My 9 year old daughter told me that on Friday, she went to the bathroom during recess and found a mini Squishmallow. She brought it to the office and told them she found it in the bathroom. The principal was in the office and made a huge deal of it and asked her if it was hers. She said no, she found it in the bathroom. He asked "Well why do you have it if it isn't yours?" She explained that she found it in the bathroom and wanted to turn it in so someone could pick it up if they're missing it.

I ended up getting called at work and was told my daughter stole something that wasn't hers and they were trying to get to the bottom of it. I of course arrived as quickly as I could, and my daughter is in hysterics and she says that they were telling her that people go to jail for theft.

I asked her to tell me what happened, and she said all she did was find a mini Squishmellow and she took it to the office. She didn't steal anything. The principal then goes "Is it yours?" And she said "No". He says "That's the definition of stealing. You took something that isn't yours. See how each time we go through this we get closer to what actually happened?"

I told him it sounded like he made an assumption before getting the whole story, and he said "The facts are that your daughter picked up something that doesn't belong to her. She stole this toy. End of story."

I told him what she told me and he says that "At the end of the day it doesn't matter. She stole something from the bathroom." I told him it does matter and he's purposely asking questions in such a way that she incriminates herself. He said "If the shoe fits".

I was really pissed off by this and the principal is like "We take theft very seriously" and tells MY 9 YEAR OLD that people go to jail for taking things that aren't theirs.

I reminded him that in December when my daughter's new winter coat was stolen, they didn't take that very seriously. They refused to look for her coat even though another child was wearing it at pickup and I pointed it out to both her teacher AND the principal. They refused to do anything about that at all, so I told my daughter that she can take it back the next day. When my daughter "stole" it back the next day (and got in trouble) I told them that the coat has her name stitched in it so please, don't give me that. It's her coat. She didn't do anything wrong. I still have the Amazon order receipt and I'm willing to press charges the next time it goes missing. They then made a huge deal about how "oh it's just a mistake. Kids get coats mixed up all the time" and "She got it back and that's what matters".

So today I'm back at the principal's office because I got a message from my daughter's friend's mom. Apparently my daughter has had her phone confiscated and she's not allowed out for recess. I went to the school from work AGAIN (thankfully they're understanding) and demanded to know what was going on. The principal said that she has two weeks of indoor recess sitting in the principal's office and she's not allowed her phone during school hours as punishment for Friday.

I said nope, not happening and demanded that my child be treated like everyone else. This is nuts. The principal said that my daughter stole something that isn't hers. I asked "If she stole it, why was she turning it in? What was she supposed to do besides pick it up and bring it to you?" He says "She was in the office because she had something that didn't belong to her." Again, technically true but not the whole story!!!

I've contacted the superintendent because this is ridiculous and the principal is power tripping. My daughter is not perfect, but her story hasn't wavered at all, whereas the principal has changed his about four times already and he stuck on "The fact is that she possessed something that didn't belong to her". While technically true, there is more to it!

I told him that if he takes my daughter's phone from her again I will have him charged with theft because he's in possession of something that isn't his. My daughter is supposed to have her phone either with her or in the phone dock locker in the classroom with the other kids phones (the teacher has them dock their phones in a mailbox type thing before lessons, so they're available but not readily so).

He told me he has the authority to take devices that are a distraction but I said no, you don't have my permission to do that with my daughter's phone (Edit for clarity: he originally told me he took it as punishment for Friday and then when I told him he is not allowed to do that, he decided that he took it because it was a distraction.) This isn't in the parent handbook either. Besides, you are purposely making it so my daughter is unable to contact me so you can bully her. I'm getting creep vibes here.

The superintendent hasn't emailed me back yet but I'm going to record calls and everything. This is insane. Please tell me that I'm not overreacting. My husband is not allowed into the situation because he's furious over it all. I'm sure he'd end up punching the principal 🫠

Does a home else get mad creeper vibes or just me?!

Edit: she wasn't using her cellphone inappropriately when it was confiscated. The principal approached her before class started at 9am and told her she needed to give it to him and she could pick it up at the end of the day. She wasn't even using it at that time because it was in her bag. He decided to take it as punishment (what he told me) and then later decided it was a distraction. The school has the kids put their phones in a locker thing when they're in class, but that's in the classroom. Kids are allowed to take them out for recess. I asked the principal how her phone was a distraction when it was in her book bag AND he confiscated it prior to school starting?

Also, there has been no communication about her punishment prior. I would not have known she didn't have her phone on her which is something, as a parent, I believe should be communicated.