Tenaj Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 We've been dealing with this situation for a while now and it has cropped up again this Sunday. My 13ds enjoys many Christian artists (I suppose they are called rock, or rap). Anyway, his Sunday School teacher works at the public library and has taken to requesting all the newest albums as they come out and then she makes an illegal copy of them and passes them on to my son! It is driving me crazy! First of all, it is completely illegal to do this. Secondly, she is in a position of spiritual leadership over him because she is his Sunday School teacher. We attend a very small church (When I say small, I mean there are about 9 kids in the S.S. program and ours are eight of them). This woman is a deacon's wife, the assistant treasurer. . . you get the picture. My dh jokingly talked to her about it on Sunday and she really said, "Well, it's the album publishers fault, if they didn't want me to make copies they shouldn't sell them to libraries". EEEK! My hair stood on end when I heard that one. We're treading a thin line here in trying to keep the peace between our ds respecting an adult/teacher in his life but letting him know that these pirated CD's will be destroyed. How would you deal with this situation or am I just making too big a deal over it??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I don't think you need to address it with the teacher. I think your son is old enough to say "no thanks, my parents don't like me sharing pirated music." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sputterduck Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Go to the pastor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 You cannot do anything about a grown woman - esp. one who has come up with excuses for her behavior. You can do a lot about your son. Tell her, "My son cannot and will not be accepting any more CDs from you." You can tell her why if she asks. If she argues, smile and just say, "I'm sorry but we have to be the conscience for our son and our family." If she chooses to make an end run around you, then I would suggest that the church would definitely notice if the Sunday school attendance suddenly went down to only one child because of her behavior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I think your son is old enough to say "no thanks, my parents don't like me sharing pirated music." :iagree: Do this first! Go to the pastor. :iagree:If it continues to happen... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monalisa Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 No, you're not making a big deal about it. This is a great teaching oppportunity for you with your son. What this woman doing is wrong (it is stealing -- which is a sin), and she's setting a BAD example. I would speak with her privately about it, and if she can't see that this is wrong and agrees to stop, I would take my child out from under her authority. If she can't do what's right in a "little thing" what's to say she will in a bigger issue? It is a slippery slope. You and your dh need to have a heart to heart talk with your son about this to make sure he understands that what she is doing is wrong and why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 We've been dealing with this situation for a while now and it has cropped up again this Sunday. My 13ds enjoys many Christian artists (I suppose they are called rock, or rap). Anyway, his Sunday School teacher works at the public library and has taken to requesting all the newest albums as they come out and then she makes an illegal copy of them and passes them on to my son! It is driving me crazy! First of all, it is completely illegal to do this. Secondly, she is in a position of spiritual leadership over him because she is his Sunday School teacher. We attend a very small church (When I say small, I mean there are about 9 kids in the S.S. program and ours are eight of them). This woman is a deacon's wife, the assistant treasurer. . . you get the picture. My dh jokingly talked to her about it on Sunday and she really said, "Well, it's the album publishers fault, if they didn't want me to make copies they shouldn't sell them to libraries". EEEK! My hair stood on end when I heard that one. We're treading a thin line here in trying to keep the peace between our ds respecting an adult/teacher in his life but letting him know that these pirated CD's will be destroyed. How would you deal with this situation or am I just making too big a deal over it??? What happened to "Thou shalt not steal"?????:confused: Seriously, tell your son to quit accepting them and pass the info onto the pastor. That does not set a good example of leadership. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey Mom Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 A couple of my good friends are Christian rock artists. Trust me when I tell you that they are NOT getting rich (financially) for what they do. People automatically assume that because the band/singer is famous that they are wealthy and can afford to not make money off an album or two. Unfortunately, it's never just one or two albums being burned/copied. :( And I'll tell you something else about the Christian rock community, they truly care about their fans. My friends each have wives and young children to support. All of the wives work outside of the home to help make ends meet. The reason I tell you this is to put a 'face' to the crime. Many people buy into the label and forget that there are 'real' people who get hurt when you steal music. Your DS's SS teacher should be ashamed. I can't believe ANY church would put someone like that in charge of the