Why would a teacher insist on a hand-written note from a parent, as opposed to an email?

I suppose she thinks your child is a genius & therefore can hack your email and type in full complete sentences at a level to make it appear as if she is an adult so because she doesn’t trust that it’s really you as opposed to your genius child she wants to get the handwriting analyzed.

Ditto @Jenniehowell. Either that or she thinks only one parent will see it, etc. Either way I see it as paranoid.

I would imagine it would be a good backup for the teacher in case they don’t check their email every day, several times a day. It may also be a good indication to the teacher about the literacy of the child’s parent.

Email is much easier for a child to fake than a neatly written note.

Hm. Ten years ago I had a teacher who was completely computer illiterate. However, he was at that point ten years beyond his retirement date, and had determined to stay until they kicked him out (awesome teacher by the way).

I have a hard time believing that there are still teachers (and teachers of Early Elementary Education at that) who would not understand and take advantage of the benefits of electronic date/time stamped email.

Either an unhealthy distrust of technology, or a very healthy distrust of children.

I agree, how nuts that teacher is. I would have made sure I included my phone number in the email for her to call for questions. The teacher is putting too much responsibility on the child.

Let’s all focus on Kindergarten there. Between four and six years old.

@Seek_Kolinahr
That is the time when adults underestimate the little hellspawn, and they know it and exploit it.

@Seek_Kolinahr Ah. Good point.

The teacher saw a mysterious tape five days ago and is afraid a hideous dead girl will come out of the computer screen and kill her.

A agree with @ragingloli, it may be a technology issue. Or… she may simply be following the protocol established by her school.

It may be a safety measure. I was thinking about it and thought maybe the teacher (or school board) decided an email could be hacked by someone. I’m thinking along the lines of computer hacking in a custody situation. A parent knowing another parent’s email information.

@bkcunningham Many schools have web pages for each teacher’s classroom. (At least in my locale they do).

Some schools want the parents signature on file with the note to limit their liability.

The letter is what allows the school to receive State money for the absence. It may be a State requirement.

or maybe the teacher doesn’t know how to use a computer

My guess would be documentation. They need to know that the responsible parent actually sent the note, so they’re covered legally in case of a problem. Sure, the kindergartner might not be able to write a convincing e-mail (though some could). But many children do have older siblings and other accommodating relatives. A child might want to go someplace without the parent’s knowledge. There’s always the possibility that a noncustodial parent is trying to get to the child. There might be an accountability measure that the teacher is required to comply with.

If it’s for an absence rather than dismissal to an after-school activity, remember that school funding is tied to average daily attendance (ADA), so they have to take absences seriously.

This kind of reminds me: There have been a couple of times when I request that a student’s transcript be emailed to me and the registrar emails me back and said they don’t do email, only fax. Which makes NO sense to me.

@Dutchess_III, I’d be guessing here too, but once something exists in electronic form, you’ve lost all control of it. A fax still produces hard copy at the recipient’s end. Again there’s a possibility of legal liability if the information is confidential, aside from whatever other sort of liability might arise that I can’t happen to think of.

Well, all school records are in electronic form now.

The teacher may not check her email in the morning before school starts. She’ll get the handwritten note when class starts, but she won’t get the email.

edit- Also, the note shouldn’t get lost. Children this age have folders with specific places to return papers to school. This is a good time to teach a child to be responsible with their school papers.

Because the child could fake the note.

@marinelife We’re specifically talking about a kindergartener in this instance. If the child was old enough to fake a note, then he or she could fake an email even more easily.

@Dutchess_III Isn’t the school K-5? Maybe even higher grades? They probably have a rule for the school. I doubt they have a rule by indvidual grade.

My mom at one point typed up a form letter that had multiple choice regarding my sister missing school. Basically, a choice between upper respitory cold, doctor’s appointment, or one other choice I don’t remember. My mom would check the box and sign the paper. The school called her up and said it was unnacceptable even though she signed it. I guess they figured writing out an entire note longhand was less likely a forgery? I can forge my moms name very well. She used to have me write notes for her. So much for that. I never did it without her knowing though, but I guess I could have?

@Dutchess_III Yes. That’s what I meant: fake an email note.

I was thinking that too…could be school policy. But it’s ridiculous for the lower grades, and so much more easily to fake for the upper grades. I think sometimes people make policy just because they can. “That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!”

People are idiosyncratic and do things for reasons that make sense to them, but not to anyone else. They have the power to do it, so they do.

There is no rational reason for this that couldn’t be countered with twenty seven thousand different arguments. It’s pointless, though. Accept it. This is the way this teacher is. It will be over in a year. You’ll survive.

Or make a fuss with the administration.

The actual logical reason is that teachers do not check email before the class starts. The only way the teacher would know if a child has a change of plans in their routine after school is by handwritten note or phone call. My daughter’s school requires a handwritten note or phone call for this type of situation, or when there is a doctor or dentist appointment. It’s the easiest way to communicate with the school. The teachers are busy with their students and classwork, they don’t have time to check email first thing in the morning.

Anyway, isn’t email becoming obsolete?

@jonsblond Ah, that makes perfect sense!

@jonsblond: The teacher is on email every day, because she sends emails out in late morning or mid-day. Also, my emails to her were cc’ed to the office person, so that even if the teacher were out sick that day and therefore not seeing email, the office person was receiving it also.

Ironically, when reporting an absence, the parent can leave a voicemail on a dedicated phone line. It could be anybody reporting the absence, who can say whose voice it is? To me, the whole thing with the teacher insisting on hand-written note seems so archaic, so antiquated, like the teacher is stuck in the 1960’s or something.

And there really is no excuse for a teacher to not check his or her emails first thing in the morning. Everyone is busy getting ready for the day, not just teachers. Plus they have computers / email in their rooms.

@Dutchess_III How did teachers handle things before the internet, I’ll never know.~ I can picture my grandmother rolling her eyes right now. She was a teacher for 35 years and many of those years were spent in a one room schoolhouse.

I have been told by my daughter’s teachers that they will try to return an email the day it is received, but it may not be returned until the following day. They are busy.

I think @Jeruba has another logical reason. There are logical reasons.

Well, @jonsblond, I’m sure your grandmother did things that were considered “high tech” in her day, things that had HER grandmother rolling her eyes. Telephones come to mind. Yes, they are busy, but they do get plenty of breaks.