A student in Grade 7 was handed a USB drive that belonged to a teacher by a little kid. The Grade 7 knew who the USB drive belonged to as it had been announced that this teacher has lost their USB. However, this student went to the computer lab and deleted all the files. This teacher has lost a lot of information and could be expected is fuming. What do you think the consequence should be? The history of this student also involves them taking a classroom key from another teachers desk (the one key opens all the classrooms). He went into his classroom and ate the chocolates the teacher had stored in her desk and took a small amount of money from her purse. What do you think the consequence of this action should be?
I honestly don't know but on our incident report forms, stealing is put down as a level 3 offense which is in the same category as physical assault.
POlice MUST be notified immediately! Child MUST receive maximum suspension!CHILD MUST BE TRANSFERRED TO ALTERNATIVE SETTING! He is a danger to himself and those around him if this type of behavior is allowed to continue.
Not at all. This kid has shown in the past that he's capable of so much more than just petty theft, and he obviously can't stop himself.
This is more than just mischief. Mischief would be taking it for a few minutes/hours and then giving it back, but NOT deleting important files from a teacher's USB drive.
I'd had to agree more with Jarenko. These two incidents, I believe, are not eligible to move the student to an alternative setting. He must have consequences, yes, but not an alternative setting. I would imagine there are a few more students more deserving of that consequence. I would imagine at least a few days of out-of-school suspension would be minimal. Restrictions on school computer usage should also be imposed, as having someone else's USB drive and using school computers to access and delete those files would be a misuse of district technologies.
I'd also recommend having the kid or his parents foot the bill for a file-recovery service to see what it can do about recovering the information from the USB drive.
I agree with ChangeAgent and TeacherGroupie. The consequences should be relevant to the offense(s). That being said, having been in the position of losing all electronic files in the past, the teacher should have backed up his/her files on CDs or DVDs. I back all of my data (documents, spreadsheets, etc.) files at least once per week. I've done it so long now that it is just automatic. Sorry for the brief hijack. The consequences should be severe enough that they get the kid's attention as well as the parent's attention. Does the school have a police officer/DARE officer, etc.?
We're taking a 12 year old approximately, right? At my school he'd probably be suspended for a day for each offence - maybe a couple of days for the theft since it was premeditated. And our computer policy would see him banned from them for a couple of weeks for blatant misuse. And from then on the teacher would probably keep their key on them! Letsteach, what did happen?
In my school I would have called in the Resource Officer and he would have probably been arrested. We have had a lot of problems with stealing and we report everything, even stealing a pencil or a nickel. Otherwise it just gets out of hand. The kid should also have to pay back what was stolen, and in the case of the missing files, he should have to work it off with the teacher.
I'm sorry,this is much more than mischief and petty theft. I wonder what you would think if this child is not stopped and his crimes escalate. This child is crying out for attention and will continue to do so unless he gets much needed help.
I think 7th grader sound like a jerk, and should be punished as a jerk. Scare him, have the police talk to him, but make the consequences immediate. You can't go back and punish him AGAIN for the chocolate escapade. Consequences should be swift and severe. Whatever it says in your student handbook should be followed to the T.
I think admin. & resource people need to get involved (sounds like they should have already been on this student). It seems from the post that this student has no problems taking things that he knows do not belong to him. I would be concerned if I knew a student took a key & could get into my room. I keep a camera, MP3 player, my purse etc... A teacher should be able to lock their room and feel safe. He needs help.
So what were the consequences? On the count of taking the key - guilty and ISS. The admin decided it could not be proved that he had taken the chocolate or money. For deleting the files on the USB - OSS. We are a private school and his father has told him he's not going back until he has written 3 reasons why he should come to our school. Guess what? He's not writing them and so far he hasn't been back to school!!
Hmmm, interesting consequence from the parent (particularly as he's not enforcing it). And long Christmas holidays for the kid, from the sound of it. Do you think he'll be back this year?
Sounds like dad is enforcing it. You cannot force a child to write what you want. They will write what they want no matter how much you want them to. He is not allowing him back until the child decides to do it himself! GO DAD! I just hope that dad is giving him other punishment too... no school is not always very effective. What's he doing while at home? That should be the real punishment!!!
I worded my reply badly. In my home, my child would be writing the reasons out that night and would be back at school the next day, so my answer is from that point of view. You are right in that Dad is enforcing the consequences of not writing reasons for return. As an aside, I would question the value of such an injunction (what 12 year old wouldn't want a few more days off with only 4 weeks of the school year left?) But at least the school get a few days off from the charming child and Dad isn't hassling the school.
Mrs LC, we have 2 weeks left and then we are on our summer holidays, no school for 6 weeks! The Grade 7s have their end of year excursion to a large theme park next week and so far, it looks like this kid is going to miss out - now that's a better consequence!
