stalk them. Most of the information can be found in a matter of minutes.

OP don't feel bad. You needed to check this out. You were protecting your child.

 

[hippiemama76]

Two books I highly recommend are The Gift of Fear and Protecting the Gift by Gavin DeBecker. I firmly believe that as parents (but as mothers especially) we have an instinct/intuition for danger to our young. However, so many times instead of listening to that instinct, we force ourselves to ignore it. You followed your instinct, mama - good for you!

I taught for almost 8 years before getting pregnant and choosing to stay home with my girls. Yes, it's important to hear the teacher's side and not come in all guns-a-blazin'. I've actually gotten phone calls that start off, "You stupid b----, I can't believe you. . . . " because the parents got one story or another from their kids and freaked out. Trust me, you wouldn't believe the things we hear about you parents! From my understanding of this thread, the OP did everything right - called both the teacher and the principal and asked for clarification.

In this instance, the teacher was absolutely wrong, and her error could have had grave ramifications. Thankfully, it really was a family member, but next time it could have been worse. I taught at three different schools and we had explicit training about not discussing students with anyone other than their parents. Nothing sensitive is supposed to be discussed over email, and generally not over the phone unless you are positive you are speaking to the parent.

Teachers deal with all kinds of inappropriate phone calls - kids trying to get other kids out of school, kids calling in 'sick' for themselves, kids calling to talk to other kids, and yes, even occasionally people calling with even more inappropriate intent. The teacher in question messed up, big time.

 

[FireDancer]

It isn't just schools that should be protecting data. I am the Information Systems coordinator at a financial institution and we have classes for our employees every year about scammers using social engineering to get information out of us about our customers.

Now, it is true that people are way to lax with what they put out there about themselves and forget that once something is online it is somewhere out there forever. However, as wards of information we have to be careful with how much we contribute to the problem. If we are so careful with the data of grown customers that are big boys and girls who can take care of themselves surely a teacher should be just as concerned with the privacy of their customers (aka students). I'd love to put something in here about common sense but I have seen way to many people do this kind of thing to believe there is enough of it out there.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

"LIVID" pretty much sums up how I would have felt, too. OP, I'm glad all is well.

 

[Val]

I think that your initial reaction was justified (my kids are 12-22 and I would have been livid). Thankfully, this was a good lesson in caution and precaution.....hopefully this serves as a strong warning for all the staff at the school. I am so glad it turned out to be a case of mistaken identify, but still- the potential for danger was there. I know sometimes I get complacent about the internet and our kids. This serves as a nice reminder that we need to be careful and cautious.

Auntie wasn't so bright- she ought to know better than to ask questions about kids in this day and age.....might get you arrested, or at least on the "bad Christmas gift" list!

BTW- ever seen the George Lopez show where each set of dads thinks the their child is being stalked by a predator? Involves baseball bats, protective cups, mistaken identies and then a beer. Pretty funny, but too true in this day and age.