School staff member took my child’s toy (for his own child) after confiscating items for sale

[Busyybee]

My DC has recently been selling squishy toys at school, he’s an entrepreneur in the making. However we told him it wasn’t a good idea and he carried on.

On Friday he got caught and his teacher gave me his school bag which contained ‘his stock’. They asked me to not allow him to bring them in as it’s not allowed. I told them I’m glad they’ve said it to him & he won’t be bringing them again. As the teacher handed me the bag, another staff member who works at the school asked to see what he was selling and went on to take 1 squishy & said ‘this will be nice for my daughter’. My DC asked him for the money & the staff member said ‘No, your lucky I didn’t take the lot’

My DC asked the staff member for the money or squishy back & he said ‘Na na your not getting it back, your lucky it wasn’t (deputy head) as she would of taken the lot’

This doesn’t sit right with me, value is only £1 but it’s the principle. What is this teaching the children?

What do I do about this?

But you've already let your child flount the rules with no consequence!

Yes the teacher was wrong, but I cant fathom how you and your child are sat here on your high horse when you were both wrong in the first place!

And they already accepted the consequences from the other teacher - no high horse sitting in that respect.

So embarrassing.

Thank god your child is Year 6 and has weeks left at the school.

Not at all embarrassing. What's embarrassing is a teacher stealing a pupil's belongings and openly announcing he's taking it for his own child.

I am on the BOM in my girls school and we would stand for this from a teacher is our school,you need to take this further,yes your don will get dragged up for selling the toys firstly but this teacher needs taking down a peg or two..please take it further OP x

I hope you have also taken on board that you should be proactive in parenting your son and support the school by stopping him from doing things that are clearly not a good idea before the school needs to deal with it.

I think your email was just fine, but as a previous poster said, I hope you can agree that there were two wrongs here and you played your part in one of them, as did your son.

In terms of your son saying things like "does this mean I can take other people's things if they weren't allowed in school?" - a ten year old knows this is wrong and is being deliberately obstinate. I would suggest that you address this with him.

Some kids are dicks. Some parents are dicks. That’s precisely why it’s essential that school staff should be good role models and model behaviours they want to see in children, not also be dicks.

Yes and there’s a type of person who comments on MN threads doesn’t bother to read the OPs words properly and/or searches for something, anything to try and make the OP look/feel bad. Seemingly on a quest to deliberately derail the thread, misrepresent what the op has said.
There are so many on MN whose comments are like that. Well done on being one of those types of commenters on this instance.

OP I would write to the head and say what your said here. Explain what happened, that you weren’t ok with it, child carried on because others do, that yes it’s only £1 etc but it’s teaching kids it’s ok to be bigger/older/in authority and do whatever and get away with it. ie steal albeit an item of low value. Rather than praise the child for entrepreneurial efforts etc. And a clampdown on school policy about what is and isn’t acceptable on site.

I agree it is embarrassing, it really is a nothing issue and the child needs to be properly parented.. It also reads as if written by AI. Should give the staffroom a good eye roll!

Also if the item is returned, please tell me you don't intend to give it back to him?! Surely you can see how that would be a really poor decision om your part?

I think the teacher and school should be embarrassed.
Thats what I would have written OP. If it ,oops like ai the it shows (sadly) how good AI has become.
Since when was it acceptable for teachers to steal and that’s ok?

It really doesn't.

Please resign from your position.

‘teacher needs taking down a peg or two’

Agree.

My child sold sweets, got caught, the teachers ate some of them and some took them home. My child got some back.

All the outrage now is ridiculous. The OP was there when it happened so why not say something then.

Petty.

This

I’d have had that back straight out of his hand, the robbing weirdo.

Don't be ridiculous, whether the child should of been selling stuff or not, a teacher cannot just carte blanche help themselves to a child's belongings and keep the item.
So if said teacher helped themselves to a child's pen because they liked it, or something out of their lunch box because they fancied it? ...youre OK with that kind oh carry on?
Give your head a wobble! If I was the mother I'd be making an appointment with the head and writing to the governors

Figures.

No. He's in the wrong but kids shouldn't be taking stuff to school to sell. They aren't there to be entrepreneurs

He's completely in the wrong but all this fuss over a one quid squishy. Why didn't the OP just grab it back off the teacher

Sometimes, some people’s actions are so ridiculous or unprofessional that you can’t believe it’s actually happening, must be a joke, misunderstanding, anything else, especially when they’re in a position where you expect better of them. By the time your brain catches up, it’s too late.

The thing I really don't understand is why you let the staff member rummage through the bag you were apparently already in possession of, choose said squishy and let them walk off with it. Were you suddenly struck voiceless and immobile?

Ahhh, poor you!!!!! Why the hell is he selling loads of squishymallows in the first place!? You're in the wrong & a bad influence of a good parent!!!!!!

Exactly! This mother doesn't seem to see it that way & buying g squishymallows for her son to make a few bob in school - which is not what going to school is about!!!! 🙄

Exactly this. If I'd been tge other teacher and had already dealt with the situation and a colleague did this to me I'd be mightily pissed off. She'll be a good witness in case the HT needs one.