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

[Poohforyou]

First, let me say I have never and will never take nude photos of myself.

However I don't think this is necessarily evidence of her classroom management or lack there of.

I have nowhere in my room to lock up my things. Literally. My room is an old resource officer's office with an old desk that has no way of locking and no cabinets. I usually keep my phone in my top middle drawer or in my pocket.

Right now my DD is sick enough that DH had to take a 30 day leave from work to be with her. Because of this I check my phone between each period. Just last Friday she was admitted to the hospital and I had to leave early. I am sure I've left it on my desk after checking it before. Add to this that I am expected to stand at the door during passing time and monitor the hallway. A kid could easily go into my desk or my bag.

I say all this because I know I have good classroom management. Good enough that the administration has teachers that struggle with classroom management come watch me teach.

And I'm floored about the post that said teachers have to lock their phones in a locker so they're not using it. Who in the world has time to use a phone in their classroom? I don't stand still enough to even read anything on my phone!

I'm really sorry about your daughter. I hope she's better soon. I don't know what grade you teach but at the HS level teachers most certainly can check phones during a class period.

 

[ilovefh]

I'm really sorry about your daughter. I hope she's better soon. I don't know what grade you teach but at the HS level teachers most certainly can check phones during a class period.

Thanks! I can definitely check my phone if needed, especially under the current circumstances, but my husband knows to call the school for emergencies and to text for minor things and I check between classes.

I teach 8th grade math to our lowest quartile. We started translations today and some kids tried to plot (1,3) as two points. I have to constantly walk the room both to manage behaviors and help students. I wouldn't have time to do much on my phone.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

This is what it boils down to for me.

But for the illegal actions of someone else her pictures would not have been seen or distributed.

 

[Skywalker]

The teacher didn't show much common sense here...having the photos on an unlocked phone that you carry around in public, then add to that you leave it unattended in a classroom of teenagers. Ridiculous. In my sons' school they teach lessons about how easy it is for such photos to get into the wrong hands and warn students not to do it. How could this teacher have any credibility at all? Does she think "consequences" don't apply to her? To me I would find it very hard to respect her as a teacher, not for the photos themselves but for the stupidity.

The kid should be punished too (are kids allowed to be punished anymore or does that harm their self-esteem too much?)

 

[mom2rtk]

I think teacher use of cell phones during class time probably varies a LOT. I have no issue with a teacher leaving it on her desk when they have a sick child. But my daughter had an elementary teacher who was building a house and took calls from her contractor all day. I was like .

 

[sam_gordon]

I'm curious. For those who think the school is justified in firing the teacher... if her phone would have been locked and the student actually had to hack into the phone to get the picture, would your opinion change?

 

[kamik86]

PORN?? Am I the only one who thinks naked is NOT porn? I'm old (47) and I think of porn as two or more people actually engaging in some type of sex. I didn't think Playboy was porn either.

And yes, I am at work with my phone with naked photos of myself and some of DH on my phone. Oh the horror.

I think the teacher penalty is an abomination! And to a previous poster who said their DS would have lost respect for their teacher??? I don't get it? How small minded would you have to be to think consensual play between two adults is worthy of losing respect?

And I know teachers who are swingers, some who smoke dope, others who have done tons of things that apparently they would be judged on. Personal property and what teachers do on their free time is their business. Not mine.

My honest opinion no not really.

My high schools opinion that I mentioned had rules against having any kind of porn... yeah a naked picture would have qualified. Seriously the school had issues with some japanese cartoons (normal ones not ones meant to be porn)

 

[kamik86]

That's tough. I can see it being an issue that students have now seen this teacher partially nude and it could cause some disruptions within the school. But I think firing her is over the top. They were on her phone which like at least one person mentioned, she has a reasonable expectation to privacy on her phone. I also don't think there is anything remotely immoral about sending nude photos to your spouse. It was dumb that she didn't have her phone locked, but unless she handed it to a student and told them to look at the photos I don't think she actually did anything wrong.

I also agree this student needs to be punished. Sharing those photos is at the very least a form of sexual harassment.

As for this point even if the teacher wasn't going to be fired (lets say the contract didn't have any moral clause and she didn't break any rules on prohibited items) she should at least be transferred to another school. I can't see her managing to keep a classes attention and just teach for quite a while after this.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

As for this point even if the teacher wasn't going to be fired (lets say the contract didn't have any moral clause and she didn't break any rules on prohibited items) she should at least be transferred to another school. I can't see her managing to keep a classes attention and just teach for quite a while after this.

I wonder how European women teachers manage since bathing topless at the beach is completely acceptable in many countries. They somehow manage to still have respect and zero shame in the classrooms even if their students see their nipples.

 

[mom2rtk]

So I'm wondering how many people added passwords to their phones since this thread started!

 

[kamik86]

I wonder how European women teachers manage since bathing topless at the beach is completely acceptable in many countries. They somehow manage to still have respect and zero shame in the classrooms even if their students see their nipples.

I agree would be awesome if that worked that way in America but unfortunately this is a country where games and movies can maintain teen or PG13 ratings while showing people shootings others heads off but showing a woman's breasts will immediately get you a mature or R rating. I think this is completely backwards given that well adjusted normal adults have sex and do not shoot people. However since our teenagers have grown up in this world I think it would cause that much of a distraction and the students won't get anything done.

