So Out of the Blue Son Tells Me His Teacher Is All the Time Sending Text Message

I guess I would have to tell him not to question what an adult is doing, she very well may be texting another teacher accross the hall. It's not like she's doing anything illegal or dangerous in front of the students.

Oh hell no. The teacher is being payed to teach and not to text. Tell the principal. If it continues tell the BOE or even call new's reporter ( TV or local paper).

Just for thought: when my ds was 6 and in first grade, I met him at the bus stop every day, without fail. One day, well into the school year, I had an appointment, so my father met my ds at the bus stop and walked home with him. No problems: my ds loved his grandfather, my father was on time to meet the bus, all went well.

It happened that the next day at school there was a discussion about safety at school and at bus stops.

My ds piped up: "My mother is never there when I get off the bus", and he appeared quite sad. The teacher mentioned it to me in a note, and I was mortified! I had missed ONE day, and my father filled in for me! And my ds reported that I was NEVER there! To him, that one time must have seemed very significant, and he jumped right from "once" to "never" in his young mind.

So your ds, at the age of 7, might possibly lack the words to express the actual texting frequency, and he's not lying, but misrepresenting the facts due to his only being 7. The teacher may have been texting a parent or the office, and your ds may have been asked to wait patiently for a moment while the teacher finished.

Just a thought...

How does he know she's texting? One of the parents accused our soccer coach of texting during practice when she was just using her phone to check the time. Just a thought, but she may not have done it at all. They could have been in a room without a clock, and she was using it to keep an eye on the time. (Who wears a watch anymore?)

I've got a 7 yo and I believe half of what he tells me and I question the other half!

i would not assume that a 7 year old is correctly interpreting the circumstances.
khairete
S.

Hum, my first thought was "what the heck is she doing texting, she should be doing her job". Then, I think of how many times I text when I'm at work. I still do my job but send a few text messages too. I'm sure she isn't texting in the middle of a lesson. She probably picks up her phone when the kiddos are doing seat work or something that doesn't require her to be teaching at the moment.

If it were me, I would let it go and not say anything else. If he brings it up again, then perhaps I would mention something to the teacher. More of an FYI then being accusatory. Something like - hey, I just wanted to let you know that the students are noticing that you are texting. I just wanted to bring it to your attention because I don't know if you have some sort of policy and I would hate for you to get into trouble if the principal found out.

Honestly, I don't know ANYONE who doesn't text at work, check their personal e-mail and do the occasional internet browsing!!! Teacher or not, she is human!

How do you know she isn't texting with parents? My daughter's teacher responds to email very quickly and will often reply during the school day. I appreciate her getting back to us so quickly. If it's work-related I don't have a problem with her doing it during the school day. I don't think teachers should have to spend hours of their own time following up on all the emails they receive from parents.

I have known a couple of teachers to have done this, but they had a reason. Both had family members that were ill and b/c they can't take the calls live they have to text to send and receive information. Maybe she has a sick child and the babysitter keeps texting her. You just really never know. One thing about being a teacher that I do not like is that I am cut off from the world from 7:40-3:15, M-F. I can't make any necessary calls for home repairs, bills, banks, doctor appts. ect. The few minutes I get for my conference period I am making copies, meeting w/ team members or planning. You could confront her about it or go to the principal - there is nothing wrong with you wanting to know why she is texting throughout the day. But you may just hold off and ask your son if she is still doing over the next few days then go from there.

If it is enough that your son is commenting on it, I would raise it to the principal. A teacher should be focused on the class. If she occasionally needs to check something during the time the kids are quietly working, fine. But it shouldn't be part of the environment. I work in an office, and while I do have access to a phone, I DON'T text or have personal calls continously during the day. The real world is that you are at work, and you are there to do your job. If you have a sick child or other emergency at home, fine, but that isn't a continous thing.

Hi B.! I would certainly let the principal know. Your 7 year old is right to question what an adult is doing, since adults are not above accountability.

I would not be pleased if a teacher was texting frequently in class. There is no need for texting during work hours at any job unless absolutely necessary. At any job, you are getting paid to do THAT JOB, not spend time texting or on facebook or whatever.

