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Can a teacher do this?

groovdudeyo

groovdudeyo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 16, 2008
234
0
Okay so my friend was using her ipod for the last couple minutes of class because they were pretty much done with everything and its not against the school rules to use and ipod or anything. So as soon as the teacher saw it was an ipod touch he went up and took it from her. he spent the rest of the day looking throught all her stuff and playing all the games. The school rule is that the first time you get something taken away the teacher takes it to the office and your parent can come and pick it up anytime, However the teacher took it home with him on purpose! I mean he was listening to music on it when he left. You think she could sue him for this or something?
 
A teacher is allowed to take it away, but cannot use it. The teacher is supposed to give it to higher administration, or give it back. They are definitely not allowed to go through it.
 
Uh... no? You can't just sue people for anything, kiddo. There is nothing you can do in this situation. At best, the teacher will be reprimanded.

School policy is school policy. If the parents had gone to the office that night and demanded the iPod back, and it was not there because the teacher had taken it home, THEN, ohhhhh.... that teacher would have been in HUGE amounts of trouble, but as it stands, as long as the teacher gets it back to the office before the parents come to pick it up, there is absolutely nothing that can prove it was ever taken from school grounds.

Oh, and if it's not against the rules, why was it taken in the first place?
 
I think that what the teacher does with the ipod is up to his discretion. Just because it isn't stated on school rules "no ipods" that still doesn't make it okay. Your friend should know better and, use it before or after school, and just because your friend is done with their work, doesn't mean that it isn't a distraction to other students. While I might now agree with the teacher using it, it happened and I guess your friend probably learned their lesson. :)
 
I think sueing is a little over the top but I don't think the teacher has a right to play with it. Take it away yes, but not to use it.
 
I love how our culture has become so sue-happy that even high schoolers are trying to get in on the action. :rolleyes:

Give me a break.
 
Tallest Skil said:
Oh, and if it's not against the rules, why was it taken in the first place?
Click to expand...

Because it was an ipod touch. there were a few other people listening to music too. the teacher spent the rest of the class (10 or 15 mins) Playing on it and saying stuff like ooooooooo this looks fun, ooooooo i'll try this game next!
 
I would imagine your friend's parents would have something to say about the teacher taking the iPod home. It's one thing to have the iPod confiscated and then returned but for the teacher to use it and take it home is totally unacceptable.

I wouldn't advocate sueing the teacher (bit stupid really) I would suggest your friend's parents take the matter up with the teacher's direct superior. If no joy then take it to the head teacher.

If my son had his iPod taken away and a teacher used it and took it home I would be extremely annoyed.

Your friend really shouldn't have used it in class though. I'd imagine phones are banned so she should have realized that teachers would take a dim view of iPods as well.
 
A teacher should not be going through a student's personal things, and She should bring it up to the school office. The teacher did nothing illegal. He did not render her iPod useless.


Did your friend feel that her personal information had been compromised? I'm not talking about someone finding out who she has a crush on, but like bank information, SS number, etc, or did you two decide that you could possible get some money out of a teacher(who BTW would average only $35K annually)?
 
Just because the school didn't have rules against it, doesn't mean the teacher doesn't. My school had no rules banning MP3 players, hats and food in the classroom. It was up to the teacher. Some allowed them. Some didn't.
 
Well really a responsible adult would have just kept it until the end of the day or should have turned it over to the administrators.

The school as a whole can really do anything they want. They can search anything they want wether it be your locker, your bags, notebooks, or even your body (drug tests). Courts almost always side with the schools. Schools justify what they do by saying they need to maintain order or "in loco parentis" (in place of the parents). There are dozens of supreme court cases that deal with high school vs student issues.

The teacher didn't find any incriminating evidence so there is nothing really to sue over anyways. It wouldn't be worth the money either. Best thing to do is have your friends parents talk to the administration and teacher. It would really embarrass the teacher.
 
Unfortunately I dont think there is anything you can do in this case, even if you complained the teacher would probably say that it just skipped his mind to drop it off in the office and he took it home by mistake, or something along those lines.
 
I admittedly got my iPhone 3G taken away during school hours this year...yeah, yeah, spare me. It was during study hall. I had my passcode set to lock at 1 minute and to auto erase after too many failed attempts. I got my phone back...erased. Serves me well I suppose.

Odd that your school doesn't have any rules regarding iPods. The staff at my school gladly takes them away in the blink of an eye.

synth3tik said:
A teacher should not be going through a student's personal things, and She should bring it up to the school office. The teacher did nothing illegal. He did not render her iPod useless.
Click to expand...

Something tells me taking another persons iPod overnight without their consent isn't kosher.
 
Aren't we jumping the gun a bit here?

Suppose the teacher also has her own iPod Touch?

Frankly I think this is something that could have almost happened, which means the best thing for your friend to do now is to ask her parents to get the iPod back, and next time not play it in class.

Quite simple, really.
 
Technically, schools I think can do whatever they want (i.e. search your stuff, including an iPod, without a warrant) but I would have lost it if my teacher did that, especially since an iPod touch can potentially have private emails and documents kept on it, too. Frankly, it's unprofessional -- I wouldn't sue, but I'd make a complaint.
 
bobr1952 said:
I know as a parent I would be pretty ticked if a teacher took my kid's iPod home--some role model. :mad:
Click to expand...

So I'll ask my question again: are we positive that this is what happened?

For now we are judging the actions of this teacher on hearsay and speculation.
 
It would be perfectly acceptable to file a complaint with the school; it would be their responsibility to determine the course of action from that point forward.

If anything at all it was a breech of school policy and professional conduct, but it was not criminal and there would be no basis for a lawsuit.
 
CalBoy said:
So I'll ask my question again: are we positive that this is what happened?

For now we are judging the actions of this teacher on hearsay and speculation.
Click to expand...

We obviously don't know whether this did or didn't happen because we weren't at the school so we are all commenting on what the OP has said happened.

It's what you do on forums such as this.
 
I hope the kid realizes that the teacher was teaching them a really big lesson.

Using the thing in class can be really annoying for the teacher.

If the kids got annoyed with the teacher using it, imagine how the teacher feels when the kids do it. ;) :p

aka, the shoe is on the other foot.
 
Sun Baked said:
I hope the kid realizes that the teacher was teaching them a really big lesson.

Using the thing in class can be really annoying for the teacher.

If the kids got annoyed with the teacher using it, imagine how the teacher feels when the kids do it. ;) :p

aka, the shoe is on the other foot.
Click to expand...


Good way of looking at it, I think a lot of students don't have any respect for teachers now a days. It's not the same since I was in school.

Maybe the teacher should sue the student lol
 
big-blue-wolf said:
We obviously don't know whether this did or didn't happen because we weren't at the school so we are all commenting on what the OP has said happened.

It's what you do on forums such as this.
Click to expand...

Naturally, except that even the OP's story is not complete.

His own recollection of the events is based on events he likely couldn't have been there to witness.

If we're going to make much ado over nothing, can't we at least be sure it's nothing first? :p
 
I'm not usually for sueing but that's a massive invasion of privacy. iPod Touches can store emails and other personal information that the school doesn't have access to.

I say sue. Make an example.

Back at our school 10 years back electronics could be confiscated but you were allowed to remove the game, battery or put a "lock" on it. That's how it should be.
 
Like I said before in all the cases of students privacy vs schools the school pretty much always wins. Your 4th amendment rights are not really existent.

At my school if they confiscate your cell phone, people always hurry to take out the battery and SIM card haha.
 
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