I consider this to be theft...

[paloftoon]

I used to be a teacher (and I could go back, but no reason for me to right now , lol).
So, I can definitely see the teacher's perspective in this case.

Whether the teacher forgot about a good time to give the student's property or not, he/she may or may not have been abusing their power. Very likely not. They might not have known the best thing to do in that moment. Also, a teacher is responsible for a whole class of people and not a small group generally.

So, even if you're doing an action that is well-meaning, if it disrupts the environment or is a potential distraction to other students, the teacher needs to react in a manner that maximizes minimal disruptions and "disruptions" to the class overall.

You should've asked the teacher directly when you can get it back and been able to express that you didn't mean to disrupt the classroom if you thought of that and thought that that might be the situation. And then explain that you needed something to keep yourself occupied so that you wouldn't start talking to other students or something like that.

 

[TheGuyWithTheTacoma]

I used to be a teacher (and I could go back, but no reason for me to right now , lol).
So, I can definitely see the teacher's perspective in this case.

Whether the teacher forgot about a good time to give the student's property or not, he/she may or may not have been abusing their power. Very likely not. They might not have known the best thing to do in that moment. Also, a teacher is responsible for a whole class of people and not a small group generally.

So, even if you're doing an action that is well-meaning, if it disrupts the environment or is a potential distraction to other students, the teacher needs to react in a manner that maximizes minimal disruptions and "disruptions" to the class overall.

You should've asked the teacher directly when you can get it back and been able to express that you didn't mean to disrupt the classroom if you thought of that and thought that that might be the situation. And then explain that you needed something to keep yourself occupied so that you wouldn't start talking to other students or something like that.

In that same school, another different teacher confiscated one of my car magazines for like two or three weeks; I don't remember why she took the magazine, but that particular teacher was my case manager, and she took it during study hall (where it was not against the rules to read magazines as long as they weren't pornographic). It wasn't a cheap magazine, either; It was a $6.95 DuPont Registry!

 

[Judge]

I don't park in handicap zones or fire zones. I've gotten two parking tickets in my whole life, and one was paid by my boss because I was on the clock when it happened and she thought it was unfair.

Both tickets were received in the same parking lot too. The bar where I used to work shared the parking lot with some financial planning firm and a county office. The people who own the bar own numerous properties, including the one the bar is located in, and rent the rest of that building out to the financial firm.

The very first time I got a ticket (back in 2013 or so) it was only ten bucks, so I paid it, and it was in the county building lot. One of the bouncers at my bar also got a ticket for parking there. We had previously been allowed to park here after 5pm, but someone bureaucrat complained and the County Emergency Services took over issuing tickets after the parking enforcement went home. It was little more than revenue generation.

The second time I got a ticket was December 2016, and particularly aggravating. The employees of the financial planning business knew what my truck looked like, knew I worked at the bar, and knew that sometimes the unreserved parking spaces are full. Regardless, they still called parking enforcement and I came out to find a $50 "Parking in a prohibited area" ticket under my wiper. There were plenty of other parking spaces available, and I wasn't there more than a couple hours. My boss paid the ticket because she felt bad, and I gave the financial planning people a piece of my mind a short time later. I have never gotten a ticket for parking there since!

I've gotten only one parking ticket, but the circumstances sucked as well. I had parked in the city library parking five minutes before I would no longer be required to put money in the meter at 6pm. Looking around, there was no one around I figured with only five minutes to go, no one would care. When we came back to the car after going to a restaurant across the street, sure enough I got a ticket. They must have been hidden, just waiting to pounce to make their quota. But then city revenue is just that. And they're determined to get their pound of flesh.

There was nothing to do but pay the $20 fine. Sucked, but it is what it is.

 

[Progster]

The issue of confiscating is very controversial. In my view, as a teacher myself, if a teacher takes an item from a child and doesn't give it back, it is stealing. Certain items in class such as mobile phones can be a problem as they distract attention away from the lesson, but the correct way to handle it is to ask the student to put the phone on the desk, or in a special box or draw for this purpose, and tell the student that they can take it back at the end of the lesson. But the teacher should never just take the phone or even handle it at all, the student needs to be the one to put it one the desk.

 

[paloftoon]

The issue of confiscating is very controversial. In my view, as a teacher myself, if a teacher takes an item from a child and doesn't give it back, it is stealing. Certain items in class such as mobile phones can be a problem as they distract attention away from the lesson, but the correct way to handle it is to ask the student to put the phone on the desk, or in a special box or draw for this purpose, and tell the student that they can take it back at the end of the lesson. But the teacher should never just take the phone or even handle it at all, the student needs to be the one to put it one the desk.

In most of these cases, the teacher did ask and the student didn't put the item away.

The teacher should ask first. But generally speaking, in the learning and appearance culture created, even if the person or item they are using is not actually a distraction, it's not acceptable in society to allow such interactions without other attempts in place unfortunately.

 

[Judge]

Call it what you want. However understand that a crime is only a crime when pursued by law enforcement and a prosecutors office. Otherwise it amounts to merely your word against theirs if pursued as a civil wrong.

That in terms of legal precedents, that a US school may be entitled to withhold a student's property for a specified amount of time. Even then though it appears the courts are likely to favor the school when they have formally published rules to that effect. If and when this is not the case, it is they who may be on the defensive.

When I was a kid going through the public school system, I was "fair game" for just about any kind of abuse by administrators and teachers. Luckily I managed to avoid the worst of their potential wrath. But some of the things I witnessed...oh my. Imagine getting struck by a school principal who used their clenched fist.

 

[Streetwise]

Call it what you want. However understand that a crime is only a crime when pursued by law enforcement and a prosecutors office. Otherwise it amounts to merely your word against theirs if pursued as a civil wrong.

That in terms of legal precedents, that a US school may be entitled to withhold a student's property for a specified amount of time. Even then though it appears the courts are likely to favor the school when they have formally published rules to that effect. If and when this is not the case, it is they who may be on the defensive.

When I was a kid going through the public school system, I was "fair game" for just about any kind of abuse by administrators and teachers. Luckily I managed to avoid the worst of their potential wrath. But some of the things I witnessed...oh my. Imagine getting struck by a school principal who used their clenched fist.

The most punishment I ever got was been slapped on the head by a teacher who had hands bigger than a shovel,I was too frightened to tell a parent back then they would’ve said what have you done