Can a teacher question a student without parent's permission?

It all really depends on the context of what he done OP-if your son was say caught playing a game in class on his phone then the suspension and taking of his phone etc would be a bit uncalled for on the other hand if he was caught bullying another student then taking his phone etc would make sense

mitresize5

I went to a talk by Dr Fergus Heffernan last week. Very interesting family clinical Psychologist

He said the generation we have just rared are in serious trouble, they've never been let make their own mistakes, be accountable for these mistakes and learn from these mistakes. Its always someone else fault. The end result is kids are unable to cope when they reach the real world.

I was suspended once, caught mitching with a few other lads, I can tell you it wasn't the bollocking I got while being 'interrogated' by the teachers that my father was concerned about

FAILSAFE 00

Barney224 wrote: »

Can a teacher interrogate a student without parent's permission?

Yes, waterboarding is still permitted by the Department of Education without parental consent.

blue note

OP, what do you want to happen based on what you're asking? If you find that the school had a procedure in place that they did not follow, are you hoping that your son will escape punishment for whatever he was involved in?

I must say, that would strike me as a very damaging lesson for your son to learn. Children need to learn that actions have consequences and not avoid those consequences because of a technicality.

The schools actions seem perfectly reasonable to me fwiw.

jameorahiely

canonball5 wrote: »

OP, you're wasting your time posting something like this here as many of the replies will be by teachers in my opinion. There is no way they will do anything but defend the actions of the teachers in this situation. You're absolutely right to be annoyed with the school with what happened. I would never allow my child to be interrogated by an adult and certainly not by a teacher who is trusted to educate and not police or parent on your behalf, let alone take his / her private property off them.

We have all been through an Irish education system and know exactly what goes on in schools. I would be furious about not been told why they were calling you up to meet with them, whilst they have all the ''facts''.

You don't think teachers such deal with behaviour? Lol, how that work. Do you go in to the school and sit beside your chikd all day, in case he talks in class at a time he should be listening etc.?


OP you son in responible for his own actions and behaviour. Stop blaming the ring leaders, yhe ADHD, the teacher, the principal and anyone else. You said he used to be a good student. Find out what changed this. Yes teachers have not only a right but a responsibility to investigate incidents. They have other students to teach and protect, without your son and his cronies disrupting the school.

Professor Moriarty

If there are child protection concerns then all bets are off regarding SOP.

Get Real

Interrogate. What's the hyperbole for? Can a teacher/ principal ask questions in relation to an incident that occured which is serious enough to warrant a suspension?

Common sense would dictate, yes.

Doesn't mean your son has to answer. If you want I'd take a fair approach and tell the school you'd be open to sitting in on the meeting.

The fact your more concerned that he's being asked questions than the fact he's involved in a discipline situation is worrying.

Presumption of innocence etc prevails. However would you not want to work with the school and clarify what happened/ see if your son did indeed do something wrong to warrant suspension?

I'd be afraid that your son would see you are annoyed at him being questioned, and would see it as "mam/dad is on my side" therefore abstaining him from all responsibility for his actions. Too much of a blame culture. If your son did wrong, he has to learn actions have consequences.

Otherwise in ten years he'll be another mé féiner and lack accountability. "Well it's not my fault" in scenarios where he played a part. In the adult world, that doesn't wash, and many grown adults can't see themselves doing it.

Glenster

readytosnap wrote: »

Suspended, possible expulsion? Sound like lovely lads, what about the rest of the class? the ones that do want to learn and behave?
Get the root of the problem sorted. Sounds to me like you are just focusing on how the situation was handled instead of the situation itself.

If fairness you don't know sh*t about what happened.
And blaming the nipper instantly is bullsh*t, literally anything could've happened.

Framed10

mitresize5 wrote: »

I went to a talk by Dr Fergus Heffernan last week. Very interesting family clinical Psychologist

He said the generation we have just rared are in serious trouble, they've never been let make their own mistakes, be accountable for these mistakes and learn from these mistakes. Its always someone else fault. The end result is kids are unable to cope when they reach the real world.

I was suspended once, caught mitching with a few other lads, I can tell you it wasn't the bollocking I got while being 'interrogated' by the teachers that my father was concerned about

Anyone that gets the opportunity to hear this guy, Dr Fergus Heffernan, speak should go without hesitation.
All parents should listen to his own personal story and his concerns for the current generation.
A real eye opener and also a great help on how to 'talk to' and 'help' teenagers open up and also for some parents to take a real look at themselves.

Afroshack

Of course they can "interrogate" a student. By that I assume you mean simply ask questions? The school have no obligation to ask you if they can question your son, none at all. If he was involved in something serious enough to warrant a suspension then chances are he was acting up and needs a harsh lesson. Schools don't suspend or expel kids for throwing paper airplanes or forgetting homework. Suspension and explosion are normally reserved for very serious incidents (drugs, bullying, violence, criminal damage) and if you say he was involved, then he was involved. The fact that he has ADHD and wasn't the ringleader is irrelevant.

