Teachers trick students with fake Disney trip

[joviroxx]

They were purposely set up to be disappointed by teachers that should have their best interests at heart. Who does that? I think it is a horrible joke. Wonder if all the teachers had a good laugh at the kids expense afterward while showing the video around.

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I guess I see it differently. I don't see it as they were set up to be disappointed, I see it as they were set up to learn a lesson.

The trick lasted for a week, not the length of the slide show. I can't believe you are faulting kids for hearing about the trip and believing it. How cruel.

The tirick didn't last a week. The ASSUMPTION and RUMOR from snooping kids lasted a week. The teachers did not play a video and then a week later say.. haha, just kidding. They didn't announce a trip at the beginning of the year , plan events and then tell them it was a joke. The teachers slide show with the "trick" was just that. A slide show that started about the trip and ended with the realization there was no trick.

 

[joviroxx]

]I guess that we'll just have to disagree[/B] as I think that it's OK for my kids to have feelings, even if it means that we have to pick up the pieces when those feelings get hurt for silly reasons sometimes.

No problem there. We all have different ways of viewing things. I love that my kids have feelings. I just like to make sure they keep things in perspective, which Im sure you do as well. But its ok if our perspectives are different.

I guess I just find the lesson in this incident to be a different one.

 

[kwelch10377]

I guess I see it differently. I don't see it as they were set up to be disappointed, I see it as they were set up to learn a lesson.



The tirick didn't last a week. The ASSUMPTION and RUMOR from snooping kids lasted a week. The teachers did not play a video and then a week later say.. haha, just kidding. They didn't announce a trip at the beginning of the year , plan events and then tell them it was a joke. The teachers slide show with the "trick" was just that. A slide show that started about the trip and ended with the realization there was no trick.

From the article:

"The prank, stretched out over one week, was prompted by suspicions that a student was snooping around a teacher’s desk."

 

[okeydokey]

I guess I see it differently. I don't see it as they were set up to be disappointed, I see it as they were set up to learn a lesson.



The tirick didn't last a week. The ASSUMPTION and RUMOR from snooping kids lasted a week. The teachers did not play a video and then a week later say.. haha, just kidding. They didn't announce a trip at the beginning of the year , plan events and then tell them it was a joke. The teachers slide show with the "trick" was just that. A slide show that started about the trip and ended with the realization there was no trick.

The teachers knew the rumor had spread and then topped off the week with the trick slide show. I am not one to coddle my kids, but I see no reason to set up the entire class for such a disappointment to get revenge on the one snooper.

 

[North of Mouse]

OK, maybe Im missing something but why wouldn't they trust their teachers? Because of a "20 minute hoax"? They played a video, it ended with the teachers idea of a lesson. Who is that lead to not trusting their teachers?

If the "innocent" kids are mad, they should direct it at their guilty classmates. I don't know but if my kid came home with this story, I would have laughed and told him "serves you all right".

The prank lasted a *week* - straight from the article, not just the 20min video. I would not want to be your kid.

I have a 14 year old, a daughter at that. So I've seen her go through plenty of disappointment. Some at the hands of my wife and I, some from her siblings, some from teachers & coaches. Disappointment is a fact of life. Is this disappointment really that big a deal? Again, if the kids hadn't "known" they were going to Disney World, would they have been as disappointed?

And what article are you reading that talks about what was in the presentation (number of kids in the room, cheap airfare)?

So, now the children are at fault for *knowing* about the going to Disney? Small disappointment in the home compared to *going to Disney disappointment* - apples to oranges

There were two different videos/articles. Go look, and read and maybe your heart will be softened a little. Our children knew disappointments - that is life - *but* not to this magnitude.

But would the employer record the whole thing to have a record of our reaction?

Thank you! These adults might change their tune if they had been tricked and recorded in like manner ( a whole week to contemplate).

