Teacher forced to resign over inappropriate pics on her phone. Something is just wrong here

[Magpie]

You know I was joking, right?

Yeah, but I couldn't resist taking it as a serious question. This is the kind of thing folks in academia write papers about!

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Well I just heard about this... the student IS being charged!

http://www.wyff4.com/news/student-charged-in-teachers-private-cellphone-picture-case/38342260

 

[Dentam]

Well I just heard about this... the student IS being charged!

http://www.wyff4.com/news/student-charged-in-teachers-private-cellphone-picture-case/38342260

From this article it sounds like the other students respect her and want her to get her job back. Glad that the little punk is being charged.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

Well I just heard about this... the student IS being charged!

http://www.wyff4.com/news/student-charged-in-teachers-private-cellphone-picture-case/38342260

It appears as though a public outcry has helped.

 

[lifesavacation]

Well I just heard about this... the student IS being charged!

http://www.wyff4.com/news/student-charged-in-teachers-private-cellphone-picture-case/38342260

Good. Hope he learns a lesson.

Edited to ask a teacher question: I see in another article that the superintendent is saying her mistake was in leaving the class unattended during the 4 minute break between classes. Are teachers not allowed to leave their classrooms during these breaks? What happens if they need to use the restroom?

 

[Hikergirl]

Good. Hope he learns a lesson.

Edited to ask a teacher question: I see in another article that the superintendent is saying her mistake was in leaving the class unattended during the 4 minute break between classes. Are teachers not allowed to leave their classrooms during these breaks? What happens if they need to use the restroom?

They would probably have to have some other teacher come in and cover for them. I can understand the rule but one violation should not mean you are forced to resign. I think the superintendent is trying to cover their butt since there is a lot of support for the teacher.

 

[ilovefh]

Good. Hope he learns a lesson.

Edited to ask a teacher question: I see in another article that the superintendent is saying her mistake was in leaving the class unattended during the 4 minute break between classes. Are teachers not allowed to leave their classrooms during these breaks? What happens if they need to use the restroom?

I went through a this a lot this fall since I was 28 weeks pregnant when school began. I would either wait (if I could) until 2nd or 4th period when I had a co-teacher or I would go between classes. If I went between classes I informed the other teachers in the hall, locked my door and had my kids line up outside my room. Thankfully the bathroom is adjacent to my room, it actually was part of my room last year, so I didn't have far to go.

 

[Shanti]

No strong opinion here (unusual for me)- just wanted to add something funny & similar I saw on the news a few years back. A teacher was trying to send out a dvd of a class graduation to her elementary students' parents. Somehow she accidentally copied & sent out a cd of her having sex with her husband.

The news didn't mention her getting fired, though. The school told the families to destroy the cd's. I can't imagine not being fired for such a blunder, though.

 

[3smithboys]

This is an example of how the inmates are now running the asylum. I am a teacher, and we are asked to be everywhere at once... monitor students in your room and in the hall and everywhere in between!!

Regardless, this teen is in the wrong... he took her personal property and had no business looking at her pictures... let alone distributing them!! Would we be having the same conversation if he went into her purse and took her credit card and went shopping?? Sure, we might still be saying she should have locked her wallet up, and she was careless, but would we be pointing as many fingers at the teacher? I feel like too much focus is being put on the picture and not enough on what this teen did... he was out of line.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

Good. Hope he learns a lesson.

Edited to ask a teacher question: I see in another article that the superintendent is saying her mistake was in leaving the class unattended during the 4 minute break between classes. Are teachers not allowed to leave their classrooms during these breaks? What happens if they need to use the restroom?

That's the wonderful thing about teaching... No matter what you do, you are probably wrong. She was out doing a hall patrol (like she was supposed to do), but her classroom was unattended. As a teacher, you are expected to be both places at the same time. You can try locking them out of the room, but some other teacher will come along and unlock the door.

In regards to the bathroom, go during the break and let the administration get over themselves.

I remember an incident at my school a few years ago. A teacher locked her door, to keep her kids out of the room while she was in the bathroom between classes. An assistant principal unlocked the door and let the kids in. Then she got in trouble for leaving her room unsupervised.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

It seems to me like the students in the school have more common sense than the interim superintendent does.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...aring-nude-photos-South-Carolina-teacher.html

"Students Jacob Barnett, Josh Sinclair and Matthew Caldwell said Arthur was pressured to leave her job despite her privacy being invaded.

Speaking via email, Jacob Barnett said on Thursday: 'There is an unspoken rule of the classroom; everyone knows it, don't touch what's on the teacher's desk, or anything that belongs to anyone else.

'Her phone is her private property, and whatever is on it is her business.'

The petition adds: 'Leigh Anne Arthur is the victim of a blatant attack of her privacy. Personal photographs were illegally obtained by a student and were sent to other students in the school.

'After being escorted off of school property, we (the students) are left to believe that she has been forced to, or given little choice but to resign.

'Mrs. Arthur has not only shown tremendous dedication to her students, but also the mechatronics program itself, often reaching out to local businesses and colleges to get materials that would not normally be available for the class.

'With that being said, the student(s) responsible have not received any sort of punishment. The circumstances in which Mrs.Arthur was let go is unacceptable, and must be corrected.'"

