I need some ideas of how my son can secure his property at school. He has a locker, but in the grade range he's in they are not allowed to use padlocks. (don't get me started on that one. i've been fighting that stupid policy for years.) The principal and teacher says "If you don't want it stolen, don't bring it to school." Well, I'm sorry, but a lot of kids his age carry cell phones and need them after school or at babysitter's houses or at friends houses, and aren't able to retrieve them from home after school. My son has an Ipod that he likes to use after school - only time he can use it since after I pick him up from my mom's it's dinner and homework time, or scouting, or karate, or.... etc. Last year he had a very expensive bag full of Bakugons stolen from his backpack - right within the classroom. So I feel he's a huge target for this kind of thing to happen again.
Today I sent a padlock with him and told him to use it and I would talk to the teacher. I told him to remove it after school hours so there wouldn't be an issue with the janitors. I emailed the teacher with my reasoning and the combination to the lock. He responded by telling me he told my son to remove the lock as it's not allowed and he would keep the Ipod in the teacher's desk during the day time.
I wish i could come up with a better way to secure it. If I could find a way to attach it to the backpack or within the locker so it can't be taken... it's all well & good to record the serial number of it but that won't help recover an item that is never found. Ideas?
I had not thought of something so simple as a luggage lock for his back pack. The only way around that would be a knife to cut the bag with (it's a pretty tough bag - sissors wouldn't dent it.) I wish it were as simple as just leaving it at home, but I'm not the only parent who struggles with this. This year it's an IPod, next year it will be a phone because he will be walking to grandma's after school, and there are so many kids in this same exact situation. Not only does he use it after school, but he listens to the music through headphones in the 10-15 minutes before the classroom opens and they are all sitting in the hallway. We have found that music is one of the only ways to keep him distracted from causing problems both in the hallway and the bus after school (ADHD, extreme case, borderline autism spectrum.) The school board might a good next step. These items are not banned from school - the students just have no way to secure their property like middle and high schoolers are allowed to (all in the same building where I live.) I've heard and witnessed several occasions of items stolen from lockers, lockers vandalized, etc. So it's not just high-end stuff that is the issue. Believe me, I am not one to teach my children to find ways around rules or authority. Just this week we had an incident where the behavior of a coach outside of school towards my daughter was borderline 'abusive.' I spoke to the owner of the establishment and he was going to deal with the instructor and also have him apologize to my daughter. I declined the latter offer as my daugher needs to understand to do what she is told no matter how nuts it may seem - whether it's a teacher, coach, etc... as long as it isn't illegal they probably have a reason. or not. But you don't question authority - that's MY job as a parent. Anyway, at this point speaking with a school board member about the antiquated policy will be my next step. My family did it before to request a waiver so a child could skip a non-state mandated but school-required course for graduation (4th year of PE) so the child could take an advanced science class, and we had very positive results. Thanks everyone!
Sad, but true! Lockers can't be locked anymore for fear that a child will bring a gun, a knife, a bomb conceled...or the like to school. It is unlocked for inspection at any given time. It's not locked...so if you don't want it stolen...I suggest you leave it elsewhere.
Leave it at home or at grandma's. It's a school wide policy unless you want to go to the school board and continue fighting it so your child can have after school entertainment. If your son doesn't remove the padlock, the janitor can cut it off. Since he goes to his grandma's after school, he can have a few activities and things there waiting for him. He can learn to entertain himself without the use of gadgets, a good thing for kids to be able to do now anyways. I agree, it's a stupid rule, but one that is best to learn to live with. Any type of system to secure it can be easily tampered with or stolen itself.
When I was in high school we had to buy a lock that was provided by the school. The locks had a "master keyhole" on the back. If a locker needed to be gotten in to for any reason they could unlock it with a master key in order to search the locker. Of course they had certain rules they had to follow in order to do so. But it allowed the lockers to be accessed by official personnel without knowing the combination while keeping a student's property safe from being stolen. I do not agree with your schools policy. I would suggest the locks to the school as a viable option.
the point is that they aren't supposed to have those items accessible at school - At my daughter's school they turn their phone in to the office in the morning and pick them up before they leave. Lockers have really replaced the storage area in the desks.
