Teachers taking things from students?

[Miller1412]

Ohhhhh good grief!!!!
How typical.

Here is a huge heads-up.
If my child needs a mother - CALL ME
If my child needs a nurse - You know where the nurses office is.

You are not my childs parent, you are not my childs nurse, or anything else.

You are a teacher. And, if policy dictates confiscation of personal items (including placing any items of value in safekeeping) , then yes, that is part of your job. I highly suggest you take a deep breath and get over it.

If you want to play the huge martyr and include 'keeper of electronic toys' in with your long list of other miraculous tasks... then, hey, whatever.

According to your own post, you have only seen a handful of such instances... Boy, us parents are just jumping at the opportunity to encourage our kids to bring contraband into your classroom and make your life miserable!!!

But, never mind me.... Let the parent bashing continue.

SIGH...
Here we go again with the bashing.

 

[Teacher03]

Now my mother would have said "If you brought something to school that you shouldn't have and the teacher took it and then it got stolen, it's your fault for bringing a forbidden item to school in the first place, so too bad for you."

See, my parents were very big into actions and their consequences, and personal responsibility, which no longer seems to be a parenting rule these days. These days it seems to be "it's not your fault sweetie" for everything.

I agree 100%. I do take things away and keep them, usually for a day. If it is an ongoing problem, I keep it longer and a note goes home. It is just ridiculous to expect a teacher to replace something that shouldn't have been brought to school in the first place.

 

[CheshireVal]

Ohhhhh good grief!!!!
How typical.

Here is a huge heads-up.
If my child needs a mother - CALL ME
If my child needs a nurse - You know where the nurses office is.

You are not my childs parent, you are not my childs nurse, or anything else.

You are a teacher. And, if policy dictates confiscation of personal items (including placing any items of value in safekeeping) , then yes, that is part of your job. I highly suggest you take a deep breath and get over it.

If you want to play the huge martyr and include 'keeper of electronic toys' in with your long list of other miraculous tasks... then, hey, whatever.

According to your own post, you have only seen a handful of such instances... Boy, us parents are just jumping at the opportunity to encourage our kids to bring contraband into your classroom and make your life miserable!!!

But, never mind me.... Let the parent bashing continue.

It's getting really old and predictable at this point. Hang it up.

 

[Mskanga]

That hasn't happened to me ( God knows if it ever will ) but I know that my neighbor's daughter in the same school , was caught with the cell phone on because she let a classmate make an emergency call to her mother just before they went into school and she forgot to turn it off , the phone rang in the middle of class and she got the phone confiscated. The parents had to be the ones going to pick it up.
If something like this happened to my kids , I'm sorry but when you play you pay , if you knew this was not allowed in school and you got caught and lost the item , that will teach you a lesson.

 

[Hannathy]

I have a question for all who say the teacher isn't responsible for keeping confiscated items safe, why not? I am a nurse when patients come in for surgery they are told verbally and in writing not to bring valuables well some do so if I "confiscate" your watch does that mean I can just leave it lay in the room and maybe it will be there maybe not? oh well you were told not to bring it. I am sorry I am responsible for valuables taken off of patients why aren't you?

 

[daisyduck123]

It's getting really old and predictable at this point. Hang it up.

I was thinking the same thing.

 

[Miller1412]

I have a question for all who say the teacher isn't responsible for keeping confiscated items safe, why not? I am a nurse when patients come in for surgery they are told verbally and in writing not to bring valuables well some do so if I "confiscate" your watch does that mean I can just leave it lay in the room and maybe it will be there maybe not? oh well you were told not to bring it. I am sorry I am responsible for valuables taken off of patients why aren't you?

I wouldn't think you would be responsible. If someone walks in and takes something from your patients belongings, why would you be responsible?

 

[teacherforhi]

I have a question for all who say the teacher isn't responsible for keeping confiscated items safe, why not? I am a nurse when patients come in for surgery they are told verbally and in writing not to bring valuables well some do so if I "confiscate" your watch does that mean I can just leave it lay in the room and maybe it will be there maybe not? oh well you were told not to bring it. I am sorry I am responsible for valuables taken off of patients why aren't you?

I would question as to why those items become your responsibility. If the patient knows in advance that they were not to be brought and did so anyway, they either need to find someone to watch it for them or hope that nothing happens to it.