Exactly. The primary takeaway for a teacher who believes that students are snooping on her desk is to make sure that anything that could be of interest is secured. It shouldn't be the impetus to play a trick on the entire class.

They were purposely set up to be disappointed by teachers that should have their best interests at heart. Who does that? I think it is a horrible joke. Wonder if all the teachers had a good laugh at the kids expense afterward while showing the video around.

If one kid snooped, then that one can be faulted. If the other 49 kids just heard the story and believed it and got hopeful and excited, then they were punished for simply being members of the same class as the snooper. Not cool.

The trick lasted for a week, not the length of the slide show. I can't believe you are faulting kids for hearing about the trip and believing it. How cruel.

That school handling the punishments differently is impressive. However I suspect that that's not the norm.

We also deal with this in the workplace. We regularly lose privileges and get chastised because a handful of people did something wrong or took advantage in some way. Again I don't like it but haven't ever seen anything different.

Hopefully you are an adult and can handle it better, not that it should even happen in the workplace.

My kids have been in classes where recess has been cancelled because 1-2 students wouldn't behave. Fair? No. I guess I should have gone to media and complained about how disappointed my kids were.

Here's a lesson kids... LIFE ISN'T FAIR!

Nope, not fair at all - but again *apples to oranges*! There are plenty of opportunities in life to show kids that life isn't fair, but it doesn't have to come *intentionally* from an authority that we have taught our children to respect.

 

[okeydokey]

My kids have been in classes where recess has been cancelled because 1-2 students wouldn't behave. Fair? No. I guess I should have gone to media and complained about how disappointed my kids were.

Here's a lesson kids... LIFE ISN'T FAIR!

I dislike group punishment but I tell my kids to suck it up because there is not much they can do about it. Group punishment doesn't work or it wouldn't have to be practiced over and over again, and it is. The offenders don't learn a thing and it does not change any behavior. It is a lazy way of trying to instill discipline instead of dealing directly with the problem.

You are right, life isn't fair and kids need to learn resiliency. I just don't see the need to come up with a trick like this to teach one kid a lesson. I guess it did teach the kids not to like that teacher and not to take them seriously in the future, I think this is not the lesson that was intended.

 

[dadddio]

My kids have been in classes where recess has been cancelled because 1-2 students wouldn't behave. Fair? No. I guess I should have gone to media and complained about how disappointed my kids were.

Here's a lesson kids... LIFE ISN'T FAIR!

Just because life isn't fair doesn't give any of us an excuse to be unfair (or to play mean jokes on groups of people). As much as life likes to remind each one of us adults that life isn't fair, I still make a special effort to be fair to my children and those people who work for me. Similarly, I expect the teachers of my children to make an effort to treat the children in their class fairly.

 

[sam_gordon]

There were two different videos/articles. Go look, and read and maybe your heart will be softened a little. Our children knew disappointments - that is life - *but* not to this magnitude.

Please explain what magnitude this went to. If this "hurt"/traumatized the kids so much, then yes, they are being coddled.

And again (since no one seems willing to answer), do you think the kids would have been as disappointed/hurt/traumatized, if the one child hadn't snooped and started the WDW rumor?

As far as comparing "apples to oranges", you didn't think my hypothetical concerning 2 weeks bonus pay for employees that turned into a $50 gift card isn't on the money?

I will say, if this happened to elementary school students, I'd agree it would cross a line. 8th grades? Nope.

 

[Jennasis]

My kids have been in classes where recess has been cancelled because 1-2 students wouldn't behave. Fair? No. I guess I should have gone to media and complained about how disappointed my kids were.

Here's a lesson kids... LIFE ISN'T FAIR!

You can't even be serious about comparing that punishment (missing out on recess) to the hoax perpetrated in the OP. Not even on the same planet in comparison.

But hey, you are entitled to your opinion that it's no big deal.

 

[sam_gordon]

You are right, life isn't fair and kids need to learn resiliency. I just don't see the need to come up with a trick like this to teach one kid a lesson. I guess it did teach the kids not to like that teacher and not to take them seriously in the future, I think this is not the lesson that was intended.

