So, in a bunch of "I don't really care" high school drama, apparently some kids in my 7th grade son's class were taking pics of one of the teacher and sharing them amongst themselves. Maybe putting funny SnapChat captions on them? I don't know.

The teacher found out and had security come down. The security guard told the kids that "it's a felony to take pictures of a teacher in PA." LOL, OK.

Anyways, my son's phone wasn't even on. This is true, because I saw via the "find my phone" app that it was powered off earlier that morning when he got to school.

I guess he told one of the ones with the pics to forward one to him because it was funny. The security guard told all the boys in the room to hand over their phones whether used or not, and the principal decided that he's keeping the phones until he can go through them all... my son didn't have a password or lock screen set up (dumb, I know).

My son came home that day upset because they will go through all his text messages, facebook, photos, EVERYTHING. Bored administrators, I guess. He was also worried about the pic that was sent to him, though I explained that if it's in "Download" or some other folder instead of "Camera", he didn't take the pic and that SHOULD be obvious to whoever looks through the phone. At this point, his phone was still powered off and had been since the morning before the incident.

Well, my son logged on to his Google account and used Find My Phone to send a factory reset to the phone, which would happen immediately upon power-up. Last night he checked the phone from the app, and the factory reset was complete.

Was I wrong to not stop him from doing the remote factory reset on his phone? I feel that if I had been called in to the school, and I powered up the phone and looked at anything that may be incriminating with the principal, that's a little different than a school administrator exploring kids' confiscated phone contents on his own during his free time. My GF thinks that I'm teaching him bad lessons by letting him erase his phone preemptively before the school can rummage through it... I think it's ridiculous they're doing that, and it's a fair play for him to send the signal. He asked me if he should do it, and I told him that if he does and there's consequences, he's going to have to deal with them... I'm not involved.

Thoughts?

Screw them. He did fine. 

Good job. I would tell my son to go the same thing. Fuck the schools fishing expedition.

I don't see why teachers would go through someone's phone. Reset that sucker all the way. Who knows if your discussion about going shooting will be held against him and you (or something similar).

Glad I got done with school before smartphones became a thing.

Good on you. While he does need to be respectful of school employees and other government authority figures, he also needs to know they are NOT his friends. Teach him about due process next.

I say fuck the school. They shouldn't be allowed to go through his phone anyway..

I might punish my kid if he was playing along with whatever joke it was but I also think it is entirely appropriate to wipe the phone.

I say unless he was part of a criminal investigation then he was fine.  That's what the feature is built for.

is there a PA law that allows schools to go through private phones?   I'd think only the popo could do that. 

Oh and tell your kid to put a password on the phone. 

When I was in high school teachers would confinscate pagers/beepers.

I would have called on the way over to the school informing them you were retrieving your property along with a sheriff's deputy, and they better hand it over when you arrive.

When my daughter was in middle school her phone was taken up for her use of it during the day.  I read the school rules before I decided to take action.  By taking her phone to school we had agreed to allow the phone to be taken up if she violated the rules with it.  Contents also fair game.  So, my daughter just had to deal with it.


That said, I think there is any side to this.  What is/was on that phone that your son was so worried about?  I am not concerned with the school and his rights, that is separate.  As a father, I would be deeply concerned why the boy was so worried that he sent a factory reset.

Shame on you for depriving the principal the possibility of saving a few school kids romantic pics.

Are they actually legally allowed to take the phone in the first place to look through it? Normally wouldn't that kinda stuff require a warrant? 

Take a step back there, big guy.  I bet the school policy allows taking up phones.  Also, LE is not going to get into that.

He did EXACTLY the right thing.   Good for him, and good job Dad.

I don't know, I'm one of those weird people that think kids in school shouldn't have phones to begin with.

Do you have more than one side of the story? Hummm Now any evidence for a possible other side is gone.

When I taught in public schools, we would confiscate cell phones if we saw them out during instruction time.  It would cost the parents $15 to get them back.

Do that today?  No way.  Not worth the fight.  Admins wouldn't likely back you up.

I teach him to be respectful of authority, and such but I also have taught him from a young age to keep the man out of your life as much as possible.

Another example... when in second grade, he had a field trip to the zoo. He decided that morning that he was going to take a bigger backpack with him for his lunch for the bus trip.

Unfortunately he grabbed his Boy Scout backpack, which unbeknownst to him had his small pocketknife in it from a camping trip a few months before... he didn't go through it, just thought it was empty (it was except for that) and tossed his stuff in it.

On the way down to the zoo, he discovered the knife.

Long before this happened, after seeing a few news stories about stuff like this, I told him: "If you ever find yourself in a situation where you accidentally brought something you're not supposed to have to school, don't turn yourself in. Make it find its way to the bottom of your backpack or whatever, don't tell ANYONE, don't show ANYONE, don't look at it, don't even THINK about it, and everyone and everything will come home safely."

He followed that advice, and was scared someone would somehow find out that day, but both he and the pocketknife made it back home that afternoon without incident.

Maybe his kid doesn't like big gov. Screw the school. They have no right to go through phones.

+1

If a teen is driving, I can see it for emergency reasons.

Fact is, kids post way too much stupid crap as it is on social media.  

Simple rule - leave cell phones in lockers during school.

He should raise Cain over them wiping his phone. Blame it on them.  Make all sorts of wild counter claims.  Hire a lawyer to go in and demand not only his phone but depositions of the IT staff and security.  

First post win as always.

If it's powered off, as was the case here, they should be allowed.

I'm a High School Asst. Principal.

I'd like to know the whole story before passing judgement(not that you're lying, but things like have these kids done this before, behavior history of the kids involved, that type stuff).

