Essay, Research Paper
Students Rights in the Public School System
I chose to do my report on students rights in the public school system.
Lisa Rowe, then sixteen a student at Teaneck High School, in New Jersey, thought
she was doing a good dead when she returned a purse she’d found in her English
class. When she took the purse to the office instead of being rewarded she was
told to step into the principals office and asked to pull up her sweater and
pull down her slacks, and then she was searched. Why? In case she was hiding
stolen money from the purse. That is just one example of how students rights are
being violated, and here is another. In the case T.L.O. Vs NEW JERSEY a girl
got cought smoking in the bathroom of her school. She was then taken to the
office, and asked to open her purse and spill out the contence. What was found
in the purse was marijauna a role of money and notes sujesting that she was a
marijuna dealer. Her parrents soon filed a suit against the school on the basis
that the evidence found was obtained illegally becauce no search warrent was
used. In 1985 the case got all the way to the supreme court. The court ruled
that the fourth amendment rights didn’t apply in the school, and school
officialsstill have to have reasonable suspicion not probale cause. Another
famous case is the case TINKER Vs DES MOINES where two students wanted to
protest the war by wearing arm bands. When the school officials saw what the
two students were wearing the teachers demanded that the students take the arm
bands off at once. The case got all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court said that the students had a right to wear arm bands just as
long as they wernt going to harm themselvs or any one elts. Just a cou
laws on students rights. The First Amendment says that you have a right to
freedom of speech, press, religion, and freedon to a peaceful assembly. The
Second Amendment says that you have the right to be secure in your home, and
your personal things, but apon probable cause. Can students lockers be searched
without a search warrent? Yes, your lockers can be searched without a warrent,
only reasonable susipision that a rule or law has been broken is all that is
needed to preform a search. Can students be subject to mass searches on campus?
No, there must be suspicion directed at each student beaing searched. What
should you do if something of yours is getting searched the best thing to do is
to say in a loud clear voice that you dont want them to searech your things so
that you can have witneses, but don’t try to stop them. Most important of all
don’t put anything in your locker that you don’t want anyone to see. I feel
that students rights are being violated mare than people know. If more people
knew exactly what rights they had it would make alot of things better and easier
to understand.
Biblography
Cover, Marilyn. “Should Students have Rights,” Update, Winter 1985, 11-15
Reprintedin Privacy, Volume 3 (Boac Ruton, Flordia: Social
Recources Series, Inc, 1993) Article number, 42.
Price, Janet R. Levine, Alan H., Cary, Eve, The Rightsof Students, United
States of America, American Civil Liberties Union, 1988.
Schuessler, Nancy, “A Question of Rights.” Seventeen, May 1989,
192-193+207.
Sudo, Phil, “Do You Know Your Rights,” Scholastic Update, (September 21,
1990) 6-8 25+26.
Zirkel, Perry A., “Searching and Researching,” Phi Delta Kappan, Volume
71, (December 1989), 330-332.