Despite our best plans and best efforts, we periodically face those unexpected dilemmas where no easy answers exist. I’m facing one of those difficult times right now.
A few weeks ago while I was on morning cafeteria duty, a student I do not know approached me and asked for help in finding his missing notebook computer. He had been told it was behind the student government desk inside the cafeteria. We searched but found nothing. When I left the cafeteria, however, I informed several faculty members and students about the missing computer.
Two weeks later, when I had almost forgotten the computer, another student found the computer and brought it to me. He had found it in an administrator’s office and had been told that I was looking for it. I was so happy and immediately gave the computer to my student aide and told him to take it to the student who had lost it.
Lost computer found! Happy Ending!
Or so I thought.
Yesterday when I returned to school after Thanksgiving break, an administrator asked me about the computer because the student’s mother was upset that we couldn’t find it. Perplexed, I assured the administrator that the mother was wrong because we had returned the computer to the student before Thanksgiving. A few hours later, I checked with my student aide who then informed me that he had not given the computer to the student.
Two weeks before, he had placed the computer on a table in another teacher’s classroom while he completed several other duties. However, he simply forgot it and went on to his next class without securing the computer.
He never told me.
Now, weeks after the student lost his computer, it apparently has been stolen.
Here’s the dilemma: Who is responsible for the lost / stolen computer?
Is the student responsible for losing his own computer?
Are the students in the student government responsible since they housed the missing computer in a desk for two weeks instead of placing it in the lost-and-found section in the office?
Is my student aide responsible since he failed to complete the task I assigned, forgot to secure the computer properly, and failed to report the problem to me once he realized his error?
Is it my responsibility for giving the computer to a student aide (a high school senior) instead of contacting the student myself?
And, once we determine who is responsible, should that person or group have to replace the computer?
If you have ideas, I would love your input and suggestions.
