i want to be an early child hood education teacher.. i know they do criminal background checks. what exactally do they look for? do i have to pick a new major:( oh.. and i just turned 18 5 days ago.. what are the odds.. please let me know..im headed off to my first year of college in a few short weeks.. thank you.!
2006-08-14 18:43:15 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Education & Reference ➔ Teaching
I hate to be a downer for you. Here's the deal: you will have to get a criminal check prior to being certified. They'll pick up any convictions, felony or misdemeanor. This will be noted in the check. It is up to the hiring administrator to determine if the conviction is worth not hiring you.
What I'm saying is you can be a teacher, but will you be hired? You can go all the way through college, finish student teaching, and be certified as a teacher. It would be a long trip for no prize at the end.
What I suggest is this - come clean. OK, you've been arrested. Call and make an appointment at the superintendent's office at your former school district. Go in, tell him/her what you've done, and be honest that now you don't know if you shouldn't change your major ... in a purely hypothetical manner, would he/she hire you with this blemish on your record? Then you can use his/her words to make any educational decisions.
A second consideration for you is the seriousness of this crime. The others make it seem less than it is -- shoplifting is theft, pure and simple. Your words indicate you are used to doing illegal things. In teaching, we look for honest, upright folks. You simply do not want to be a criminal when you are supposed to be guiding the moral foundations of children. So you need to think about your own life -- is this an aberation or do you frequently ignore the law, like drinking and driving, giving rude gestures to other drivers, etc. Teachers are a rather uptight group ... do you want this life for the next 30 years? Do you want these Polly Sunshines as friends?
Good luck with your decisions.
2006-08-15 00:15:03 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
If this is a one time incident, and it may be, and you seem young, you show that you've been to treatment for this after doing your fine or time or community service, you might still be hired. You have to show how you've reformed, how you have learned your lesson. One way to do this is volunteer for a year or two with troubled kids, maybe through your Juvenile Services, or Probation, to teach them through your own experience and character how to overcome adversity and become a better person.
Don't be discouraged. But NEVER NEVER again steal anything. Not even a newspaper off a lawn.
If you have trouble, don't be discouraged. We're at war now, so you have a chance to serve your country and show that you have the moral fibre necessary to teach. The terms in the Army now are as short as one and a half years. You could even serve in the Coast Guard. Once you've served a term honorably in the Service, you will have a much better chance, providing you've the certification, of getting the teaching job you want.
In the military, you can get positions in the AG doing desk work, as a medic, even in jobs such as computer operator or vet's assistant. NCOs have to teach, so this is great experience. There are both females and males, and people of every race and nationality in the US military. There's even a program, Troops to Teachers, which helps you become a teacher.
2006-08-17 22:45:46 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Alright...you made a mistake. However, what everyone else has failed to tell you is that these school districts, and the college that you will be attending are not looking for shoplifting charges, they are seeing if you have any incidents that include violence, bodily harm to another person, and anything having to do with a minor. More than likely this will have almost nothing to do with your chances of getting a job in about four or five years. Stay clean, don't get any more charges filed against you...when they do go to look ina few years they will notice that it happened (by then) years ago and it was a minor infraction. Don't worry, not losing sleep, you will be just fine...just think next time.
2006-08-15 11:41:29 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
The question isn't what you did, but if you will ever do something against the law and/or hurtful to other people again.
$38 should be a misdemeanor. Keep your act straight from now on, work hard in college, and you can get a teaching job just fine.
2006-08-15 06:48:28 · answer #4 · answered by spedusource 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
well... it certanly won't help, but it also is very unlikely to stop you. $38 isn't more than a misdemeaner is it(if it is even being prosacuted criminaly, but that part you should know)and its not related to anything they would be overly concerned with anyway. its a little worse but the same level as a speeding ticket, so i wouldn't worry bout it.
P.S. those other people are being kinda stupid arn't they? I would have no problem letting you teach my kids if you learned your lesson(and for that matter it's small enough that i wouldn't care if you didn't learn from it.)
2006-08-15 01:51:41 · answer #5 · answered by andrew b 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Were you arrested and booked? I don't know much about getting in trouble but I would imagine if you were arrested and booked it will show. I do know that to be able to work with children, they do a careful background check, it will show if, like I said you were booked. It will be up to the school if they still want to hire you...they need people they can trust and I would imagine it may sway some people's opinion.
Good look and try to be good.
2006-08-15 01:54:33 · answer #6 · answered by bburgandy 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it depends if u were criminally charged by the cops. if they press charges u have to go to court or pleadd not guilty or guilty. If the cops werent invilved ull be ok however iff u get charged there are many things u can do to not get a record especially if this is your first charge. My advise to you is to grow up now and stop stealing if u have a problem i dont thnnk u will make it as a teacher but if u can stop and realize it is wrong then u have a chance.
2006-08-15 01:52:56 · answer #7 · answered by europe 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I hope that the $38 is the ONLY reason that they don't let you teach! What a bad influence! Especially for the little guys!!!
2006-08-15 14:06:34 · answer #8 · answered by hambone1985 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
hope you don't get to teach ! You may take the little ones lunch money.
Wonder how many times you stole something ? You just got caught this time !
Give it up ! !
2006-08-16 22:35:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
You should be headed off to prison instead of college.
Shoplifting is a stupid thing to do.
Stupid people should not be teachers.
2006-08-15 01:52:17 · answer #10 · answered by newt_peabody 5 · 1⤊ 3⤋