U - Preventive searching at schools

[ginnybatbogeysyou]

Yesterday, during maths, five police officers entered the classroom. They were working on a project called "Safe school", which meant they are trying to keep to school and its environment as safe as possible.
We'd seen the officers two weeks before: they were checking the liscenses of all the drivers that passed the road in front of the school .
This time, they were doing an unannounced search for drugs, alcohol or weapons. We all had to empty our pockets, our bags were searched by an officer and our lockers were checked. Three other teams of officers were checking other classes, which means that 20 officers were at our school.

All this made me feel very weird: I didn't have any drugs, alcohol or weapons with me, but seeing all those officers in the hallways, searching lockers created a very strange sight and atmosphere. Eventually, nothing was found.

I was thinking about this at home and I thought "Is this a good way to make the school more safe?" I think it is, because the thought that the police can come to your school and can search your locker and bag at any time might scare people of from bringing drugs, alcohol or weapons to school.

What do you think about this? Good or bad idea?

[hesdead-dealwithit]

Fine idea. I don't have a problem with it. Your locker is not yours, it's the property of the school, and there's no reason why they shouldn't search it. You'd have to be pretty stupid, anyway, to bring our drugs/weapons to school, of all places.

[catken7924]

I think it's a good idea, and a step in the right direction. Stopping violent crimes in school is a good start. I just hope it leads to a zero tolerance polocy towards bullying and stoning, because words leave scars and can kill just like guns and drugs can.

[Mireille]

By law they can check your lockers, but I don't know about making you empty your purse and pockets. Because the lockers do not belong to you the school can call in the police to do random searches whenever they feel it is necessary. However, I do believe that forcing students to empty their purses and pockets is a grey area.

Maybe someone with a criminal justice background will know better then I do, but it seems to me that by forcing students to show what they are carrying is against the law. I seem to remember a court case about a middle school aged girl who was forced to show the contents of her purse to police. Yes, she had drugs, but I do believe that she won the case saying that it was uncalled for in the way that she was told to empty her purse.

Either way, I do agree that searches are necessary in schools, but I do not agree with forcing students to empty their belongings that are not in their locker so that they can be searched. Now, if something was found in a student's locker and the school and the police believe that they are carrying whatever that they found in their locker, then calling them to a private area and asking them to empty their purse or pockets is fine by me. Why? Because it's something called reasonable suspition. That is the only way that it is ok to me. Maybe I'm weird, but that's the way that I feel.

[catken7924]

But what if someone is carrying a concealed weapon in thier pocket with the intent to use it and there is no evidence in the locker? Someone could get killed-or worse. One of my friends commited suicide after having a razor pulled on her at school and being threated. She decided she'd rather die on her own terms rather than be knifed at school. Maybe if someone had caught that boy BEFORE it happened, rather than him being punished after the fact, that beautiful 15 year old would be alive today, saving lives as she so hoped to do-she wanted to be a social worker.

[Mireille]

But what if someone is carrying a concealed weapon in thier pocket with the intent to use it and there is no evidence in the locker?

Then the school can put in their dress code that girls cannot carry purses larger then a certain size. My high school did that. They also restricted us from carrying backpacks to classes. We had to keep the bags in our lockers. It's not the worst thing in the world to carry your books and stop at your locker thoughout the day. I do realize that hand guns can be small, but it's harder to hide it in a small purse. There is also the fact that statistics show that boys are more likely to carry a concealed weapon so taking away the ability to carry your backpack to classes eliminates most problems with a concealed weapon.

[DsX Phoenix]

By law they can check your lockers, but I don't know about making you empty your purse and pockets. Because the lockers do not belong to you the school can call in the police to do random searches whenever they feel it is necessary. However, I do believe that forcing students to empty their purses and pockets is a grey area.

The girl who started this thread is not an American, so I don't know what the laws on searches are in the Netherlands. However, in American schools, I'm pretty certain this is illegal (unconstitutional and all).