I agree with locking the backpack... the problem is then someone may steal his entire backpack. The other thing that he can do is WEAR the ipod inside of his clothes, concealed and turned off during the day.
keep the ipod at your mom's house.
It would bug me to not allow my children to LOCK their lockers. What is the point of having them if you can't lock them?
Sounds like you need to go to the school board with this. I understand their rule if you don't want it lost or stolen - don't bring it.
They have already laid out to students then that it is OKAY to steal...at least in my book they say that because they are assuming that all children and people at that school are trustworthy and you have past experience stating otherwise.
He cannot keep it on his person? That would keep it from being stolen.
If that can't happen, then he needs to leave the ipod at Grandma's house.
I agree that the Ipod should either stay at your mom's house or yours. My SIL just told me that my nephew in 7th grade also isn't allowed to lock his locker -- I went to this same school in the 80s and they had combo locks on the lockers so I find this baffling, too, but I guess times have changed. (My nephew is also picked on at school and a bully was able to squeeze a bunch of old bananas in my nephew's backpack while it hung outside his classroom door (per the rules) and the bananas ruined all of his school books. Then the school tells my SIL that SHE has to pay for the ruined books -- and still the school doesn't allow a secure area for the kids to store their stuff.)
At the school I work at, kids turn in their electronics to the office (with their name on it) at the start of the day, and pick them back up at the end
of the day.
Use a small luggage lock on his back pack
Is there any way to lock his backpack? You can try a luggage lock. Are the lockers in the classroom or in the hallway. If you can not lock it up I would just leave it at home.
I agree with this school policy. A few years ago these things were not kid items and they did not take them to school. He does not need it. He can keep it at Grandma's each day and then bring it home on Friday if he doesn't want to leave it there all weekend. Since she lives so close I would just take it over to her house on Sunday evening or Monday on the way to school. The schools have the right to enter the lockers at any time for searches and by putting a lock on the locker you are violating school policy. It is not going to change.
I agree, don't take it to school. It is a toy, a very expensive toy, but still. An Ipod is an entertainment device, not necessary for living, safety or school/learning. I'd say, leave it at Grandma's for the weekdays, take it home on the weekends, or leave it at home all the time. I would make It an incentive/reward for getting through the day at school well - without causing trouble in the halls or on the bus.
I believe the school has those rules for a partcular reason, and instead of teaching your son to find a way around rules, you should be teaching him they are there for his protection, and he needs to follow rules/laws, just like in the real world, outside of school, we all have to follow rules and laws at work, in society.
Next year when he has a cell phone ( I understand that, for safety) I would have him leave it in the front office in the morning, labeled with his name, and pick it up on the way out of school each day. If he HAS to have the Ipod with him at school, I would suggest doing the same thing.
As for being on the bus and the hallway for a few minutes before class, he needs to learn to control his actions without a "distraction", have you tried consequences when he misbehaves? When you are grown up and sitting in a meeting at work, the Dr.'s office, the DMV, or waiting any number of the places we have to sit and wait without "being entertained", you have to learn to wait patiently and still pay attention to your surroundings, now is a perfect time to start learning those skills. At most I would say get him some good paperback books he enjoys reading, and have him read, at least then he is expanding his mind while entertaining himself in a way that will not be a big issue to secure at school - how many kids steal books - and even if they did a few paperbacks are alot cheaper to replace than an Ipod.
Good Luck!
Jessie
You can buy a small camera bag that hooks onto a belt and he could store the Ipod and headphones in it. They are about $9 at Wal-Mart or so. That's what I would suggest for the solution to that problem.
A late addition...but I had an idea to share...cargo pants & could he keep the ipod in a leg pocket?
