TCoppock Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 My sister works at a local high school and was discussing how the police were in her class searching all student's belongings and frisking them. Apparently they go around the schools in the district doing these random searches of students without any cause. These are "preventative" searches. :001_huh: They walk into the classroom, tell all the children to place both hands on their desks, then one by one pull them up to the front and go through all of their belongings and frisk them. :blink: My sister saw nothing wrong with this, and said there are actually signs around the school about the fact that students are subject to searches at anytime. I commented that I would be pissed if something like this happened to my son, and of course she said it makes her feel better. Do these things happen in other areas of the country? Am I alone in feeling there is something seriously wrong with students being treated like criminals, being searched and frisked without cause? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readinmom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 We have a trained team of drug dogs that will randomly come through classrooms. Students are instructed to leave their belongings, wait outside the classroom while team does their inspection. I've got no problem with this aspect of searches. There are drugs in school; no way around this one. At a previous school, they did the search you describe and one of my students was suspended for having what was considered a weapon. (small nail clippers that open with the different features) I thought this was over the top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phathui5 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 That is not something that I would be comfortable with my children submitting to without just cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 That is not something that I would be comfortable with my children submitting to without just cause. Are children exempt from the Bill of Rights? Sounds like unreasonable search and seizure to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 That is not something that I would be comfortable with my children submitting to without just cause. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuzi Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Are children exempt from the Bill of Rights? Sounds like unreasonable search and seizure to me. Agreed. My HS actually made national news my Sophomore year because they tried to bring in the drug-sniffing dogs, and one student (from the Honors Civics class, of all classes) refused to leave the room without his stuff, and asked the cops to show him a search warrant. He was suspended, and there was a whole big to-do between the school and the ACLU about the civil rights of the students, and eventually the drug dog patrolling stopped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 One of the most disturbing books I read last year was Lockdown High by Annette Fuentes. Very well written and researched. Alarming but for good reason. I was searched in high school by school administrators, and found the whole mindset behind it awful. What was described in that book, however, of how students are seen by security, how they want automatic guns and full paramilitary gear, claiming in conventions that there is one Columbine shooting every day in the US when there isn't...it's so much more extreme than when I was in school and is very troubling. She also found evidence of teachers and schools, under pressure from No Child Left Behind, who push unruly kids out of the schools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nova147 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 There is a big difference between locker searches and frisking. I can see the justification for searching lockers and desks. They are school property. But keep your hands off the kids. Teachers aren't even allowed to hug kids in many districts, but it's ok for them to be frisked? No. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Are children exempt from the Bill of Rights? Sounds like unreasonable search and seizure to me. It is....train them young to ignore their rights. Shudder!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lisbeth Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Agreed. My HS actually made national news my Sophomore year because they tried to bring in the drug-sniffing dogs, and one student (from the Honors Civics class, of all classes) refused to leave the room without his stuff, and asked the cops to show him a search warrant. He was suspended, and there was a whole big to-do between the school and the ACLU about the civil rights of the students, and eventually the drug dog patrolling stopped. Major kudos to that kid! Wow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen in CO Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I have feelings about rights and privacy and such, but I also know that in the school my brother taught at last year this would have been a good thing. He had a stabbing in the hallway outside his room after class. There was also more than one stabbing after school on school property. It is all very good for us to advocate for the rights of children to be free from unlawful search, but the other children also have the right to expect reasonable safety. The searches aren't as much of a problem in my mind as the need for them or perceived need for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommymilkies Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 That is not something that I would be comfortable with my children submitting to without just cause. I agree. I would pull my kids from school if they did this. It is a violation of their rights and I consider it disturbing. It's one thing if they have just cause-but they usually don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 It is....train them young to ignore their rights. Shudder!! :iagree: While I wouldn't want my kids in a school with drugs and weapons, I wouldn't want them to learn that they have no rights either. Our society has bigger issues causing the "need" for these kinds of actions that unlawful search and seizures will not fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I'd be very angry if they did this to my child. I understand that some schools have metal detectors at the doors, and while the need for them makes me sad, I think that's fair. I can also understand a locker or desk search if there is suspicion of drugs or a weapon. But frisking kids for no reason? Absolutely not. My child wouldn't return to that school, and I am not sure I could have enrolled him there in the first place if I knew this was a possibility (signs posted and the like). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Just one more way in which our public schools are starting to mirror prisons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Mama Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Do these things happen in other areas of the country? Am I alone in feeling there is something seriously wrong with students being treated like criminals, being searched and frisked without cause? It is....train them young to ignore their rights. Shudder!! The searches aren't as much of a problem in my mind as the need for them or perceived need for them. :iagree: My first thought upon reading the question at the end of your post was "More that we are trying to acclimate them to being suspected of being criminals and treated accordingly." I realize, though, that sad as it may be, there is a small percentage - growing by the day in my neck of the woods - of out of control kids who do not feel the need to submit to authority and do not have empathy for others or remorse when they've done wrong. We are slowly letting the inmates dictate the rules of the asylum.... I don't know the answer, but the direction the world is going scares me when I think too much about it. *Shudder* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iucounu Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 It is scary, though searches of students are subject to a more lenient standard than normal due to issues over school safety. School search and seizure cases make for some interesting reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K&Rs Mom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I have feelings about rights and privacy and such, but I also know that in the school my brother taught at last year this would have been a good thing. He had a stabbing in the hallway outside his room after class. There was also more than one stabbing after school on school property. It is all very good for us to advocate for the rights of children to be free from unlawful search, but the other children also have the right to expect reasonable safety. The searches aren't as much of a problem in my mind as the need for them or perceived need for them. Searching kids doesn't keep them safe. IF a weapon to be used in this example had been found beforehand, the criminal would have found a different way to hurt the victim. You can fatally stab someone with a pen, and we allow those in school. Frisking kids counts as a harm to them in my opinion. The elementary school where my sister's kids go has a new policy that kids have to walk down the hallways single-file with arms crossed - so they don't touch anyone. That doesn't sound like an environment I'd want my kids in all day long. I think whoever said it's training them to not expect any rights has a good point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 I agree with Aubrey. Imnsho if the place is that bad off, it's no place for any child and should be closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted May 16, 2012 Share Posted May 16, 2012 Just one more way in which our public schools are starting to mirror prisons. :iagree:When I hear about things like this, I view it as yet another reason that I homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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