However, the way the schools search kids' posessions legally is by bringing in police dogs, who are trained to pick up the scent of things like drugs and gun powder. The dogs are sent to each student to sniff them, and if the dogs smell anything, then the police have probable cause to legally search the child's posessions.

I realize this doesn't prevent someone from bringing in a knife to school, but people will sneak weapons or drugs to school, no matter what we do. Most schools have metal detectors, but kids can get the weapons past those. So, no plan is 100% full-proof. However, this one both limits the kids from bringing whatever they want to school, and it still protects a student's civil liberties.

None of these things would work at my old high school, however, since it was an open campus. All someone would have to do is hide a gun in the cornfield next to the school, and go over to it between classes, or whatever.

[catken7924]

Actually, in the US it IS legal to search lockers. The lockers are owned by the school, not the student. If the school wants them searched, they can have them searched. Just like if you were a parent who thought your teen was doing drugs, you could call the police to search their room, because you own the house/room. Basically, lockers are on loan to you. They are not your property, they belong to the school.

[DsX Phoenix]

I know it is legal to search lockers. I said it was illegal to search personal belongings (i.e., purses), because these are not owned by the school.

Also, I am not completely sure police are allowed to search purses or bookbags that are left in the locker. If someone knows that, feel free to comment.

I guess I wasn't exactly clear on what I had meant. Sorry.

[Kaonashi]

In illinois it's allowed to search your lockers, as well as your person. Not sure how I stand on this. On one hand, it seems like a complete invasion of privacy. On the other hand, they find so many weapons and make-shift weapons in the schools doing this (along with having metal detectors) that it's obviously something that needs to be done.

*hugs Catken*

[catken7924]

I think that all schools should make a rule that all backpacks/purses must be of clear plastic. That way a student's privacy doesn't get violated, but the innocents are still protected. Unfortunately, this does not keep a boy or girl from wearing baggy pants and hiding a razor/knife/gun in there and hurting a student or scaring a student into killing herself.

[DsX Phoenix]

I think that all schools should make a rule that all backpacks/purses must be of clear plastic. That way a student's privacy doesn't get violated, but the innocents are still protected. Unfortunately, this does not keep a boy or girl from wearing baggy pants and hiding a razor/knife/gun in there and hurting a student or scaring a student into killing herself.

Nor does it prevent someone bringing a gun a pencil box in his/her bookbag. Or for a child to hide a gun in many other places. For example, I remember hearing a story about a child hiding a sawed-off shotgun in one of those poster holders.

As I said, no plan is fool-proof. These precautions are up to the school administrators, as they should be. Because, a lot of schools really don't need that many precautions, while others have to have more security measures than some prisons.

[Kaonashi]

Why are kids bringing weapoons to schools anyway! Remember the good old days where someone would tell you: I'm gonna get you after school? The 3:00 bell would ring, you would go to the bathroom, make sure you have a t-shirt on (so the girl can't snatch your shirt off, embarrassing you in front of the boys) grease your face up (so you cn't get scratched), put your hair in a pony-tail, put on your gym shoes and try to go out another door, but there was always some looky-loo who would scream out, "Hey, she's over here!"

Then a crowd would appear out of nowhere, the chick that's pissed off at you would appear through the cheering crowd like Moses parting the Red Sea, and the fight would commence. Someone would get beat up, but you lived to fight another day. If you didn't like the outcome you would screech horribly "Tommorow, same time, skaaaank!" sending the crowd into blissful joy (because the looky-loos all liked watching a fight rather than being in one) and the same thing would happen the next day, or until you both got over yourselves. But nobody died or ended up in the hospital.

Nowadays, when someone tells you "see you after school" you have to worry whether or not they have a gun and will blow your head off because it seems like too many kids have too much pride to take a beating. I wouldn't be a kid today if you paid me.

[Tane]

I do not see a problem with this. If you have nothing to hide then there is no need to worry about stop searches and you can feel safer in your school if they do this.