I think you should tell the school teacher about that student's history because his action is a kind of thief.
This is what I would do: -minimum 3 day out of school suspension AND -letter of apology AND -a talk with a policeman as a scare tactic AND -community service in the school community as restitution (learning to give and help rather than to take and damage) AND -couselling What he did may not be really that serious, but the fact that he is an adolescent and doing these things is. He needs to make that understood so that his 'adventures' don't escalate.
Can we get back to how the little kid got the USB? Did he steal it or did the teacher lose it? If he stole it, what were his consequences? If the teacher was careless with it, shouldn't that be addressed as well? I'm not exonerating the older kid, but it seems to me as though he's not the only guilty party here.
The teacher had dropped the USB whilst in transit from class to class. The little kid simply found it.
I think Out of School Sustpension was harsh for a kid finding a USB. I equate this to finding a wallet. You can be nice and search for the person who lost it, or you can spend the money. Either one is acceptable because "finders keepers," but the kid who found the USB really had no duty to return it to the teacher. It sounds like he is being punished for his prior misdeed. Maybe the facts are different than I am reading them, but based on these facts.... it was the teacher's fault for dropping the USB in the hall.
I thought the little kid who found it was different than the older kid who then took it and deleted the files? Maybe I am wrong. Has he written his punishment yet? And if he did, what were his reasons for being able to go back to school?
But he didn't just find it. He went to the computer lab and deleted everything on it. I believe he wouldn't have been suspended from any of our schools. According to our policy he would have lost his privilege to use any school computer for 1 year. Dad is just letting him not come to school because he won't write the 3 sentences? How many days can he be out of school before you report it? After 10 days out of school, that student would be dropped from the register. After 16 absences in a semester, we would be required to report it to officials.
But he didn't STEAL it, and delete the files. Deleting the files is not a "crime." Its rude, kid is a jerk, but not criminal. Stealing is a crime, deleting is just rude. Imagine this - I walk into my neighbor teachers room and take her digital camera without her permission, and delete all her pictures. Fire me, I stole and I'm a jerk. Then this - I find a digital camera in the hall. I delete the pictures, start using it, and then she she sees me and says, "Hey, that's mine!" I give it back, pics were deleted, oh well, she still got her lost camera back, end of story. They are two very different scenarios. I could see suspending him from computer usage, but out of school suspension is over the top. Those absences count against him educationally, and that is hurting him in his education.
OMG! It is well beyond mischief. This is the time of situation that in a few years you'll hear "Why wasn't something done to help this child sooner?" Police with lots of community service.
Plus what he/she did was entirely intentional. If intentional acts of disrespect are gone without significant punsihment, they will amount to much more and soon. This child is screaming for attn, needs to pay tough consequences, and needs indepth looking into his life as a whole.
I completley disagree. We need to create better character in our kids. I am shocked that 'finders keepers' is acceptable. It is against God's laws as well as America's laws. If that were my child he would be doing some serious community service for that person.
I said the kid was a jerk..... parents should handle that, along with "God's Laws." Parenting should be the concern of these parents. As far as educational law and "America's Laws," what law was he breaking? Seriously, I have taken Education Law in college, and I'm not sure what you're talking about.
As I understand it: The teacher was careless with something valuable to her. She lost it. A small child found it and chose not to give it to an adult, but rather gave it to an older kid who is a known troublemaker. The older kid could have chosen to find out who owned it and to return it, as I would hope my own kids would. He could have chosen to quietly copy all the tests on it and sell them for a profit. He could have just thrown it out. Instead he chose to delete all the files. (I'm guessing he figured he would get into MORE trouble if he just threw it out.) But, as I understand it, he deleted only those files on the USB that he found, not what was stored on the computer, right? To me, the greater issues are: Why on earth was the teacher so careless with something so important? And, being the total computer novice I am, I still wonder why something so important wasn't backed up. Keeping track of our materials is OUR reponsibility, not the kids. (And, while we're on the topic, how is it possible that this same child had access to a teacher's master key? WHY was it on her desk??) How was this child-- again, a known troublemaker-- allowed access to the computer lab at school with no teacher knowing what he was up to? Was he a jerk? Yes. Should he have been better supervised in the school computer lab? Oh, yes. Should the teacher have been more careful with her important files, OH YES! Is dad handling this poorly? Yes again. But is this child a criminal? Not based on what I've read. It seems to me that adults in this building are incredibly lax when it comes to school security. edited to add: And, while we're on the subject: WHO was supposed to be supervising the little darling while he: a) took the key from the teacher's desk b) used it to get into her room and take her chocolates and money?
A USB is very small and could easily be dropped. Should the teacher be more careful? Absolutely. Should a child finding something turn it into the nearest adult? Absolutely. I don't see how "finders keepers" can possibly apply here.
