Principal took away cell phone is this fair?

ruby slippers

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:31 pm

A friend shared this story with me and I am curious what others think. School policy is no cell phone use in school and the cellphone your child uses outside of school may not have texting internet etc. All this is made clear before schools starts.
Boy gets caught texting during school- phone gets taken away- so far it all makes sense.
Here is the part that gets confusing.
The principal then goes through the boys contacts to see who else has texting capability, (these other boys were not using their phones in school and had them in the assigned space for the day) and takes those boys' phones away. Yes they should not have had texting and if their parents wanted them to have texting they should have brought it up at the beginning of the school year- my question is was it appropriate for the principal to go through the original student's phone????? Something just seems wrong with that- like a search and seizure without a warrant or looking at someone else's mail without permission.
What do you think.

sourstix

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:41 pm

what is this principal trying to teach his students? that its ok to do geneivas daas? I call this geneiva. stealing. this is against halacha. I wouldnt trust such a principal ever!

sourstix

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:42 pm

wrong wrong wrong!!! oh the fact that the kid texted is wrong and taking the phone away is the right thing. but looking throught the phone?! really. nauseous! I cant begin to tell you what I think. why would a school hire someone like that? thats a mechanech? wrong. those boys will hate him from here on. and he created himself a possibility to loose the job.

cant you tell I am having smoke coming from my ears and nose?

ruby slippers

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:50 pm

I totally agree-
I mentioned to my friend that these boys are going to lose all respect for the principal and rebel .

Last edited by ruby slippers on Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:57 pm; edited 1 time in total

momX4

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 7:51 pm

How in the world do parents have the chutzpah to give the boys cell phones, that are against the rules, to bring to school?

I cant believe that no one else is horrified with the parents.

I sent a dc to camp that allows only the kosher phone. Everyone must hand it in on day 1 to get checked. Any non approved phone was returned on the last day of camp.

naturalmom5

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:00 pm

It is one of grey areas

OTOH, this is against American law, yoiu can have this principal arrested
On the other then the school can refuse to keep your child, possibly other schools won't want you either

I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if some of these boys grow up and go OTD

ruby slippers

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:01 pm

momX4 wrote:

Yes the parents are wrong for not disabling the texting, but if the principal wants to know who has texting then ask to look at each boy's phone. I think unless there is someone who is going to by physically harmed or drug alcohol suspicion the principal has no right to go through the boys phone.

Ema of 5

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:07 pm

momX4 wrote:

Who said the parents knew the boys had their phones in school? Why can the boys not be held accountable? Why must the parents be blamed?

amother

Ruby

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:13 pm

I really dont see why a teenage boy needs a phone altogether. but thats just my opinion. yes, I can see these boys not into learning at all. they definitely have some issues.

imasinger

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:34 pm

eema of 3 wrote:

Who said the parents knew the boys had their phones in school? Why can the boys not be held accountable? Why must the parents be blamed?

OP said that the school's stated policy was no phones at all in school, and no texting or internet outside of school.

If the parents agreed to send their boys there knowing that was the policy, then they were to blame. Sad that there were some number of families who chose to be dishonest.

That being said, I agree with gp2. The principal's actions were wrong, and an invasion of privacy.

Two wrongs don't make a right.

Ema of 5

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:47 pm

imasinger wrote:

One second. You misunderstood what I said. Yes, if the school rule is no text-capable phone, then parents shouldn't get that for their kids. But that wasn't what the poster I quoted said. She wasn't talking about the texting capabilities. She said how could the parent ms send the kids to school with whatever. My response was to THAT. My oldest is in third grade, and I don't always knows what he takes with him to school. Do you think that will change when he gets older?
I also agree that what the principal did was completely wrong, and was a HUGE invasion of privacy and GINORMOUS breach of trust.

ruby slippers

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 8:49 pm

OP here- just to clarify- the boys travel using public transportation and since pay phones are not as common, and since the world is crazy... the boys are allowed to have phones, just not the kind with texting etc. they just turn them in at the beginning of the day and get them back at the end of the day- guess this one boy did not turn his phone in...

Chayalle

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 9:27 pm

I have a standing policy with my kids that if they break a school or camp rule they will face the consequences. Period.

(Besides for the fact that in most cases I will not bend the school rule. If it's no texting, it's no texting. My DD didn't get texting until this year - her school allows it for seniors - and only the Tag-approved phone that her school allows.)

There are some rules that everyone breaks, and those are hard for a parent to enforce. I can't police my kids, so that's where my policy comes in - it's going to be on you kiddo.

If the school rule is you must wear tights, and everyone wears socks but you get caught....you will suffer whatever consequence the principal decides.

It's well known that principals of schools catch a whole flock with one stone. They catch one kid, and find all his contacts. I've heard this before plenty of times, it's not something new, and it's something the parents/kids should have expected when they broke the rule. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but if you know this is going to happen and you break the rule, you get what you asked for.

rockingbells

Wed, Jan 13 2016, 9:45 pm

Once, in high school, my teacher took away my cell phone because I was texting in class. Since I'd seen him take away phones and read text messages out loud to the class I pulled out the battery before handing it to him. He got so mad.

I think taking away the phone makes sense but looking through it is wrong. Schools that discipline and operate like that seem so unprofessional to me. I wouldn't want my child in such a school.

DrMom

Thu, Jan 14 2016, 4:01 am

Confiscating the phone is reasonable, but the principal has no right to sift through this boy's contact info. What if he had his therapist's number there? Or a doctor for an undisclosed medical issue? Not b'seder.

Tablepoetry

Thu, Jan 14 2016, 6:18 am

Chayalle wrote:

It's well known that principals of schools catch a whole flock with one stone. They catch one kid, and find all his contacts. I've heard this before plenty of times, it's not something new, and it's something the parents/kids should have expected when they broke the rule. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but if you know this is going to happen and you break the rule, you get what you asked for.

It's well known???? It's horrifying in my book. A cellphone these days is like a private diary. You don't just rifle through someone's diary, principal or no principal!
That's why everyone should have their phone password protected, including kids.
My dds' school also doesn't allow smartphones, although every one has one in their bag. If you are caught, they confiscate it, and the parents need to pick it up (that's enough punishment...parents are mad at inconvenience, kid upset they dont have cellphone for a day or two). I would be horrified if the principal went through my dds' contacts. Not his business who she is in contact with or what nicknames she gave them.

vicki

Thu, Jan 14 2016, 7:08 am

I think this is the wrong question.
The kid did wrong. The kids in his contact list did wrong. They deserve the consequences. Focus on that. To turn it around to the principal being the villain is missing the point.
Did he do wrong? Maybe. But that is a topic for another day.