[Benzo]

I see a dilemma in that. In the name of security the leaders of our society have rights/rules that let them go very deep into our privacy and I think that might lead to some abuse, today it is the class, what about deciding to visit your house?

Another example: Bono, the singer of U2 was sued because he received a grammy award and he said: 'That is ****ing great' on TV when there is a temptative to make the TV language clean, isn't it a bit ridiculous?

[lxs234]

I really don't think it's right to be allowed to search purses, especially dumping the contents and searching in front of everyone. What if you had some, um, personal bathroom stuff in there? You wouldn't want everyone to see that. Locker searches might be ok, only for people where there is reasonable suspicion that they might have something illegal, though. Purses aren't backbacks, they are private.

[HollywoodBob]

I do not see a problem with this. If you have nothing to hide then there is no need to worry about stop searches and you can feel safer in your school if they do this.
Quite right.

Though if they're turning out the contents of a girls purse in public that's just rude.

-HollywoodBob

[Angora]

I think the locker thing is a bit of a question mark, myself. I know at my highschool, I had to pay fifty bucks out of my pocket for the priviledge of renting a locker from the school, and in a situation like that, I think they should make it pretty clear ahead of time exactly under what conditions they're going to rifle through your stuff (as in, not "randomly" or "when we feel like it") or else, they should respect that not everyone is going to choose to cough up a bunch of money so that they can be treated like a criminal (ie: not structure it so that it's mandatory to have a locker, by letting people drag all of their junk to class with them, for instance). My school had all kinds of problems with drugs and violence, but they never did random locker searches, and the lockers were optional anyway. But I can imagine that I would have been pretty angry if they had, given the situation. Actually, interestingly enough, they solved most of the violence issues by backing off and rescinding a lot of the really picky pointless rules, so that people felt a lot less hostile while they were at school. I was there during the change in administration that brought the really stupid stuff back (like not wearing your hat inside, or eating in class or something) and didn't the violence level shoot right back up. Just something to consider while you suggest solving problems by cracking down harder.

But I definitely don't think you should be searching people's pockets or bags without a whole lot of cause, and I don't think it's really appropriate to be sending a drug dog in to sniff them either. I mean, if somebody has drugs, and you wouldn't suspect that unless you sent a police dog over to check them out, then it's really none of your business in the first place, is it? I'm not saying the school should turn a blind eye if they have reason to suspect that someone is trafficing drugs on school property, but if they don't have reason to suspect it, it's a bit of an invasion of privacy to randomly check people.

As for the weapons thing... well, y'all need better gun control. But also, if you wanted to kill someone, you could do it with your pen pretty easily. You don't need a knife. Besides which, people carry knives all the time (that aren't large enough to be a concealed weapon). And I'm fine with banning knives and tossing people out if you see them with one. But going though their stuff just to check... I don't like it.

[daniel4hp]

Another example: Bono, the singer of U2 was sued because he received a grammy award and he said: 'That is ****ing great' on TV when there is a temptative to make the TV language clean, isn't it a bit ridiculous?
I heard about this, and I agree, its just stupid. I think the government is going way to far to try to make TV "clean," and the idea that someone can be sued for "swearing" on TV just appalls me.

Anyway, back to schools...

I think checking lockers is acceptable, but at the beginning of the year, students should be informed that lockers could be checked at any time. That way, students at least know what to expect. As for searching personal belongings, that's just wrong, in my opinion. Bringing in dogs is okay, but asking students to empty purses, backpacks, etc. is not acceptable and is a violation of privacy.

The only circumstances in which a student's personal belongings should be searched is if something has been found in their locker, if a dog has detected something, or if the student has been seen with drugs or a weapon. In these cases, the student should be taken to a private area and their belongings searched. But unless there is some reason to suspect the student, personal searches are, in my opinion, unacceptable.

