stranger has child pulled out of class...
 

as a young child, around eight years old, was sitting on the sidewalk waiting for his school bus a lady was walking by. this lady accuses the young child of blocking her from walking by on the side walk and trying to trip her. she then takes a photograph of him on her cell phone.

this lady then goes to his school, and with the picture on her cell phone, is able to not only get his name but also is able to pull him out of class to discuss his behavior that day.

what do you think of the behavior of the older woman?
what sort of legal action should be taken against the school for disclosing private information about their students?
what would you do if this was your child?

Totally immature. I would think that a women of her age would just ignore the child if he was trying to trip her. Taking a picture of him? Down right strange if I do say so myself. Blocking a sidewalk... interesting... I would think that a sidewalk would be wide enough for two people to walk side by side. This women seems like she's a weirdo. That's my opinion.

The school shouldn't be giving out private information about their students. If anything were to happen to that child, the school would be sued, I'm sure. Someone of law enforcement should deffinitely speak to the principle about this matter. I find it unacceptable.

I would tell my child to NEVER let another adult take you out of class unless it is a family member or a friend. I would tell him/her that if anybody tries to take them out of class and my child is not familiar with them, to tell the teacher or an authoritative figure in charge that he is not comforitable with that person, does not know them and does not wish to speak to them.

Honestly, this is disturbing.
A school should NOT be giving out kids' information to anyone but relatives.. I mean, how easy is it to snap a picture of a kid when they're out walking or something? Who knows what kind of person they're giving this child's information to? If I were a parent, I would definitely not feel comfortable knowing just anyone could walk into the school and find out my child's name, and possibly a whole bunch of other identifying details.
And where does the woman get off scolding the kid? It is NOT her job to be parenting this child. Way to stick your nose in where it doesn't belong.. -__-

Alixness- i'm gald you brought up the legal consequences should that child, God forbid, be harmed. and the lady that snapped the photo wasn't the person to take him out of class, it was one of the administrators at the school, but i don't see why the administrator would have done that for someone that wasn't part of his family. it honestly baffles me.

fabby - :nod: disclosing information to people is a no no. and exactly, this woman could very well be an effing predator! D: if i were the parent i would have done exactly what the mother did and went to the media about the issue. the school is definitely getting a bad reputation for this. hehe.

nissa ~ yea.. lol.. to me she seems bat shit insane. and i've never heard the school handling this sort of thing before. ever. not when it didn't take place at the school. you know what i mean? usually if something occurs of campus, the adult would know the child's parents and be able to confront them with the problem. i also grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, so it may be different in this instance.

thats actually really scary. I hope nothing like that happens to my little sister. honestly, i think that woman needs to be properly checked out, something might be loose in her head... the kid was just waiting for his bus!

but most schools have strict privacy policies and for the school to hand out info like that is a major violation and if I were the parent I would definitely raise a fuss.

lastemoon, i agree that lady definitely needs to be checked out!

This is really disturbing.... where did you hear this by the way? You've got me interested xD

Her behavior is just totally wrong, juvenile, and illegal. Thats like stalking! Also, a school can't release private records of students without parent's written consent. It's illegal. It's morally wrong as well. If this was my child, I would press charges on both the woman and she school and file for a restraining order. You can't go around taking pictures of random children, then go to their school and find out information about them. Again, it's illegal. That's really frightening actually!

Not only that, but a sidewalk is public property. Technically, if he had done it on purpose to annoy strangers like her, she really couldn't have done anything about it. Maybe for being a public nuisance, but I doubt this falls under that... Plus, he was waiting for a bus. It's not like he didn't have a purpose for being there! Ridiculous.

CiaoPinkZebra~ sorry for the late response, this was on the local news. in charlotte, north carolina! scaryyy!

This older lady is an quack.
A little boy is innocently waiting for the bus, and she thinks he was trying to trip her?
Unless this girl is as tall as a building and wide as the bus it's self, there is no way.
And if she did trip over the boy, it was her fault for not looking where she was going.

I think this school should be closed down. I really do.
It doesn't even have to be by the government. Just parents stop enrolling their kids to the point the school goes bankrupt. <3
Government won't help a school that's empty!

And the man or woman who told the lady this young boys name should be fired. And sued.

If this was my child... I would pull him out of the school. Sue the school. And move far far FAR away from that old lady.
And probably try and sue her for what she did too.

After a few words with her. <3

I know! A lot like the movie Lovely Bones. I mean, that ugly, old murderer watched her walk throughout the neighborhood!