You sound like you are trying to make excuses for his behaviour and chances are, your son knows you well enough to know you will do this. Instead of seeking advice about how to approach your son about this, you start trying to point the blame at the school. Your son probably knows you will do this too. Kids are clever that way.

The best thing you can do is focus on disciplining your son. Take his phone, x box, stop his pocket money, whatever you think. If you're so quick to blame the school, the teachers, the ADHD, the ringleaders then your son will grow up thinking he can get away with anything and then you'll have a really serious problem on your hands. Do your son a huge favour and go hard on him now, really hard. He will probably thank you when he's older and wiser 😀

micar

Afroshack wrote: »

Of course they can "interrogate" a student.

The fact that he has ADHD and wasn't the ringleader is irrelevant.

You sound like you are trying to make excuses for his behaviour

The best thing you can do is focus on disciplining your son.

Nail on the head

Professor Moriarty

Afroshack wrote: »

Of course they can "interrogate" a student. By that I assume you mean simply ask questions? The school have no obligation to ask you if they can question your son, none at all. If he was involved in something serious enough to warrant a suspension then chances are he was acting up and needs a harsh lesson. Schools don't suspend or expel kids for throwing paper airplanes or forgetting homework. Suspension and explosion are normally reserved for very serious incidents (drugs, bullying, violence, criminal damage) and if you say he was involved, then he was involved. The fact that he has ADHD and wasn't the ringleader is irrelevant.

You sound like you are trying to make excuses for his behaviour and chances are, your son knows you well enough to know you will do this. Instead of seeking advice about how to approach your son about this, you start trying to point the blame at the school. Your son probably knows you will do this too. Kids are clever that way.

The best thing you can do is focus on disciplining your son. Take his phone, x box, stop his pocket money, whatever you think. If you're so quick to blame the school, the teachers, the ADHD, the ringleaders then your son will grow up thinking he can get away with anything and then you'll have a really serious problem on your hands. Do your son a huge favour and go hard on him now, really hard. He will probably thank you when he's older and wiser 😀

Explosion is a bit harsh.

Afroshack

Professor Moriarty wrote: »

Explosion is a bit harsh.

Not when I am principal

implausible

freshpopcorn wrote: »

It's hard enough to get expelled from school in my opinion. Their might be only trying to scare ye. The incidents I can think of that would involve an expulsion the Gardai would generally be involved.

This x 1000. Unless he took an axe to another student or was injecting heroin in Maths, it's highly unlikely he will be expelled. In any case, there is a plethora of ways to appeal an expulsion, weighted heavily on the side of the student.

canonball5 wrote: »

We have all been through an Irish education system and know exactly what goes on in schools. I would be furious about not been told why they were calling you up to meet with them, whilst they have all the ''facts''.

Yes, 15 year olds know everything there is to know about how every school in the country runs, the same way they know about everything else. After leaving school, some people's expertise only deepens...

I would be furious about whatever it is the young fella has done. There could be 1000 students in that school, God knows what else the principal had to deal with that day.

Steve

If you teach your child that they have no responsibility nor accountability for their actions then where is this leading society?
Blame the teachers - yeah, or blame the school, or blame the government, blame anyone, it's not my child's fault.

Rock on 10 years when he's on his 99'th conviction and, horror, the judicial system has run out of lollipops to give him..

Wanderer78

Steve wrote: »

If you teach your child that they have no responsibility nor accountability for their actions then where is this leading society?
Blame the teachers - yeah, or blame the school, or blame the government, blame anyone, it's not my child's fault.

Rock on 10 years when he's on his 99'th conviction and, horror, the judicial system has run out of lollipops to give him..

criminality is actually extremely complex and our social systems can indeed cause and exacerbate the root causes of it

canonball5

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

If your child did wrong, I am sure they're aware of this and you need to ensure it won't happen again.

B-D-P--

canonball5 wrote: »

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

If your child did wrong, I am sure they're aware of this and you need to ensure it won't happen again.

In that case sure the school may as well start a conveyor belt system of getting parents in to make sure their child is wrapped in cotton wool before teacher checks their side of the story.....

eoinzy2000

canonball5 wrote: »

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

If your child did wrong, I am sure they're aware of this and you need to ensure it won't happen again.

How do you know it was an egotistical teacher? It couldve been a 'shrinking violet with low self esteem and security issues' teacher. I suppose it could have been a narcisistic teacher. But then again, it couldve been a sociopathic teacher as well.
Im not a teacher, but this new age idea where teachers have to be afraid of students and parents is turning my kids into fookin snowflakes. To say theyrenot allowed to question and fix problems with some autonomy is complete foolishnesd

eoinzy2000

canonball5 wrote: »

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

If your child did wrong, I am sure they're aware of this and you need to ensure it won't happen again.