youth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 This is NOT a situation in which you respect a person's authority in the church. Your child's SS teacher is stealing openly and encouraging your son to steal as well. There is nothing right about this. I have directed church SS programs for many years. If I knew that someone was doing this, knowing full well that it is against the law, that person would no longer be on my teaching staff. Period. Stealing is wrong, and encouraging children to participate in stealing makes it doubly wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LBC Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 Just to give a broader perspective, this is way more than just a Christian issue (although I can totally see why you would be even more concerned that this behavior is coming from a Christian leader in your son's life). My dd has a voice competition coming up, and it is very clear that she needs to show up for the competition with two original pieces of the sheet music (her copy, and the judges' copy). No photo copies will be accepted. Violating copyright laws is illegal and unethical - not just immoral. Lori Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillary in KS Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I completely agree with strider. This is not a situation to let slide. Your son has already said something to her. She did not take it seriously and tried to make excuses. Were this our family, dh or I (or maybe both of us) would talk to the teacher *in person* before Sunday School. We would explain the sin issue we are seeing communicated to our son. We would also express how this causes us to be concerned over the example she is setting for our children and what else she might be teaching in class. If the teacher wishes to purchase *legitimate* copies of a CD for our son, he would be thankful. But please stop giving our son stolen merchandise and telling him it is ok. We would also mention to the pastor the conversation we had with the teacher. Not in a tattling sense, or out of gossip. But so that he knows what happened and, unless it continues happening we consider the matter closed. If it happened again we would ask that the pastor meet with the teacher with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tenaj Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 Thanks for all your reponses. You all said what I knew needed to be done but I think I needed a kick in the pants to get me moving in the right direction. I know I've been hesitating about making an issue of this for months because she is a very insecure person in general and I always walk on tip-toe around here for that reason anyway. (Sigh) I'll talk to my dh about it but I'm guessing we'll try to have a more serious discussion with her about it on Sunday. I get so frustrated by Christians who think this type of theft is all right. I used to prepare income taxes and was always amazed by the number of church people who didn't think twice about trying to cheat on their taxes - it was always fun to try to discuss that with them, also. Thanks for giving me that "kick" in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/oct/28/entertainment/chi-1028-library-cdsoct28 great article from Chicago Tribune regarding this very question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/oct/28/entertainment/chi-1028-library-cdsoct28 great article from Chicago Tribune regarding this very question. Ack, can't read it without registering and just don't want to do that now but it does bring up issues of fair use. I think it can be argued that it's fair use to burn it for yourself. It's when you give it to someone else that it really crosses the line. Cdn copyright law varies a bit from the US btw, and appears to be a bit 'looser' which is part of the reason we have probs with accessing some US materials. There's a corporate US led movement to tighten up copyright laws world wide which has been causing some contentious debates in backroom negotiating rooms and has led to some companies 'punishing' Cdns by limiting our access to certain things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Do you go to the public library? It would be perfectly legitimate and wonderful if she jotted down the name of the new albums and passed on the information to your son. Then he could put them on hold and listen to them directly. She has choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2abcd Posted February 19, 2010 Share Posted February 19, 2010 Thanks for all your reponses. You all said what I knew needed to be done but I think I needed a kick in the pants to get me moving in the right direction. I know I've been hesitating about making an issue of this for months because she is a very insecure person in general and I always walk on tip-toe around here for that reason anyway. (Sigh) I'll talk to my dh about it but I'm guessing we'll try to have a more serious discussion with her about it on Sunday. I get so frustrated by Christians who think this type of theft is all right. I used to prepare income taxes and was always amazed by the number of church people who didn't think twice about trying to cheat on their taxes - it was always fun to try to discuss that with them, also. Thanks for giving me that "kick" in the right direction. I'm glad you are going to talk to HER first. She may not understand that what she's doing is wrong. And that is the Matthew 18 way... to talk to the person involved first. I pray that God will give you wisdom to know what to say and how and when to say it and that she will receive it well. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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