Edited to add: Actually the fact that the student even took pictures of these images, thought they would cause trouble and sent them out is evidence that at this school it would cause a major issue. If this had been a European country where you could run into your high school teacher half naked on the beach at any time this wouldn't have phased the student enough to bother taking a picture of an the rest of the school wouldn't have cared to see it.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Here's another scenario for people to weigh in on. What if a student went into her purse for the purpose of stealing money and found illegal drugs.

Semi-nude pictures of yourself aren't illegal.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

I agree would be awesome if that worked that way in America but unfortunately this is a country where games and movies can maintain teen or PG13 ratings while showing people shootings others heads off but showing a woman's breasts will immediately get you a mature or R rating. I think this is completely backwards given that well adjusted normal adults have sex and do not shoot people. However since our teenagers have grown up in this world I think it would cause that much of a distraction and the students won't get anything done.

Edited to add: Actually the fact that the student even took pictures of these images, thought they would cause trouble and sent them out is evidence that at this school it would cause a major issue. If this had been a European country where you could run into your high school teacher half naked on the beach at any time this wouldn't have phased the student enough to bother taking a picture of an the rest of the school wouldn't have cared to see it.

What if the pictures that the student had seen were pictures of the teacher immediately after breast feeding? Still porn? Still shame? Still same body parts.

 

[Shmily1]

It was on the news this morning that she had started getting threats. What a shame.

 

[declansdad]

It was on the news this morning that she had started getting threats. What a shame.

Why would she be getting threats?

 

[Shmily1]

Why would she be getting threats?

Because people are foolish. One printed off the picture and put it in her mailbox with a note something about her children seeing it.

 

[mjkacmom]

The student was 100% wrong and should be punished, but I believe being forced to resign is the best possible outcome for the teacher. I do not believe she "brought porn to school." That seems like a ridiculous stretch. However, I think she should resign because:

A. She used poor judgement. Either password protect your phone, lock it up, or delete those pictures if you are going to leave your phone out. Teachers should know that students do stupid things sometimes and aren't perfect angels.

B. She would be a distraction at the school now since everyone saw her almost nude. Boys are going to be lining up to take her classes. That can't be good for anyone.

I think she needs to move on and learn from this. Take all the pictures of yourself that you want, but protect your phone.

Oh please - with the Internet, teenaged boys probably see dozens of boobs every day, and hot young boobs, not the beginning to sag boobs of a woman in her 30's. No one is going to be lining up for her class.

I walked in on my bff's dad getting out of the shower when I was 10 or so (lived next door). Embarrassing, and horrifying, yes, but I was still over there every day (hairiest man I ever saw).

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

The teacher didn't show much common sense here...having the photos on an unlocked phone that you carry around in public, then add to that you leave it unattended in a classroom of teenagers. Ridiculous. In my sons' school they teach lessons about how easy it is for such photos to get into the wrong hands and warn students not to do it. How could this teacher have any credibility at all? Does she think "consequences" don't apply to her? To me I would find it very hard to respect her as a teacher, not for the photos themselves but for the stupidity.

The kid should be punished too (are kids allowed to be punished anymore or does that harm their self-esteem too much?)

There is nothing illegal about the teacher's pictures so why should she be concerned that they get in the wrong hands? This is purely an invasion of privacy and she should not be shamed for it.

 

[kamik86]

What if the pictures that the student had seen were pictures of the teacher immediately after breast feeding? Still porn? Still shame? Still same body parts.

If the school has a policy against images containing nudity then yes same opinion.

I support the rights of everyone to breast feed, even in public. But there is no reason someone needs a right to keep photos on school property where they can easily be accessed by other students, even if that access is criminal.

Some above were likening this to if the teacher had drugs but lets do another comparison on something else that isn't illegal.

Lets say someone owns a legal firearm. They are required to protect the firearm. If the teenager next door stole the gun (they were over at the neighbors house one day and saw it wasn't locked) and used it to shoot someone the owner of the firearm would be considered partially liable (even though they were a victim of theft). If instead the gun was properly locked and the teenager knew the owner was going to be at work all day and managed to cut through the lock and steal the gun the owner would not be liable.

In this case she had images that shouldn't be at school. She choose not to protect those images so although she is a victim she is also responsible for allowing this student to access them.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

If the school has a policy against images containing nudity then yes same opinion.

I support the rights of everyone to breast feed, even in public. But there is no reason someone needs a right to keep photos on school property where they can easily be accessed by other students, even if that access is criminal.

Some above were likening this to if the teacher had drugs but lets do another comparison on something else that isn't illegal.

Lets say someone owns a legal firearm. They are required to protect the firearm. If the teenager next door stole the gun (they were over at the neighbors house one day and saw it wasn't locked) and used it to shoot someone the owner of the firearm would be considered partially liable (even though they were a victim of theft). If instead the gun was properly locked and the teenager knew the owner was going to be at work all day and managed to cut through the lock and steal the gun the owner would not be liable.

In this case she had images that shouldn't be at school. She choose not to protect those images so although she is a victim she is also responsible for allowing this student to access them.

So no baby in the bath pictures on the teacher's phone too?