I do not see a problem with this. If you have nothing to hide then there is no need to worry about stop searches and you can feel safer in your school if they do this.
I disagree. People have rights, and these rights need to be respected. No one should be forced to show what they have on their person, least of all in public, when there is no reason to believe that they would be carrying drugs or a weapon. You may not have anything to hide, but that doesn't mean that you want to show a policeman everything in your purse or backpack, or, even worse, show an entire class. People have a right to privacy, and this needs to be respected in all but extreme cases.

Actually, interestingly enough, they solved most of the violence issues by backing off and rescinding a lot of the really picky pointless rules, so that people felt a lot less hostile while they were at school.
Yes, often when you back off, you get better results. At my old school there were a lot of really stupid rules, and every assembly (once a week), the principal would get up and lecture us about how we were disobeying the rules and how privelages would be taken away and so on. It didn't help one bit, and I firmly believe that had he just backed off, repealing some of the stupid rules and not shouting at us every time someone in the school did something wrong, he would have gotten better results.

[thinkpink38]

On Friday we were suppose to be having a pep ralley, unfortunately it got cancelled, because this mexican kid threatened to have a shoot out during the pep ralley. So, we had to stay in our 2 period class fr 3 hours!!! (I had piano, so no biggy, and I didnt have to take my trig. test!) But eventually they found him, and arrested him. Our school requires us to wear ID badges, if you dont wear it you get expelled, and the reason for this is, because incase there is a person they are trying to find that has commited something, they can identify a person through the ID.

We occasionally have the searchings, but the police officers dont go to the extent that they did to you. They just choose a hallway, and check out the lockers, and if they want, search the rooms. So, I find nothing wrong with the searches. But, I also agree with daniel4hp, they should respect the person privacy, do they really dump out your stuff (from your purse, back pack, etc) in front of the class? I also think they should annonce when they plan on doing it. Honestly, ginnybatbogeysyou, I'd feel uncomfortable :shrug: . That sounds harsh, I think thats going above the limits, and they didnt even find anything! :rolleyes:

[DsX Phoenix]

I think the locker thing is a bit of a question mark, myself. I know at my highschool, I had to pay fifty bucks out of my pocket for the priviledge of renting a locker from the school, and in a situation like that, I think they should make it pretty clear ahead of time exactly under what conditions they're going to rifle through your stuff (as in, not "randomly" or "when we feel like it") or else, they should respect that not everyone is going to choose to cough up a bunch of money so that they can be treated like a criminal (ie: not structure it so that it's mandatory to have a locker, by letting people drag all of their junk to class with them, for instance). My school had all kinds of problems with drugs and violence, but they never did random locker searches, and the lockers were optional anyway. But I can imagine that I would have been pretty angry if they had, given the situation. Actually, interestingly enough, they solved most of the violence issues by backing off and rescinding a lot of the really picky pointless rules, so that people felt a lot less hostile while they were at school. I was there during the change in administration that brought the really stupid stuff back (like not wearing your hat inside, or eating in class or something) and didn't the violence level shoot right back up. Just something to consider while you suggest solving problems by cracking down harder.

Fifty bucks for a locker? Ouch. At my old high school, we paid $4 for the locker, and $5 for the lock (if it needed one). But, anyways, at least at every school I went to that had lockers (2 high schools and 1 junior high), they did tell you at the beginning of school. It was always written in the student handbook, that the school could search the lockers at any time.

[Wab]

I think that all schools should make a rule that all backpacks/purses must be of clear plastic. That way a student's privacy doesn't get violated, but the innocents are still protected.

It violates a girls privacy if she doesn't want to advertise she's having a period and her sanitary gear is exposed or a student on antidepressants doesn't want his Prozac seen in his pack.

[dumbleedore]

I think that searches are a good idea. I had a knife pulled on me when I was at school and was threatened with it. The girl who did it had the knife in her bag. Had the police done random searches every now and then, she probably wouldn't have had it in her bag.

[ginnybatbogeysyou]

I should say something about the lockers at my school. We rent them for €25 a year, but when you hand in the key at the end of the year, you recieve €25 again.
It's also not very common at my school to have books in a locker. All of my books are at home in my cupboard and I only use my locker to put my coat in it.
Since a lot of things can be hidden in coats, I think it's perfectly OK to search them too.