You might want to talk to the principal and have him/her talk with the teacher to find out what is really going on. Not saying that you should not believe your son, but kids often have a tendency to exaggerate, saying things like "all the time" when it's really once in a while, etc. At that age, my stepsons would exaggerate constantly and were forever telling their mom all sorts of stuff about what I did, what I said, what happened. And she learned to take it with a grain of salt and calmly ask their dad about it before jumping to conclusions (they also exaggerated about her so it worked both ways).

I don't think the teacher should be texting at all myself - if she needs to get a phone call that is that important that it may be necessary to interrupt class time (family emergency, etc.), it should go the front office and then they can page her. Call me old-fashioned, but there was a time when that's how things were done and somehow we all survived not being instantly connected with everyone all the time.

I would bring this up to the principal. My school building has a policy that us teachers can have our cell phones on during the day but we are to never use them in front of the students. The sad thing is I see teachers doing it anyway, including texting. Please talk with the principal. I don't think the teacher can be that attentive to her students if she's busy texting.

I"m not a fan, seems like lots of people think this is ok and the teacher should be interacting with the kids instead of texting IMO. maybe investigate someomre and see if she interupts lessons to text of if she does it when they are having play time or something?

I think it depends on the timing. Of course teachers should be allowed the freedom talk/chat however on the of period, and if the class is busy doing work or a test, then I don't see a problem with it.

If however the teacher is in the middle of teaching a lesson at the front of the class and pauses to see what the text is, and/or respond, then THAT is a problem.

My son had a teacher that taught from behind her desk everyday so that she could chat and respond to emails. I was not a happy camper about that.

M.

I agree with some of the previous posters....I am a teacher and I ALWAYS have my phone on me, for safety reasons. But, I have it on vibrate and ignore any text messages and phone calls (unless I know my husband is taking DD to the doctor or some other thing that is important.....which is not every day, or even usually a weekly thing). Sometimes I will see a have a voicemail from my doctor (I have some medical issues we are trying to work out), or my husband who NEVER calls or leaves voicemails and I just tell the kids, "hey guys I really need to check this voicemail" or something like that. I would wait until plan time or lunch, but lunch I am usually calling parents or making copies, and all plan times are consumed with meetings, etc. With that being said, I do not think that it is appropriate or professional to be texting ALL of the time. I would maybe just ask in a few days if the teacher was texting again, or ask how often and if she is texting while she is teaching.

I would ask is it ALL the time or periodically or at a certain time (like when their child might get home from school). I would also ask exactly when. Then if I could, I would volunteer in the class and see for myself.

If she really is texting ALL the time, I would maybe say something like "Wow, I am surprised you're allowed to text during school hours since kids aren't allowed to have cell phones during school hours".

It wouldn't surprise me if she was. Last year at our school our principal had to address this very issue. I was irritated that professionals in our building went around with their phones all day playing games, texting, etc... as if they were teenagers!

I agree that 7 year olds can exaggerate or, perhaps, be selectively truthful. Still, schools aren't the place for texting. I wouldn't allow or encourage my child to text in school and I can't see that a teacher needs to, either.

Teachers are role models. Texting when you should be paying attention to others is rude.

Agreed, emergencies & the occasional really important reason crops up -- but that is not and should not be the norm. Without going crazy or all vigilante-like, I'd keep on top of that one.

Well, i would ask the teacher 1st. It could be that this week his mom ended up in the hospital and it wasn't sever but wasn't a "nothing" either and he was getting status updates on what was happening. I know my MIL gets 3 phone calls at work each day from her elderly mom (one before the 1st bell rings, one at lunch and one as the last bell rings). Her mom has a walker but lives alone and away from family. She insists on not moving and "being independent" so this is really all MIL can do for GMIL.

I would ask the teacher about it the very next day. You want to be sure, that for whatever reason, she/he didn't text once and that turned into "all the time" for the 7 year olds. However, I don't think texting belongs in the classroom at all -specifically by the teacher! Don't hesitate to ask and make your feelings known but be sure it wasn't a communication with a parent or a one time, emergency type situation for the teacher or anything. If the teacher is truly just texting friends in class, that's a poor example to set!

I would wonder if he has a great concept of what all the time means. My son once said he spent the whole day playing legos in Kindergarten. Other children tell their parents they do nothing all day in Kindergarten. Dont go to the principal unless you're SURE its a problem. See if he mentions it again. then ask was it math class? reading? snack time?