From what you're saying, your kid didn't take the pics, no way I take up his phone. The only way I keep a phone over night is if a parent fails to pick it up, or there is a legitimate law enforcement issue, in which case I don't have it, LEO does.

I don't know your state laws or local BOE policy. Personally, I have an issue keeping something you are paying to use everyday.

Again, this is just the 2 cents of an internet principal, I may or may not be one

Cell phones weren't even invented when I was still in school.

I don't know why kids today need them in class when they are supposed to be learning.

That being said:

Good reset

Fuck the government employed brainwashers and their fishing expedition.

Leave phone at home and this wouldn't be a problem.

I had to lose a nice Sony Sports Walkman to skule security as a ute to learn 'no electronics' meant no electronics. Moral is - play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Good wipe, and fuck that power-tripping, Junior G-Man security guard. "Taking pictures of a teacher in PA is a felony" go fuck yourself

I can look through the phone anytime I want. I keep up with my kid and I'm not concerned about what might have been on his phone that day versus what is on his phone any other day. He's not even into girls yet, all he thinks about is hunting (I'm sure that's going to change soon).

There is an agreement that they can take the phones and access them if necessary. There is no agreement that states that the phone must be kept in the same configuration after being taken, or that you cannot issue remote commands to the phone from a home computer outside of school time.

He wants me to call to get his phone back... this happened Wednesday, he doesn't know if he'll get it back today or not. I'm OK with him being without a phone for a bit, it'll make him think about whether he should keep it in his locker next time, and he's not going to die without it.

It was basically a sweep... "kids were taking pics of me" so all the phones were taken until they could determine who took the pics.

The only legal issue I can think of, is PA is a two party consent state. IF someone took video with audio of the teacher, they might have a case via wiretapping laws? Though a public school is a public space... not sure what the expectation is there.

Schools are about learning, not having endless distractions and access to the outside world. Having that is ok so long as it's in a controlled manner.

There's at least a strong correlation between the continued decline in education and the rise of availability of smart phones and social media. This rise is also simultaneous with parents having "my baby didn't do anything" attitudes towards teachers and admin.

Maybe it was powered off, maybe the kid turned it off before they confiscated it in an effort to hide the fact he was using it. Who knows besides the kid in question? Doesn't detract from my original point, kids in school attending classes should not have smart phones.

I bet the deputies are waiting in line to go kick in the doors of the school to get that phone back.

Kind of related but gives you my take on it.

I teach my kids not to speak to authority other then pleasantries. This includes police. Basically STFU and ask to speak to "dad". That's coming from a LEO lol.

There's always 2 sides to a story but there's nothing wrong with what he did. Self preservation kicked in.

What is the school policy on phones in the classroom?

Yep, we had to watch our beepers and our ballcaps or they'd get confiscated. Nowadays the kids have phones and no one gives a shit if they wear hats.

My takeaway -

Eject.

Burn the heretic!  Every 13 year old must have an iPhone!  Those iPhones must accompany them to school every day.  At those school's those young adults should be able to use the phones anytime they want, undermining the faculty be damned.  Nice work OP.  Get your attorney, the sheriff and a representative from the local branch of the ACLU, march your ass down to that school, make some threats to the administrator and get Snowflake's iPhone back!  Be sure to post back in GD for legal advice for the ensuing suit.

Props to junior for being able to think on his feet. Most adults don't have the type of problem solving skills under stress that he exhibited.

Now we're talkin'!  Don't forget the call to the ACLU though.

Schools should confiscate every cell phone.

Aren't you special.

I told my kid to go ahead and wipe it if he wants, but he's responsible for any fallout. I told him I'm not calling to get his phone back, if he had a phone in class and it was confiscated, as they aren't allowed to use them in class, that's the risk he took and he's got to deal with that on his own.

But there you go with your verbal diarrhea anyways. Bless your heart.

Kids playing with phones in class is wrong.

Sounds like this behavior is parent approved which is also wrong.

Yes, I am from a different era.

Reading comprehension isn't really your strong suit, is it?

A group of kids were misbehaving (with their phones), so they took everyone's phone for a while, per school policy.  Sounds like the school did nothing wrong. 

So what's the big deal then?

Kid got his phone taken, wiped it before they could search it to hide any evidence, managed to dodge a bullet this time. It's not like they can reprimand him for having a bone stock phone.

It's a life lesson to not engage in shenanigans anymore, nor to encourage those that do by asking for copies of the pictures. Hopefully he takes this lesson to heart when there are naked pictures of his classmates getting passed around.

Don't take your foot off the throttle, strike while the iron's hot!

They didn't wipe his phone...he did it remotely before they could look through it.

I am a bad daddy, when our daughter was in school phones were not allowed. I gave her a phone and said tell no one you have it and never use it unless there is an emergency, like if you have to stab someone that is trying to rape or murder you with the Spydeco knife I gave you when you were 5. 
she may have  went all the way through college armed.

but I have a kid I could trust since she was little 

How is that relevant? OP sounds like he didn't raise a bootlicking subject. Some school bureaucrat with a power complex shouldn't get to tell you what to do.

For the illiterate among us... I don't "approve" of playing with phones in class. I expect him to follow the rules. If he breaks the rules, he will face the consequences with no protest from me.

The phone was turned off early that morning after arrival, I can plainly see that in the Find My Phone app.

I don't have an issue with them taking the phone. If and when he's going to get it back, well, that's on my son. I'll let him figure that out.

This is simply whether it's OK for him to remotely wipe the phone when in the school's possession.

They didn't merely confiscate the phones.. they ARE going through them. I saw the remote wipe happened last night, which means the phone was powered on. The phones just aren't sitting in a drawer to teach a lesson.