In my opinion, searching bags isn't a violation of privacy. The police officer just checked what was in them without getting all the stuff out of the bag. I mean, you can't really hide a bottle of whiskey in your English literature book, can you? So the police officers also knew that wasn't any reason to get everything out and violate anybody's privacy.

[Wab]

Without a warrant or due cause police cannot actually reach in and rummage around likewise at supermarkets a bag can only be looked in not physically searched.

But I suppose people who have nothing to hide will dump their stuff on the desk to see and then invite the cops and the rest of the class to their house so they can all have a good sticky beak.

[dumbleedore]

GBBY- your locker system is like ours was. We paid $10 at the start of the year and got $5 back at the end.

All mine ever had in it was PE gear that was going off :lol: I feel sorry for the person who got my locker the next year.

With the bags- they wanted to look in my bag in K-Mart one day and I just handed it to the girl and said 'check it out', cause I was trying to find my ringing phone, but she said they're not allowed to touch the bag, they can only look in.

[lxs234]

I don't see why they can look in lockers if you pay for them. If you buy something, it is like renting it. The landlord can not search around the place where you are renting. Technically, they should not be able to search lockers you pay for.

[Picko]

This might make things safer but it does so not through the right reasons. In this case the school is safe because individuals are scared that they could be found out rather than because they know that drugs, weapons etc are not things that you should become involved in. Ultimately such things make the school safe but do little to help the community at large.

[Angora]

I'm so jealous of all the people that had to/have to pay less. ;) No. My school was a big rip-off in general, but that's a different story.

I think the thing at K-Mart and store like that might have to do with not giving you room to say that they put anything in your bag while they were messing around with it.

See, I would liken it more to one of those rentable storage sheds than to an apartment, but with one of those, it's understood that the guys you're renting it from won't be going through your stuff without calling the police and having reason to be suspicious and following all of the proper procedures to search it. So, you know, unless they have reason to think the shed's full of cocaine or something (in which case, they would be in a lot of trouble it they didn't report it) they stay out. Or, if they do random checks (which would be unusual - at least with the ones I know about) then they say so right away and you take your business elsewhere if you don't like it.

So that's kind of why with a highschool I think they either shouldn't be doing it randomly or else they shouldn't make it mandatory (either by actually making it mandatory or by making it so that you can't not have one).

[Tane]

I do respect peoples privacy but there comes a time when the welfare of the children and staff at a school out ways such a thing.

Having to deal with children who come into the classroom on drugs is not an easy task to handle. The teacher is limited in what they can do to resolve any problems and are not trained to deal with such an event. Well not in Britain anyway. I had to deal with one such girl in a class once and nine out of ten times removal for her safety as well as the rest of the class was fine because she would come in on drugs in a lets say cheerful manner. It was the times when something annoyed her during the dinner break which made things bad not only for me but the rest of the class. The only way to move this girl was by either ringing security or by force. Now if spot checks just before class start where made mandatory then the child would not take the drugs and not disrupt the education of the rest of the class. As a result the child in question would also get an education rather than spending the majority of her time coming around in a safe environment.

I do think these checks should be done in a private location and not infrount of the rest of a class. May be teachers should do the checks as well and not the police as there is a greater trust between child and teacher than police and child.

I have also read about some state schools in the US (who have abopted a policing system) resembling prisons more than schools. As a result the gang culture has blossomed rather than diminished as most are acting aggressively for attention and the police presence is just aggravating the problem. Studies have shown that the presence of police develops a prison culture where some children act more cunningly and very similar to inmates found within the prison environment. So having more police within the schools has created new problems and made the trouble makers more devious and cunning as a result.

I used the word force for removal as a teacher can under extreme circumstances remove a child from a class with minimal force and in a specific way (for example the technique requires a teacher not to grip a child in anyway or form. If I remember correctly it is a push with only the base of the palm of a teachers hand on the back of a child’s shoulder that can be adopted. I think there was another way to separate two children who where fighting as well). This is also something done as a last resort and luckily someone I have never had to do myself nor will.

