Missing money leads to seventh grade strip-search

I totally agree with you Dave. I am a 73 year old male teacher of 7th graders. Most of the (my) kids call me "Papaw", mainly because they come from a diverse and mixed up family. That is, most do not have a father and mother. I have no disipline problems with my kids.
But, my school (7 to 12th grade) has about 625 students and they have installed new rules for students. Students cannot walk down the hall holding hands, which I agree to a point with this. BUT, I do have a problem with the fact they have carried this much to far, in that no student may touch another student in any manner. Meaning that guys cannot give each other a "high-five" anywhere in the building.
The kids think it is funny and laugh about how stupid this rule is. They know my feeling on the matter and also know I cannot back them up for fear of losing my job, and they understand this.
What's your opinion?

I agree for the most part. He should also be held civilly liable and all those teachers that participated in his direction should be dismissed as well.

I'm sorry Dave, please explain the "don't get paid well" statement to me. Teachers know what they are getting in to going in. Let's talk about starting salaries for NYPD. Do you think these guys have difficult children to deal with.......... I'll bet their wives pray on a daily basis that that will be the toughest obstacle they encounter on any given tour of duty. Lets have a chat about the servicemen defending our country and the countries that are being bullied by terrorist nations. Do you think Dave, that they are "getting paid well" for their efforts??????
I've yet to meet a teacher that was in it for the money......... At least that's what they've told me. How about you try to help me understand.
Thanks Dave!

I agree with you. We have all seen the perversion in the Catholic church and other sects. I think this man has a very dark, perverted side and should not be allowed to work in a place with children. Kids have a hard enough time these days without having to go through this.

I cannot ever imagine that ever happening! How humiliating this must of been to these children! this certainly should have never happened.

I hope the principal gives a HUGE apology to these children, and he does NOT deserve to have this job!

In the Archdiocese of Detroit, to be a teacher,principal, parent working in the school, to volunteer for sport activities , coaching, etc.(as an adult or parent) We must all take a class called "PROTECTING GOD"S CHILDREN" .

We as parents send our children to private schools for religious values,morals and 'extra protection' that we expect and TRUST from our church community, pastors, principal and teachers.

What a shame!

While I would agree that most teachers have an increasingly hard job, I would not agree the same for a lot of the overpaid administrators running schools into the ground. Most school administrators get a HEFTY salary including ten's of thousand of dollars in benefits....now supposedly they get these HUGE paychecks because they are the guardians of education....what did this jerk teach the kids...guilty until proven innocent? No wonder our education system is being run into the ground...buffoons like this one sit at the helm...and we wonder why our country is in crisis.....

Horrible things happen in schools all the time, children have been being mistreated all over the county and because it is impossible to get fired, nothing happens.
Children with disabilities are the most victimized, some cant tell parents what has happened. Handling roughly, neglect, taking inappropriate photos in bathrooms. I would love to see schools start firing staff that mistreat their power.

This is entirely unacceptale coduct by not only the principal but, also the teachers that did the actual searches should have known that this was not right. If they did not know, then why are they teachers in the first place. Looks to me like there should not only be civil penalites but also criminal charges as well for all those involved.. These are not my children but this is so upsetting to me. It makes one wonder if the motive was not just the $42.

Well once again an educator has completely disregarded the civil liberities of his students, because after all they are just kids. Not only has he violated their civil liberites, he has also problably caused them some severe emotional problems. Firing is not enough, this clown should be held liable for damages as well

He should be immediately filed and legally charged. Any other teacher that knew of this and allowed this to happen and/or helped to perform the strip searches should also be fired immediately. Most adult women having even a wee bit of modesty would have a hard time w/this. Therefore, young girls will have a hard time getting over this. These little girls were FORCED to strip for teachers; how SICK and perverted is that. There is obviously something wrong w/him and the teachers that allowed it. My little girls are this age. They are just starting to develope & are way too embarassed for even me to see them in their bra and undies. I cannot imagine how violated, confused and unprotected they must have felt. School is supposed to protect our children, not violate them!!!

If we treat them like criminals.
They will become criminals.

I think that in this world and time that there was nothing wrong with the way the they handled the problem......

I agree with you Dave, I remember being at a skating rink when I was in the 4th grade, they always had a drawing each Sat afternoon, someone got in a purse took their money and threw the ticket on the floor. The girl remembered her number, and I picked the ticket up from the floor and gave it to another girl to be nice, and just thought someone lost it. I guess I should have turned it in, but I did not. I remember the owner pulled me in the back room at the rink and drilled me over and over. I was mortified and would not have ever stolen a thing. One of the girls seen me pick it up but would not step forward. My own father did not go in and defend me, which broke my heart. But my brother in law and mother did, and she never let me go there again. I had money, I did not need anyone elses. I could see how he might have thought I took the money, but his tactics stunk, I can't imagine how those girls felt. The principal should be fired, even at that a Lutheran School, and I am Lutheran.

Dave, where have you been for the last 20 years? Teachers, principals and school administrators get paid quite well these days! They make more money than some of the parents of the children they teach. And I do agree with the rest of your comment.

I would sue the hell out of them if they ever made my child do that. I would have his job served to me on a gold plater and have him put in jail. I woul dhve that school shut down

Was the money found?

The Principal should have called the parent(s) of the children and then have that parent in the room and have the school nurse or a female police officer to the searches with the mother of the child in the room. The principal should not have any punishment, but be made aware that what he did was not the proper form of investigating this suspected crime.

we were made to do a similar search at a school i went to in the 8th grade for $10 missing from a teachers purse....she had left it there all day and assumed since my art group was the last one through that one of us had taken it and took us as a group to the bathroom so that one by one all of us would be searched infront of the rest to find the missing money....and by the end of the time...turns out that amongst the whole group we only had a dollar and seventy-two cents collectively....naturally some of us told our parents and the super intendent of the school was phoned and stood behind the teachers actions....as a parent now i still see it as a humiliating experience...we spend the whole time trying to protect our kids and give them the tools to grow as adults and send them to school and hope they learn to contribute to society...and then one teacher with the schools backing violates our trust and teaches our children that no matter how good they are that they will be hurt by those that they trust and are supposed to go to if they are in trouble. Teacher or not...undressing a 7th grade girl is still molesting a child...have them arrested.

Public Displays of Affection (PDA's) shouldn't be allowed. They can be disruptive and cause jealousy, anger and hurt. I don't, however, agree that "high fives" and ANY other contact between students be banned. Does this mean that the football team will no longer be allowed to tackle each other, or the cheerleading squad can't do pyramids or throws? Are the students not allowed to shake hands? This type of "zero tolerance" policy has been shown to be more detrimental to the socialization of students than a more common-sense approach to physical contact. What ever happened to the idea that the students should be allowed to learn from their mistakes and the mistakes of others? If we "baby" our children through High School, then we will graduate babies who don't know how the real world works or how to act in normal social situations. The fact that your students know how stupid the policy is, shows that they have more common sense than the administrators at your school. Enforce the policy as you are expected to, because the worst thing that can happen is for the students to lose a quality educator such as yourself. Keep up the good work!