 

[Aliceacc]

We are expected to be in the doorways between periods, keeping an eye on both the hallway and the classroom. The exceptions are the times we're actually moving from one place to another.

As long as everyone is out there, there's enough coverage to spare anyone who has to attend to any sort of issue in their particular classroom. But it's not unheard of to have to move out of the doorway, leaving either that section of hallway or classroom unattended. The reason we're there is in case something happens, and sometimes something happens that requires us to move.

Our bathroom breaks take place during our free periods. There simply isn't enough time to go during the 4 minute passing period. And obviously we can't excuse ourselves during class time. It doesn't matter whether you're pregnant, have a UTI or are coming down with the flu; you go to the bathroom during your free periods.

 

[DebbieB]

I hope she gets her job back but I think it's a lesson learned. Don't have pictures like that stored on your phone. A bunch of celebrities had their iCloud hacked last year and nude photos put on the Internet. Think about where the could accidentally end up.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I had a conversation about this case with my high school senior daughter today, who hadn't heard anything about it, and she said, "Everyone knows you are not to touch anything on the teacher's desk" - which mirrors what the kids in the above article said, too. Granted, it's no guarantee. But kids know they're not supposed to touch a teacher's, well, anything. It's not something I ever realized was, as they say, an "unwritten rule" of the classroom.

 

[3smithboys]

I had a conversation about this case with my high school senior daughter today, who hadn't heard anything about it, and she said, "Everyone knows you are not to touch anything on the teacher's desk" - which mirrors what the kids in the above article said, too. Granted, it's no guarantee. But kids know they're not supposed to touch a teacher's, well, anything. It's not something I ever realized was, as they say, an "unwritten rule" of the classroom.

I asked my son the same thing... he's a junior.. he agreed with your daughter...

 

[Aliceacc]

My students and my own kids absolutely know that they're not to touch anything on the teacher's desk. If they want to borrow the stapler, they ask. I routinely walk away from my purse. There's not much there of value-- not much cash, a dinosaur of a phone with my daughter's selfies on it. But still, I don't pay particular care.

I've had these kids in my class since September. If I can't trust them not to take my stuff, then it severely impacts my ability to walk around the classroom giving extra help or answering questions. I teach in several different classrooms a day, in addition to my on call period where I could be called upon to sub in any room in the building; "locking up" my possessions in any one room simply isn't practical. (And where would I put the key to that "lock up"? I wear skirts and suits to school; most don't have pockets.)

Also, locking up her phone impedes her ability to summon help in an emergency.

Just as I wouldn't go through the backpack of a kid who was in the bathroom-- or allow another student to do so-- I should be able to have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the classroom. The ONLY time I've ever invaded a kid's privacy was on day 2 of a summer SAT prep class when a kid passed out (from dehydration as it turned out.) I took his phone off his desk and passed it to another kid, instructing him to find the home phone number and get mom on the phone while I borrowed another kid's water bottle and tried to revive the boy until medical help arrived.

Was the teacher making a hugely stupid mistake in having those pictures on her phone? Of course. She could have lost it and had it found by a student or anyone else. But she didn't lose it. She had it on her desk as she was doing the job she was assigned to do.

Let's not blame the victim. She should have had a reasonable expectation that her possessions would remain untouched.

 

[Poohforyou]

I had a conversation about this case with my high school senior daughter today, who hadn't heard anything about it, and she said, "Everyone knows you are not to touch anything on the teacher's desk" - which mirrors what the kids in the above article said, too. Granted, it's no guarantee. But kids know they're not supposed to touch a teacher's, well, anything. It's not something I ever realized was, as they say, an "unwritten rule" of the classroom.

This story hit our local news and just happened to be on when my dd, who's a junior, and I were watching. She echoed what your child said about touching a teacher's property. However, she added that the teacher displayed poor judgment in having the pictures and leaving her classroom unattended. She added that both the student and teacher should have consequences but not firing or jail.

Call me a prude, but I didn't get the naked pictures attraction. Very few people look better naked than with some amount of clothing on without a whole lot of airbrushing.

 

[Aliceacc]

It was her job to leave the classroom unattended; she was on duty as a hall moniter.

 

[Missy1961]

This story hit our local news and just happened to be on when my dd, who's a junior, and I were watching. She echoed what your child said about touching a teacher's property. However, she added that the teacher displayed poor judgment in having the pictures and leaving her classroom unattended. She added that both the student and teacher should have consequences but not firing or jail.

Call me a prude, but I didn't get the naked pictures attraction. Very few people look better naked than with some amount of clothing on without a whole lot of airbrushing.

That's fine if you don't think naked pictures are special, but others could. Or they could have done it to get a giggle or two out of it. It really doesn't matter. She's an adult, taking a picture of herself to send to a significant other. Doing that was not a crime. Maybe she should have deleted it but she didn't. Again, not a crime. Maybe she should have protected her phone better but she didn't. Again, not a crime.

I get that teachers may be held to a higher standard, but I still feel that she shouldn't have been forced to resign.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This story hit our local news and just happened to be on when my dd, who's a junior, and I were watching. She echoed what your child said about touching a teacher's property. However, she added that the teacher displayed poor judgment in having the pictures and leaving her classroom unattended. She added that both the student and teacher should have consequences but not firing or jail.

So she didn't think what the boy did had the potential for jail time? Does she understand stealing and distributing nude pictures was a criminal act?