Maybe it's just me, but I would think it would teach the entire class a couple lessons...
1) Don't snoop.
2) Don't believe everything you hear.

 

[sam_gordon]

You can't even be serious about comparing that punishment (missing out on recess) to the hoax perpetrated in the OP. Not even on the same planet in comparison.

Why not? My kids were disappointed darnit!

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

You all have talked sense in to me. I no longer think the teachers should be fired.

I do think the punishment was not appropriate for the crime. As a 13 year old that loved Disney and wasn't sure if my parents would take me back, I would have been hurt for a while. I would have gotten over it.

I think the part that bothers me is that the teachers anticipated such a strong reaction that they taped it, presumably to watch it again. That makes me think they get some enjoyment from watching the disappointment on students faces, or why would the want a video to watch it again? Even if they taped it to show other students as a warning for what happens if you believe rumors, I don't think that is right either.

I have a feeling some students learned an extra lesson - font trust teachers.

And the teachers kind of shot themselves in the foot, because they will have list credibility with future students, because I guarantee you the lower grades know what happened and who the teachers are.

 

[mickeyboat]

I just don't see this as some huge debilitating punishment. It was a slight and short-lived disappointment. It wouldn't really even be a blip on my kids' radars (12 and 13).

That being said, I do think that taping it and planning to show it was inappropriate and uncalled for.

 

[Disneylover99]

Maybe it's just me, but I would think it would teach the entire class a couple lessons...
1) Don't snoop.
2) Don't believe everything you hear.

Maybe this sounds harsh, but I think everyone involved learned a valuable lesson through this.

The snooper/snoopers - don't believe everything you see, don't spread rumours
The innocent students - don't believe rumours and gossip
The teachers - don't tick off parents

You can try to discuss privacy issues, and why you shouldn't spread rumours or gossip with grade eight students, but mostly these discussions are in one ear, out the other.

What's done is done. Hopefully they can all learn something from this and move on.

 

[luvsJack]

That school handling the punishments differently is impressive. However I suspect that that's not the norm.

We also deal with this in the workplace. We regularly lose privileges and get chastised because a handful of people did something wrong or took advantage in some way. Again I don't like it but haven't ever seen anything different.

Never worked anywhere that we "lost privileges" but I know all about managing to the masses so that no one is singled out. My boss does it all the time.

JMHO, but I think in the workplace it works because the guilty parties know they are the guilty ones and realize that they are the reason for whatever is going on. Kids don't see it the same way.

It honestly doesn't work. Kids usually won't be harsh to the guilty party so the peer pressure isn't there. The guilty party feels more like they got away with something.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

So if the students didn't snoop, they wouldn't have been thinking Disney, right? And the teachers are at fault? Sorry, but no. The students brought this on themselves.

ITA and of course as usual this thread most likely will turn into a bash the teacher thread (am not reading past this post).

 

[MUFFYCAT]

Bravo to the teacher! Please these lids are 14 not 6

 

[Granny square]

The teachers knew the rumor had spread and then topped off the week with the trick slide show. I am not one to coddle my kids, but I see no reason to set up the entire class for such a disappointment to get revenge on the one snooper.

It is just too passive aggressive, IMO.

Deal with the person and issue. A better lesson in dealing with people imo

 

[Granny square]

ITA and of course as usual this thread most likely will turn into a bash the teacher thread (am not reading past this post).

Is it bashing to disagree with a method if dealing with behavior? That seems a bit of a stretch.

 

[okeydokey]

I have a feeling that more "heartfelt" apologies will be issued soon, as this story is starting to get some play.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/can...de+students+over+fake+trip/7996109/story.html


A quote by parent from the article:


He said part of his weekend was spent convincing his three children that “this is not the norm” and that teachers, as authority figures, should continue to be respected and trusted.