This woman is a serious creeper. Or obviously has some major issues is shes going to make a big deal about a little kid sitting on the sidewalk. You'd think it would be wide enough to just walk around the kid.

That kids parents should be suing the pants off that school. Whoever told that woman the kids name needs to be fired and then sued as well. That is not someone who should be working at a school, since they obviously don't care about the kids safety.

I would have pulled him out of that school, then sued them, and then sued the worker. Maybe that woman, too.

That sounds like either a poorly organised school or the mistake of the woman working at the desk who gave out the information. I would have a hard by believing it wasn't a flook that the school the boy went to happened to allow that sort of thing, and I'm sure there must be laws against that in Canada at least. I don't know about where other people live, but here that would be unacceptable.

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I think that's kind of harsh...We don't know the full story, but I don't think an incident like this should be enough to have someone sued and fired. :/ There are tons of things to look at before deciding what action to take.

@ mau5ie: That happened in Charlotte? I didn't hear anything about that one! O_O Was it on Fox news? Seriously, how could I have missed that! Although, your post made me think about the incident where the young girl was picked up by the school bus and after her mother left the stop, went home, the girl showed up at her doorstep because she was dropped off, away from her house and away from her normal stop, by the bus driver and had to walk home because the bus driver said they were over capacity.

The school giving that information out was as illegal as it gets. A blatant violation of privacy laws and child protection laws! The only thing I can think of is that it was a smallish neighborhood and the people at the school may have known the woman... but they STILL should have known better than to give out that information. PERIOD. =shakes head=

As for the woman taking the picture... welcome to the new era where camera phones are the new way of life. There isn't much in the way of preventing people from taking pictures due to artistic liberty licenses, but usually one would attempt to track down the people in the photo and garner their permissions first before publishing anything. Also, it's a fact that everyone takes snapshots and it's almost impossible to keep people in crowds and in the background out of said photo. It's just the idea of someone taking a specific picture of a child that's unsettling.... When it could happen everyday and we'd never know it. And while what this woman did was creepy as all get out, I think it just stands to make people more aware of how access to technology is rapidly shaping our world.

However, everything that she did, all together, is completely outrageous. Bah! >_<

It is schools policy;at all schools; that no child is to be taken out of class under any circumstance unless by an officer of the law, CPS official, parent/guardian, or a person on there emergency card. And if anyone aside from a legal guardian pulls your child out of class the parent is to be notified(reference=I am a child developement major).... so I would be in a big time beef with that school if that was my child. I would probably be going to the district office about it!

Also I would be tracking down that women and personally deleting that picture off her phone. She was way out of line!!!!

Okay this woman was way out of bounds. The kid was sitting on the sidewalk for gods sakes would it really have killed the woman to walk around like a normal person?! Then again there sounds like there should be more to this story that we aren't getting. But still to be able to take the kids picture and get all his information without a hitch? There is somethign wrong with that school.

I think the old woman was way out of line. That's really immature, especially for a woman her age. A sidewalk is big enough for two people. She should have asked the poor kid to just move. I doubt he tried to trip her. Plus, she should know better than to ask a school for a child's information. She didn't know the child, she was not a relative of the child, and his information is none of her business. Taking the picture of the child was out of line too.
Well, if any legal action were to be taken I think the school should be sued. The woman who gave out the information to the old woman should be fired. She should have asked what the woman's relation was to the child and when the old woman told her she should have known right away not to give the information away. The school will probably be sued for this, and the principle will probably get a firm lecturing.
I'd be pretty pissed. I'd go to the school and probably yell at everyone XD But, I'd take legal action. I'd sue the school or at least make sure that the principle gets a piece of mind and that the lady who gave away my child's information is fired. Then I'd tell my kid to never ever go with anyone that is not family or a friend, no matter what they say. And, if someone does try to get him to come with them, I'd tell my kid to make sure that they tell a security officer at the school or someone in authority.
The nerve of people these day. This is why I don't like old people.

That's horrible!!!!!
What if she was a child molester or a kidnapper!!!

If I found out the school my child went to gave that information to a total stranger I would be furious!! It would be one thing to call me and ask me and I come down to the school and speak to the woman, it's another to give her my information or my child's information! :|

The older lady is Crazy, Obviously, As read, The child was sitting there, Doing nothing!! And, If I was that child I would take her to the office and call my parents, Let them know what has happened, And get them to come up there and take care of it.