[Mireille]

I don't see why they can look in lockers if you pay for them. If you buy something, it is like renting it. The landlord can not search around the place where you are renting. Technically, they should not be able to search lockers you pay for.

Actually, even if you "rent" the locker it still is not yours. The school is offereing the use of the locker to you for a small fee but the locker itself still belongs to the school. I might not know much about renting and landlords, but I do know that the proporty belongs to the landlord thus making it his/her responsibility for what is there. If something illegal is found on a rented property the landlord is the first to get told about it, not the residents. The landlord then tells the residents to get rid of whatever it is, depending on what it is.

What I'm trying to say is that if you are renting the property it is by no means yours. The rights of the property still belong to the person that is allowing you to use the feature. In other words, the locker is still the school's even if you pay for it.

[Doggy]

I think it's fine, as long as only the lockers are searched. Also, schools who do this could make a habit of every new school year warning students that lockers can be searched during the year. Anyway, unless someone is hiding something such as alcohol or drugs, people usually don't have private things in their locker. The worst thing I would have to show is how messy it is. :)

Besides, better to have them searched than have something else happen because they weren't (such as threatening with knives, people drunk etc.).

[lxs234]

I have also read about some state schools in the US (who have abopted a policing system) resembling prisons more than schools. As a result the gang culture has blossomed rather than diminished as most are acting aggressively for attention and the police presence is just aggravating the problem. Studies have shown that the presence of police develops a prison culture where some children act more cunningly and very similar to inmates found within the prison environment. So having more police within the schools has created new problems and made the trouble makers more devious and cunning as a result.

.

We have a police at my school ( in the U.S.A) and it does not really make a difference. I see him only about once a day. He isn't everywhere at once, so we are not scared of him. He probably only makes the teachers feel better. The officer only steps in if something like drugs or something else illegal occurs. I don't think the presence of police officers makes more gangs, and it definently doesn't make it feel like a prison.

I don't like the idea of random locker searches, because you could be living in fear all the time, even if you don't have anything illegal in it.

[Angora]

Now if spot checks just before class start where made mandatory then the child would not take the drugs and not disrupt the education of the rest of the class. As a result the child in question would also get an education rather than spending the majority of her time coming around in a safe environment.

Maybe. Or maybe they would take drugs before showing up at school, or not show up at school at all. Maybe their personality wouldn't be all that much nicer off drugs than it is on.

Because it's kind of an obvious expectation that there are certain events that you turn up sober for - and school, like work, is one of them. So, if someone doesn't really get that expectation, I think there are other problems than where exactly they toke up.

To me, having people inebriated or high at school is a seperate issue from searching them. Because searching them is about making sure that they don't store and sell illegal substances on your property, to protect your own interests if it turns out that they do. I don't think it's really a way of stopping people from taking drugs in the first place.

[hermy_weasley2]

At my school, we share lockers with one other person who is assigned to us. I've never said more than two words to my locker partner. I don't have much stuff in the locker we share, but she has what seems like everything she owns in there. Like I said, I don't really talk to her (she's a senior, I'm a sophomore), but what if she decided to bring something to school that she shouldm't bring and wants to hide it in our locker? How would they know which one of us it was? She doesn't give me any reason to believe that she would do that, but that would be the only problem I would have with preventative searching.

[lxs234]

At my school, we share lockers with one other person who is assigned to us. I've never said more than two words to my locker partner. I don't have much stuff in the locker we share, but she has what seems like everything she owns in there. Like I said, I don't really talk to her (she's a senior, I'm a sophomore), but what if she decided to bring something to school that she shouldm't bring and wants to hide it in our locker? How would they know which one of us it was? She doesn't give me any reason to believe that she would do that, but that would be the only problem I would have with preventative searching.

