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Mum fuming after teacher 'stole' her daughter's phone

By Madhurima Haque|

Many teens have unhealthy attachments to their phones - and parents often confiscate the devices for extended periods of time.

However one mum is furious after her daughter's teacher not only kept the teen's phone for an entire week, but also used it herself and returned it broken.

The mum told Reddit her 15-year-old daughter Hannah got her phone confiscated for using it in class. While she found it a bit odd that the teacher didn't return the device at the end of the day, she brushed it off and told her daughter to get it back the next day.

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Girl sitting on bed with knees up to their chest using phone.
The girl's mum is very concerned after her realisation. (iStock)

What followed was a week of requests and emails from mum requesting the phone be returned. However when Hannah asked for her phone back, her teacher simply ignored her.

"I lost my patience and went into the school. I found Ms. K... and told her it was time she give me the phone back. She tells me that Hannah needs to learn to stop using her phone in class and I tell her that I agree, and that she can take her phone away every day in her class if she feels she needs to, but it's not acceptable for her to just keep the phone for this long," recounted the mum.

"I made a scene, students and teachers alike were staring, but she relented and said she would get the phone out of her office and came back with it.

"I feel like an idiot for not checking the phone when she handed it to me. I didn't give Hannah back her phone from my purse until she was done with her assignments for today and a couple minutes after she comes back to me in a panic."

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The phone was not only cracked when it wasn't before, but Hannah also notices that her teacher's full name and avatar was listed in the Apple ID section of the account settings, meaning that the teacher tried to log in.

"I lost it, told Hannah she can't use the phone for now because I'm worried if Ms. K has access to anything on her end, and sent an email to her demanding an explanation. There has not been a reply."

The mum says she is considering reporting the teacher to an administrator and having her pay for damages, but her husband said that it may have been a mistake and to let it go now that they have the phone back.

"I might be overreacting, but I'm having a hard time accepting the state that she returned Hannah's phone and just letting things go," said the worried mum.

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Commenters assured the mum that she was not being unreasonable.

"This is very, very suspicious and I would report her immediately. At the bare minimum it was a serious violation of privacy and respect. But there is also a very real possibility that it could be much worse than that," said one commenter.

"There is no way she 'accidentally' logged in and thought it was her own phone. It's a multistep process and this was absolutely a malicious attempt to SPY on your daughter. She should get fired over this and should not work with children or teenagers," added another commenter.

"Your husband thinking they should just leave this alone is ridiculous. It will send a message to his daughter, that you will let someone abuse your daughters possessions and do nothing. She won't thank you for it," added another commenter.

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