How do you know it was an egotistical teacher? It couldve been a 'shrinking violet with low self esteem and security issues' teacher. I suppose it could have been a narcisistic teacher. But then again, it couldve been a sociopathic teacher as well.
Im not a teacher, but this new age idea where teachers have to be afraid of students and parents is turning my kids into fookin snowflakes. To say theyrenot allowed to question and fix problems with some autonomy is complete foolishnesd

professore

Glenster wrote: »

If fairness you don't know sh*t about what happened.
And blaming the nipper instantly is bullsh*t, literally anything could've happened.

I don't care what happened, if there was a breach of discpline he teacher should be able to question the kid and take his phone. Many schools have a no phone policy to start with.

What if your kid was on the recieving end of the issue? Should they have to sit suffering while the principal gets consent forms signed? Get a grip.

Big Bag of Chips

If you hand your children over to the care of someone else for 7 hours a day you accept that the people in charge are in charge. If you don't want anyone chastising or disciplining your child when needed, then home-school them. And don't ever send them to extra curricular activities.

I'm not a teacher.

implausible

canonball5 wrote:

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

Jesus, someone had a bad time in school to have such a chip on their shoulder.

Are you seriously equating a Garda investigation with a teacher trying to get to the bottom of an incident in school? If parents have to be called in every time Mary is caught smoking or Johnny's hadn't done his homework, there would be no time for anyone to get taught.

Bandana boy

canonball5 wrote: »

As I said OP, you're completely wasting your time asking this question in here. NOBODY should be allowed to interrogate your child without you present. If the Gardai wouldn't do it without you there why the hell does an egotistical teacher think they have the right.

If your child did wrong, I am sure they're aware of this and you need to ensure it won't happen again.

Its parenting like this that causes so many anti-social problems in our youth today.
There really should be a license to have a child.

Sending your kid to as school is giving the teacher the authority in advance to manage your child , hence no permission required , it was already given.

canonball5

Bandana boy wrote: »

Its parenting like this that causes so many anti-social problems in our youth today.
There really should be a license to have a child.

Sending your kid to as school is giving the teacher the authority in advance to manage your child , hence no permission required , it was already given.

You're not there to '' manage '' my child. You're there to educate my child!!

My child has no issues in school as her teacher respects her and treats her like a child should be, with dignity and respect.

Maybe more time should be spent in positive reinforcement rather than the current code of discipline.

Big Bag of Chips

canonball5 wrote: »

You're not there to '' manage '' my child. You're there to educate my child!!

And what about children who are there because they have to be not because they want to be educated. Years ago if a child didn't want to continue education, they left. Now, there are still children who have no interest in continuing education but they are forced to attend. So they show up, and do everything bar learn. What if those children were interfering with your child's education? What if they were physically interfering with your child? A teacher doesn't want to spend their class time sorting out other people's children. They'd rather educate. But educating a class of varying abilities and interest isn't as simple as just standing there teaching them.

The huge majority of children will go through school without ever causing an issue for teachers or their peers. There will always be a section that don't care about their or anyone else's education, or even the physical well being of others.

infogiver

Barney224 wrote: »

You've no idea what this is about, so please don't judge my son without any facts. I never said what they did was right. I was just angry with how it was all dealt with me and I got a lot of miscommunication.

It's easier to focus on the way your son's bad behaviour was dealt with at school then deal with the bad behaviour.
When this crisis has abated, you could write to the principal and state how disappointed you were that another child's parents were apparently treated differently, but none of that is going to change the fact that your son has been suspended and is facing expulsion, an extremely serious situation with possibly detrimental consequences.
I'm puzzled as to why your making this your priority and not the welfare of your child.

Eimee90

This is the modern era, it is ludicrous to compare schools from the past to now and disrespectful to those who work there.
You seem to have a grudge against teachers.

I am a teacher and our working day has completely changed to cater for the holistic well being of the student. I have the authority to challenge a students behaviour when in the wrong. Report odd behaviour, question it. I can set detention, hold a student back or out of my class for messing.

We are given that right, thankfully i rarely experience problems, my students are great.

To merely say "teachers are just there to educate" canon, is insulting. My job title has become so much more and im glad, tired but glad. Its rewarding.

Op, your son is in the wrong. He was segregated along with the others because the story needs to be straight and if a written statement was needed, it must be serious. You are approaching it as if they are in the wrong. The school is being clear cut and professional by formally documenting everything

Eimee90

canonball5 wrote:

Maybe more time should be spent in positive reinforcement rather than the current code of discipline.

What current code of discipline? When a child acts up, its addressed and there is a consequence, should we congratulate them and reward them. Teach 30 students in a class, nine classes a day and then come back to me with your new code of discipline

implausible

canonball5 wrote: »

You're not there to '' manage '' my child. You're there to educate my child!!

I'm afraid you are very ignorant about education if you think you can do one without the other.