Locker partners: the only good thing about that is everyone can get a locker. Other than that, bad, bad, idea. Too many people can get framed.

[ginnybatbogeysyou]

The locker partner idea sounds weird to me. Like Lxs234 said: what if your partner brings something to hide in the locker and it gets found? Since you share your locker, it could happen that you get blamed for the other persons actions.

I wuoldn't like that system.

[lxs234]

In school they always tell us "don't give your locker combo to anyone, they might not be your friend later." Well, doesn't having a locker partner go against that whole thing? Your stuff could be stolen. If your locker partner gave the combination to a friend, they could open it and destroy your stuff.

[Angora]

I had to share a cubbyhole with someone in fourth grade once, and that was a nightmare, so I can't imagine sharing a locker with a stranger. I did share one with a friend of mine once. I gave her half the money for it, but since it was in her name, I suppose she was responsible for anything that was in there - but, at least she knew me, right?

On the other hand, if you're sharing with someone you don't know, you probably won't put anything in there that you don't want them to rat you out on. That would be a big risk.

[vickygirl4]

This topic is very interesting because in our mock trial case this year, the pre trial issue involves random, suspicionless drug searches at a high school. Based on previous case law, such a search as the one you described at your school would most likely be considered illegal because it violates the students' 4th amendment rights to privace. Vernonia school district vs. Atkins established a three prong balancing test to decide whether the school search was reasonable and constitutional. In order for the search to be reasonable, the students' privacy interests have to outweight the nature of the intrusion and the governmental interest. In yoiur case, the search seems very intrusion and the students' privacy interest high. Was there a high amount of drug use that would justify the actions of the administrators?

[dumbleedore]

Or maybe they would take drugs before showing up at school

I know of a lot of people who would do drugs on the way to school or drink alcohol (not naming names on the second part... :whistle: )

Most schools know who the ones likely to do such things are- at my old school they'd basically tell every teacher to keep an eye on you. One toe out of line and you'd be hauled up on the line. There was only ever one drugs case when I was at school, but the stupid girl left her bag open in a classroom with a bag of suspicisous herbs inside it. I can't remember what happened- the school was rife with gossip for a while.

All in all, as I said on page 1, I agree with random searches. Keep 'em on their toes. Best way to deal with it.

[lxs234]

There was only ever one drugs case when I was at school, but the stupid girl left her bag open in a classroom with a bag of suspicisous herbs inside it.

Good god... That's about as dumb as you can get. Did she want to get caught?
Something like that could happen if you share lockers, and no one would know who's drugs they were.

[tizzy weasley]

We have this done at our school as well. Its nothing big really. The principal comes on and asks for the teachers to lock the doors, so no one can leave the room. We also have dogs going through and sniffing the lockers. And in random classes, they pull the class out of the room and check the backpacks and purses for weapons. They as well go through the parking lot with the dogs. Its sad that they actually find things in people's lockers. It's legal in Illinois, I know.
The lockers belong to the school...and they can do whatever they like with them. I'm actually for this. I like being in a safe school. My school doesnt have any security controls or anything like that, so I think this if this is the only way to check, then they should do it.

[haycheng]

Personally, I have no objection toward searching of my bag or my locker. While it may not be legally correct, it does not bother me.

If you are in school, you are also under school code. I have always consider school have a guardian role. None would question the legal right of a parent to search their kids.

[lxs234]

Personally, I have no objection toward searching of my bag or my locker..

Yeah, but you are a guy. Sometimes it's different for girls.

We have this done at our school as well. Its nothing big really. The principal comes on and asks for the teachers to lock the doors, so no one can leave the room. We also have dogs going through and sniffing the lockers.

Okay, I guess that's okay since they just sniff them.


And in random classes, they pull the class out of the room and check the backpacks and purses for weapons.
Now that, I don't think it's right.

[hermy_weasley2]

We don't have preventative searching at my school, which is a good thing with the locker-sharing system I mentioned earlier, but, like some people have said, the teachers and staff do know who to keep an eye on. Those kids can't get away with even the most minor offenses, but the rest of us would have to threaten to bomb the school to have a teacher even think twice about us.

