Smoke in the Air
Students are getting caught for smoking on school grounds.
Having our Fourth Amendment rights violated on school grounds, and having your privacy violated because of suspicion, this takes away kids rights.
The Fourth Amendment protects you against “unreasonable searches and seizures.”Students who get caught for doing something, such as smoking, just like a 14 year-old girl from Piscataway High School was caught smoking in the school bathroom and got searched because of suspicion. This girls rights were violated all because the principal was suspicious that the girl had other things in her bag that she’s not supposed to have on school grounds. Yes, this girl was caught smoking on school grounds but, she should’ve only got in trouble for that, she shouldn’t have gotten searched. She should’ve only gotten punished for what was seen.
Students have “legitimate expectations of privacy.” Take this for example, your in the school bathroom, and there are people around you who are smoking but, your not. And a teacher comes in and says she needs to check all your bags even though you weren’t doing anything. That’s invading in on your privacy.
Teachers have a right to search a student’s belongings if they have a “reasonable suspicion.” Yes, students can have privacy to a certain extent, but the school must be balanced with responsibility for “maintaining an environment in which learning can take place.”
Although, all that is true, it still violates the students Fourth Amendment Rights of having your belongings searched.
New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985) court case
The Right to Search Students – Educational Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/dec01/vol59/num04/The-Right-to-Search-Students.aspx
Students Have Rights When Searched or Questioned at School | Pine Tree Legal Assistance. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ptla.org/wabanaki/students-have-rights-when-searched-or-questioned-school