I am not the keeper of the toys. My school district doesn't ban electronic items, but the Code of Conduct very clearly states that they can be confiscated if they are a disturbance. They either stay in the bookbag at the back of the room or they go in my desk. Hopefully, they will stay there until the end of the day (or depending on how many offenses it's been, until the parent comes to get it). But if it doesn't, I'm sorry, but it shouldn't have been out or ringing during class.

As far as where do I lock up my things, I don't. I don't have a place to. The only thing of value that I bring into the building is any money I need for lunch if I'm bringing that day and it stays on my person.

 

[Wishing on a star]

This is not about a teacher expected to be 'responsible' for the childs actions.

This is about common sense.

If my child took an item to school, and lost it, or it was stolen, or left on the bus... You better bet that I am with the 'Child is responsible' crowd.

But, if an adult physically TAKES the item, and it just disappears, then yes I would probably consider that to be negligence.

You could bet your bottom dollar that if my childs teacher collects a check that I send to school for some type of fees... she is likely to issue a receipt, and then make sure that the check is placed in safekeeping.

Anything less is just 'excuses'.

 

[Teacher03]

This is not about a teacher expected to be 'responsible' for the childs actions.

This is about common sense.

If my child took an item to school, and lost it, or it was stolen, or left on the bus... You better bet that I am with the 'Child is responsible' crowd.

But, if an adult physically TAKES the item, and it just disappears, then yes I would probably consider that to be negligence.

You could bet your bottom dollar that if my childs teacher collects a check that I send to school for some type of fees... she is likely to issue a receipt, and then make sure that the check is placed in safekeeping.

Anything less is just 'excuses'.

So let me get this straight......I should take all the confiscated beanie babies, glo sticks, plastic dinosaurs, etc. with me everywhere I go? At what point is the child or the parent responsible? A handbook goes out every school year. The children know what they can and cannot bring to school. The parents sign that they read the handbook, so they know the rules.

I do not have anywhere to lock anything up....all checks go directly to the office as soon as they are handed to me. I keep my purse locked in my car.

And by the way, I don't make excuses for my behavior. I accept responsibility for my choices, good and/or bad, and I expect the same from my students.

 

[Cor44432]

I secretly take things from my student's desks after school, and
then sell them on the teacher's black market. This has earned me
quite a hefty profit over the years. It used to just be erasers, fancy
pencils, and baseball cards........thank god for technology, because
CD headphones, gameboys, and cell phones have increased my take
tenfold over the past few years

 

[JoyG]

This whole conversation would be a mute point if students just followed the rules.

This whole conversation would be a mute point if the parents who are concerned took the time to check bookbags on the way out the door (I love the see through bookbag idea!).

You break the rule, you pay the consequence. Dollar value doesn't change the rule or the consequence.

I find it unbelievable that some parents are still trying to find "exceptions to the rule" and "outs" where they can lay the responsibily on someone other than their child.

 

[MrsPete]

The kid broke a school rule by bringing toys, etc. to school. That's the bottom line. In the long run, teaching the child to obey the rules -- even if they don't like them, even if they don't really see the point -- is more important than the value of the beanie baby or ballcap that was lost.

Parents should know the school rules and back them up, not fight for their children when they've broken rules. You'd be amazed how many parents argue that their children didn't really break the rules, or that they broke the rules for good reasons: her skirt wasn't really all that much shorter than the dress code allows, he didn't realize that his cell phone was turned on until it went off during history class (never mind he was using it to send a text message), she wasn't all that late to school, he didn't know that only X number of absences are allowed, she really meant to return those library books -- what do you mean there's a fee?, he should've made the basketball team even though he didn't attend all the practices, she won't make out with her boyfriend in the hallways any more . . . personal responsibility starts young. Don't make excuses for the kids! If they do wrong, allow them to reap the consequences. It's for their own good.

 

[JoyG]

I have a question for all who say the teacher isn't responsible for keeping confiscated items safe, why not? I am a nurse when patients come in for surgery they are told verbally and in writing not to bring valuables well some do so if I "confiscate" your watch does that mean I can just leave it lay in the room and maybe it will be there maybe not? oh well you were told not to bring it. I am sorry I am responsible for valuables taken off of patients why aren't you?

I'm not under your authority when I come for surgery. I'm not breaking a rule set by my supervisors when I bring valuables for surgery. In effect you are offering to watch my things while in surgery. (Teachers are administering a punishment, not offering a convenience). If you let me know that you are not responsible for valuables I leave during surgery than I will have someone take them out to the car rather than leave them with you. If you let me know that in writing before surgery that you're not responsible for valuables then it's clearly my fault and I obviously didn't learn my lesson when I was in grade school!