This thread reminds me of a funny story. This boy at school was one of the kids teachers knew to watch out for, and he got called into the office one day because he was suspected o having marijuana. Well, while he was in there, he tried to swallow the bag and got choked. He got suspended for a long time, but he's never done anything out of line again at all. He's one of my friends now, and I hope he's changed for good. I think maybe he was hanging out with the wrong crowd before.

[haycheng]

Yeah, but you are a guy. Sometimes it's different for girls.
why gender have anything to do with it? I assure the full body search will done privately. I guess ever I am a guy, i would be uncomfort about a body search.

[totalmuggle]

well i think that searching lockers is fine. but asking a girl to empty a purse that might have a pad or tampon maybe some birthcontroll or some other imbarsing thing like that is uncalled for.

anyways if i had to empty my puse i would get arrested till my parents could explain. i have about 80-90 differnt meds, in my purse at all times!

[mirandam]

We also had police in our school, and it did not make any difference to any students. The gangs are going to be there whether the school is policed or not. Searching lockers is legal here, and I believe if all schools did not let you carry a backpack or a purse in class then that would just solve the problem of anyone carrying something in them, and them needing to be searched. I know there are some instances with people who have to take meds, and things, in our schools here these are left with the nurse and when you need to take them, you go to the office. If it is a little inconvenient for some not to have their make up and combs and such, oh well, better to not have the ability to have someone have a weapon in theirs. Some of the other schools here will only allow clear bags in classes.

[lxs234]

I assure the full body search will done privately.

Woah, they do FULL BODY SEARCHES!!! You never said that before! I didn't know they could do that. Do they even have a reason??
(Sorry for yelling)


but asking a girl to empty a purse that might have a pad or tampon maybe some birthcontroll or some other imbarsing thing like that is uncalled for

Yeah, that's what I meant when I said it's different for a guy, haycheng. I didn't mean the full body searches. That would be uncomfortable for everyone.

[ginnybatbogeysyou]

Yeah, but you are a guy. Sometimes it's different for girls.
How can it be different? I don't mind if they show my lipgloss or mascara. Or are you talking about certain attributes for the monthly thing?

[haycheng]

I know they did full body search in a high school in Hong Kong. It was on the new. I forgot what went wrong with that one. The cause of the search is a girl lose something valuable item.

[lxs234]

How can it be different? I don't mind if they show my lipgloss or mascara.

I already posted why I think it's different, on the post above yours, in case you missed it.

[Tane]

I know they did full body search in a high school in Hong Kong. It was on the new. I forgot what went wrong with that one. The cause of the search is a girl lose something valuable item.
I do not agree with full body searches done on children while at school. To me that is going one step to far. I think searching children's bags and only if there are suspicious circumstances are acceptable because I would not want to see any harm come to the other children around school but not full body searches. That is too extreme for children.

[lxs234]

. That is too extreme for children.

I agree. They are kids, not full scale criminals.

[hermy_weasley2]

Personally, I don't think a pad or a tampon would be embarrassing. Unless my mom was there. My mom tends to turn things like that into some big lecture. Especially at my school where the teachers hand them out in class. Birth control might be different, though. Maybe that's just me.

[Wab]

If honest people are treated like criminals they might as well act like them.

[Animagi rock!]

I don't think I'd feel too well being searched at school. Not because I'd have anything to hide, but because I'd feel ... watched ... somehow. Maybe that's because schools in switzerland tend to be quite lax when it comes to rules and we're not used to stuff like that happening (At least the school I went to here was much less strict than the one I went to in the US). I'd also feel kind of uneasy knowing that my school has to resort to locker searches, etc to stop people dealing drugs or hurting each other.

[lxs234]

If honest people are treated like criminals they might as well act like them.

That's true. It's like the slytherins: they are always told they would be dark wizards when they're older, and look what many of them grew up to be? (I mean the adults)