How many hi profile persons have ended up in legal or marital troubles when past email correspondence reared its ugly head where not intended? I can think of brokers, traders, GE head, and other recent leaders.

If its sensitive, it should not be sent by email where with the click of a button, it can be distributed to third parties with such ease and abandon. Writer beware.

I wonder why Buffet doesnt use email for staff matters...he uses personal contact instead. I think he prefers face to face and he is a smart guy. At least, he is extremely successful so he must be doing something right.

Well your lucky youre not at our school, where the adult kids seem to get a kick out of sending such fiery paretn to parent emials, clandestinely to the principal. For what reason, I dont know, it really stirs the pot big time, and does a disservice to all. Its school girl stuff all around. Nice that you remain freinds and were able to work things out. Good communication is the key. Good luck at your new school getting the feel of the school and parent culture there and hope you dont have the parent and or teacher issues like you had at last one!

As often happens on these boards, we've gotten way off the basic question SHC posted:

Just curious--does your school have voice mail for your teachers or are they good about answering their e-mail? It drives me nuts to try and get a simple question answered at our school because you have to leave a message in the office and then they call you back and you're not there, etc. I know one local school system has voice mail for every teacher and I was wondering how common that was. Only a few teachers seem to actually use their e-mail, although they all have it. Just curious-- Anyone?
SHC

Email is fantastic for basic info, like "When does the bus leave for the field trip?" or as follow up to written notes like "Remember, Johnny is being picked up by his Aunt Sue today." It's even great for setting up meeting times as there can be a lot of back and forth communication before a good time is set. Then, a face to face conversation can take place.

aOK is right that dropping by before or after school can be a great time to catch the teacher for a chat. I've done it before - depending on which teacher it is. Some dont' mind at all but others feel like it's an intrusion. We never know when they might be running late in the morning or on their way to another meeting after school. If you think it's going to take some time, I say make an appointment.

I've used email to report brewing situations to the principal. With a 12 year old son, you can imagine that playground and locker room tension can get out of hand at times. If I notice things getting worse, I give the principal a quick heads up. By putting it in writing, and knowing full well that others could eventually read it, it forces me to clearly account the situation to him, even if it paints my own son in a bad light. (Nope, he isn't perfect!) This then gives the principal a chance to either keep an eye on things or to informally chat with my son and other kids as they pass in the hallways.

As an example of how things can go awry: I once recieved a message from someone who was mortified because it was about me and was intended for another recipient! She was legitimately mad at me and was ranting to another member. We've all done it and, trust me, I've seen and heard worse. But, we're friends and it bothered her to know that I read the things she said. The flip side is that I got to see myself from an honest perspective, it opened up dialog that might not otherwise have taken place and we're still friends. But, depending on the personalities involved, it certainly could have gone the other way!

Your administrator or whoever started that system, is clarivoyant. What an effective strategy to protect all, the staff and parents and students alike. Would that we had such a system. Thanks for the input I will be passing it along to mgmt.

All e-mail corr. between teacher/parents are scanned into the child's school file at our school. Those files are available to all administrators/staff at the school. So if my daughters teacher wanted, he/she could read all the e-mails from the past. Not that there is anything interesting to read... Reminders of doctor's visits, question on homework, room parent stuff. I personally don't mind it, I don't discuss personal issues with her teachers. (I really doubt my childs teacher wants to know about the noise my car is making or my crazy boss.) What I do like about it is that it keeps parents in check so to speak. Teachers say they find less 'hateful' e-mails. Parents are reminded twice a year that the e-mails are placed in their students files. I also wanted to point out that all teacher/administrator e-mails are placed in their own files as well. So if, teacher A e-mails teacher B about teacher C, they all could know. It's tamed the teacher gossip a little as well.

A personal visit at start or end of school day, if its feasible for the parent, is much more effective way to communicate. Many teahcers wont put much in email, there are way too many issues with email and how it is used/misused intentionally or unintentionally. ie forwarding, copying and passing, and also it is easy to manipulate even though forwarding is the most frequent abuse.(without informing the sender)

for mundane things, email is fine, but anything above mundane, face to face,people are much more open, forthright and informative. puttitng something in writing can later come back to haunt the writer, and can also be MISINTERPRETED since tone is lost in email, and its very perfunctory too, thats why many teachers are reticent to put things into email when it comes to discusseing childrens issues.

It serves as protection for the teacher, to not use email when it comes to matters about a child.

Thats been my experience anyway. Its a wild world out there , the electronic hiway, use it at your own risk when discussing your child with any staff member (or parent for that matter). EMails have a bizarre way of ending up where you least expect them to.