Reply #11: What?? So, they did body searches without your knowledge?

[Breeze54]

Do you see anything in the school handbook that allows this?

You should read this!!!

Locker, Backpack & Body Searches

http://www.aclupa.org/education/studentsrightsmanual/privacyrights/lockerbackpackbodysearches.htm

Is the school allowed to search our lockers?

Yes. Even without reasonable suspicion, school authorities can search students’ lockers, but they must first notify students and give them a chance to be present. This also applies to your desk, because lockers and desks are school property. But that doesn’t mean they can search inside any of your belongings that they find inside your locker or desk, like a closed purse or backpack. To search a closed personal container, the school official must have reasonable suspicion that he or she will find evidence of a violation of school rules or the law inside that container.

Can school officials conduct strip searches of students?

Almost never. Strip searches are so intrusive that they almost always violate students’ privacy rights. But in a few cases, courts have said strip searches were okay because the school reasonably suspected students of hiding drugs under their clothes and there wasn’t a less intrusive way to search.

What can we do if a school official or police ask to search us?

If you do not voluntarily consent to the search, there is a possibility that anything found on you cannot be used against you in court or school disciplinary proceedings. If you give your consent to the search, then anything found on you can be used.

If you are asked to consent to a search, you should say that you do NOT consent in a loud, clear voice so that witnesses can hear you. DO NOT physically resist a search, even if you think the search is illegal. That can be used against you later.

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