 

[monsterkitty]

I secretly take things from my student's desks after school, and
then sell them on the teacher's black market. This has earned me
quite a hefty profit over the years. It used to just be erasers, fancy
pencils, and baseball cards........thank god for technology, because
CD headphones, gameboys, and cell phones have increased my take
tenfold over the past few years

I was actually accused of this by a parent. Her daughter left her clarinet at the bus stop and it was lost. Mind you, this was the fifth time the girl had left her clarinet somewhere. The mother then said that I saw it sitting on the ground at the bus stop and sold it on the black market. The mom took me to small claims court and the judge laughed at her.

Small items I keep in my pocket until the end of the day. If the child forgets to come and pick it up, I will put the item in an unlocked cabinet. Why is it unlocked? Because we don't have lock on anything here other than the classroom doors and the students' lockers. If an item gets stolen or lost, sorry, but I tried to keep the item safe. Maybe the child should try to be a little more responsible.

Large items and expensive items I will take to the office with the child's name attached to the object. However, I have been known to play games on Game Boys before taking them to the office.

Finally, I can't even lock my purse up so I know not to bring it to school.

 

[MrsPete]

Changing the subject slightly, you'd also be amazed at how little kids care about their lost items.

A few years ago I somehow was assigned the job of cleaning out the lost and found, which was to be carted to Goodwill. This job fell to me in June, and it had been done at Spring Break; thus, I was responsible for hauling away about 2.5 - 3 months worth of stuff from a high school of 1700.

I drive an SUV, and I had to make two trips to Goodwill. Sweatshirts and jackets made up the majority of the lost-and-abandoned stuff. I also had two pair of PJs and a sleeping bag, numerous pairs of perscription glasses (I actually took those to the Lion's Club instead of the Goodwill), sunglasses, wallets, car keys, an external camera flash, several walkman radios, CDs, calculators, bookbags, and quite a bit of jewelry. I was shocked that these things had been sitting in the office in the lost-and-found bin for so long. If I lost any of these things, I'd be looking for them!

This leads me to believe that kids have so much stuff that they don't value it.

 

[Mike N Kathy]

I'm sorry, but that's just theft. I totally understand the rule of no electronics, but for the school to take it and keep it is still theft. Not only that, but they are making money off of it. And the students are buying stolen property.

I also don't like the "June Box" idea. Why on earth would the teacher want to have a box full of crap for 9 months? I don't see why they can't confiscate the item and return at the end of the day.

ETA: I also think the teacher should be responsible for stolen items. I don't think it's a good lesson to be learned. It's one thing if the item was stolen from the owner's possession. But, from someone who has no reason to care about the item or it's value, I don't see the lesson there.

I Whole heartedly agree with you

 

[MrsPete]

I understand the June box concept. If a kid's text-messaging with his phone, and I take the phone, chances are good that I'll take it again next week . . . and the next week . . . and the next week. Why should the teacher waste class time imposing the same punishment over and over? It's frustrating for the teacher, and the student obviously isn't learning the lesson.

My school's policy: Teachers take phones (or other electronics), put them in an envelope with student's name, send them to the office. The students can go by the office at the end of the day to claim their items . . . and their Saturday School date. This does little to prevent students from using their cell phones in class, and I'd be in favor of a more strict policy -- perhaps items should be picked up by a parent.

 

[SandiH]

You could bet your bottom dollar that if my childs teacher collects a check that I send to school for some type of fees... she is likely to issue a receipt, and then make sure that the check is placed in safekeeping.

.

I have never been issued a receipt for any check I've sent to school and I send checks for lunch money, book orders, field trips. The canceled check is my receipt - I don't expect teachers to be book keepers either. No I do expect them to take care of any check they received for orders or field trips and I have never been disappointed.

I do agree that an electronic should be kept in a safe spot and parents notified (either by child or school) but an incidental toy or trading card - I have no sadness for that.

 

[barkley]

I think that banning backpacks is ridiculous. How do they expect kids to carry everything back and forth to school? My kids have books, binders, snacks, lunches and water bottles. They couldn't get by without their backpacks.

the schools contend that the safety of children is of a higher priority than student inconvenience (parents have waged legal battles that they should not be held personaly responsible for items THIER children bring onto school grounds including alcohol, drugs and weapons. the same parents have argued that searching student backpacks violates the child's rights).