Privacy Rights at School

Schools should be able to search students bags and belongings if they have a reasonable suspicion of illegal or criminal activity. I believe that students bags should be searched because in this day-in-age a lot of schools are involved in various situations that give them the reason to. Such as the vaping epidemic, or finding marijuana in the possession of students.

In the New Jersey v. T.L.O Supreme Court case, a 14-year-old freshman was caught by a teacher smoking in the bathroom. Her things were searched and she was found with cigarettes and marijuana. In the case against her, she was found guilty of possession of marijuana and placed on probation. The student appealed her conviction claiming that by searching her bags, the school was violating her Fourth Amendment rights of unreasonable search and seizure.

In cases like T.L.O. the student had given the teacher a right to search her bag because of proof of illegal activity.

Many schools throughout the country have been overwhelmed with the infamous vaping epidemic.

As vaping has become an extremely popular thing in high school, it is easy to get caught doing it. Needham High School in Massachusetts took action when kids were caught with the e-cigarettes in possession. The school alerted the staff that if they saw these devices fall out of the students’ backpacks that they should not return them under any circumstances.

The staff is in the right in this instance. The kids should have never had these things in their possession in the first place, so this gave them the right to take the e-cigarettes away from them.

Some may argue that giving the schools the right to search students bags is violating their privacy and their Constitutional rights.

The school shouldn’t be able to search students bags because they are invading on our privacy and property. If they want to search a bag they need to have a solid reason that can be proven with evidence. I wouldn’t want the teachers to make me give them my bag without an explanation about why they are taking it. If it is solely based off a rumor I wouldn’t give them my bag. Similar to the T.L.O. case, I would say that would be a violation of my Fourth Amendment rights.

However, if they have legitimate evidence that I have done something wrong or illegal I would hand my things over so that they could search it. I believe that schools should be given the rights to search students backpacks, but with reasonable suspicion.

Works Cited

“10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know.” The New York Times Web Archive,

15 Sept. 2008, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/featured_articles/20080915monday.html. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

“Students: Your Right to Privacy.” American Civil Liberties Union, 2018, www.aclu.org/other/students-your-right-privacy. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.

“Why “juuling” Has Become a Nightmare for School Administrators.” NBC News, 26 Mar. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/health/kids-health/why-juuling-has-become-nightmare-school-administrators-n860106. Accessed 30 Nov. 2018.