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la dee la dee da... just figured i'd write something in this space they have alotted me... is that how you spell "alotted"? "allotted"? "alloted"?

on love -"its like sex... its like tying someone down spread eagle and bringing them to the brink of ultimate release, then turning off the lights and leaving the room for a few hours" SILVERADO_LAS VEGAS_RIOT GRRLS_SEAMONKEY_TUBA_PHILOSOPHE_i SMITE THEE :P

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School District v. Constitution - Students’ Rights

In recent history, there have been a series of tragic events in schools which has raised the pressure on the school system for better safety and stricter rules. But exactly to what extent should students’ rights and civil liberties be compromised for the sake of safety? The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” In the Supreme Court case New Jersey v. T.L.O., the Court ruled that public school officials can search a grade or high school student "when there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school... when the measures adopted are reasonable to objectives of the search are not excessively intrusive in light of age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction.” Lesser courts have upheld this decision in the case of Cornodo V. State, which ruled that students are protected by their rights under the Fourth Amendment, but the extent of this protection is very limited. School officials are also agents of the state, and therefor cannot claim immunity under the doctrine of in loco parentis. In cases involving students’ rights, courts must apply to balance weighing the school officials' responsibility to maintain order and discipline in a learning environment against the students right to privacy. Basically, to what acceptable extent a student’s civil rights can be compromised for his/her safety. The Supreme Court has ruled on this, as seen in the above cases, but the rulings are unclear. The Court should again look at the issue of student searches. A student’s rights and civil liberties should not be compromised by unwarranted searches for the sake of safety. The current laws are unsatisfactory.
School searches impede the learning process and go against the foundations of the country. It is argued that if these infringements of rights save one life, it will have been worth the compromise. Our country holds a very high value for human life, but the entire country is founded on personal rights. The rights of every student in America, outlined and upheld by the Constitution, take precedence over a few incidents in which lives were lost. The foundation of our country should not be compromised for the mere possibility of lost lives. It is true that school officials take the responsibility for their students’ safety, no matter what. However, a school’s first priority is, and has always been, education. If these searches impede the learning process, they do not belong in schools. Personally, I have witnessed entire class periods wasted to do a search on every student’s bag because the teacher heard a pager go off. Although it is a school rule that pagers aren’t allowed on campus, one pager in class is not a danger to student safety. The waste of an entire class period and other such unjustified searches should not be allowed in schools because they do impede on the learning process and are no threat to student safety.
The Supreme Court has conflicting views on the issue of student rights, and should reconsider the issue. Students are legally required to attend school. Because they are not given the choice of whether or not they want to go to school or stay at home, they should receive the same rights that they do at home. A search warrant would have to be obtained in order to search a student anywhere but on school grounds, and because they are forced by law to go onto school grounds, the Fourth Amendment should be upheld to the fullest. In the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District decision of 1969, it was concluded that a student does not loose their constitutional rights when they enter school property. That decision was later expanded by the Fujishima v. Board of Education decision, upholding Ms. Fujishima’s First Amendment rights in school. The court obviously has conflicted views on the issue of student rights. Why should some rights be given to students while others can be taken away? The Court’s conflicting views are evidence that the Court needs to reexamine the issue in order to set the standard that a student does not loose their constitutional rights simply because they have stepped onto school grounds.
The existing laws are unconstitutional and poorly defined. The Supreme Court decision in New Jersey v. T.L.O. clearly takes away a student’s Fourth Amendment rights. The words written in the Constitution are “probable cause,” but the Supreme Court decided that school officials need only “reasonable suspicion” to search a student, and the term ‘reasonable suspicion’ is not defined. The lack of definition leaves the issue completely to the court in which a case involving a student’s Fourth Amendment rights is tried. Most of these student rights violations do not make it to court. The existing poorly defined decision is a loophole for school officials to use as they will. In order to properly protect students’ rights, this issue needs to be brought up in court again to be better defined.
A school’s first priority is education. These searches not only inhibit the learning process by instilling fear and disrupting class time, but they are teaching students to allow others to infringe on their rights. At an early age, the existing school district is raising America’s future citizens to be obedient, hard workers with no respect for themselves, their possessions, their privacy, or their fundamental constitutional rights. So often, school is compared to future jobs. Because a person can quit a job if they feel they are being treated unfairly; they have protection under the law if their rights are being infringed upon; and their bosses do not have legal loopholes to infringe on their workers rights such as school officials do under existing court decisions, the analogy between school attendance and job attendance is completely unfair. These searches are teaching students how the courts undermine the very foundations of this country. The Supreme Court should again examine this issue and revise existing laws. A student’s civil rights should not be compromised for what little safety these searches offer.




fallen

Works Cited

The Constitution of the United States of America

New Jersey v. T.L.O.

The Rights of Students

Supreme Court Upholds Students' Strip Searches

poetry
omnipotent eulogy
quotes
about me
links
thoughts of the day
tuba town

la dee la dee da... just figured i'd write something in this space they have alotted me... is that how you spell "alotted"? "allotted"? "alloted"?

on love -"its like sex... its like tying someone down spread eagle and bringing them to the brink of ultimate release, then turning off the lights and leaving the room for a few hours" SILVERADO_LAS VEGAS_RIOT GRRLS_SEAMONKEY_TUBA_PHILOSOPHE_i SMITE THEE :P

© 1998 UrielsPoet@aol.com

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