Can Schools Ban Student Cellphones From The Premises?

Cell phones on school grounds is becoming a highly debated topic lately. More and more schools are adopting the policy of prohibiting students from bringing cell phones to school. The immediate question that comes to mind is, can schools legally ban their students from bringing a cell phone to school?

The best way to answer this question is to look at both sides of this debate. Those in favor of students having cell phones, meaning the parents of these students, (sorry boys and girls, but a teenager's claim to why they might need a cell phone in school holds no weight in this conversation) have a few logical reasons as to why their child should possess a cell phone in school. It basically boils down to parents challenging schools banning cell phones on the basis that it interferes with their constitutional right to guide the care, custody and control of their children. I'm not necessarily buying that argument, but it is not totally without merit.

The school's argument for banning cell phones is based on specific instances that take place on a daily basis as a result of allowing students to have cell phones in school. These incidents include but are not limited to harassment, intimidation and cheating. So, the question remains, who has the last say when it comes to cell phones in school.

Ultimately it comes down to the school district's policy, meaning the school can set policy denying students the right to bring cellphones to school. Se Price v New York City Board of Education, 51 A.D. 3d 277 (2008) The court said the ban was within the districts authority to create regulations governing discipline and was not subject to judicial intervention.

Why not a compromise then? Let students bring their cell phones to school and keep them in their lockers turned off. Most schools have a policy similar to this, but let's be honest. If a teenager is bringing their cell phone to school, do you really think they're going to turn it off and put it in their locker. Cell phones are so small and compact that they can be hidden anywhere. It's just too much of a temptation for teens to carry it on their person because they don't think they're going to get caught. Now when teens surreptitiously use their phones in school, teachers have to take time to discipline the student for violating school rules. This takes time away from classroom instruction, which in and of itself gives the school more of a reason to ban cell phones from being brought to school.

There are still parents out there that are going to argue that this ban will take away their fundamental right to child rearing. If we compare this banning of cell phones to another case we will see this is not necessarily the case. The courts have upheld that schools can not distribute condoms. The reason being it interferes with the parents' right to guide the sexual activity of their children. When comparing the cases you see that not allowing a child to have a cell phone in school has very little interference on child rearing.

The school ultimately falls back on its safety net, which is the legitimate goal of keeping discipline and order in school, and overcoming any hindrance to the furtherance of education.

Sorry teens, if the school says no phones the law is on their side.

My Rant of the Month

I just don't understand the popularity of Twitter. Can somebody please explain to me how posting a message in under 140 characters has swept across this nation like an outbreak of the Swine Flu. Twitter has become so popular that it's developing its own language. Celebrities and pro athletes are popping up all over the Twitter network. Some of these athletes have even gone so far as to "tweet" during games. Many pro teams have hired people or created a position within the organization to monitor what their players are "tweeting" about. Chad Johnson just said if his team makes it to the Superbowl, (fat chance) he'll be "tweeting" on the sidelines during the game.

Don't social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace encompass what Twitter does? Can't we post stuff that we want our friends and family to see, and not be restricted by 140 Characters? Twitter claims this is part of the reason for their success. Maybe, but the fact still remains that people think they're a lot more interesting than they really are. People "tweet" about everything from losing their jobs to what they ate for lunch. We're starting to take ourselves a little too seriously in this country. Do you really think people care what you ate for lunch?

I heard the average person on Twitter "tweets" between 2 and 3 times a day, with some people "tweeting" well over ten times a day. Who has the time to do this, and what is so important that you have to the let the world know what you just did. The president of the United States is not quoted ten times a day, and to tell you the truth I could care less what Obama had for breakfast, or that he switched his brand of toilet paper because of chaffing.

I think we need to get a grip. There may be some good uses for Twitter and I'd like to hear what they are.

Car Searches on School Grounds

Welcome back to school. I know most of you hate those words, but there might be a few of you out there that are looking forward to getting back. Hopefully you all enjoyed your summer and took advantage of your time off. I don't blog over the summer so this is sort of like my first day back in school as well. So, in keeping with the back to school theme, I have just the topic to discuss. It's a kind of welcome back gift for those juniors and seniors lucky enough to drive to school.

For those of you who drive to school and park on school grounds, it would behoove you to know what your rights are in regards to search and seizure laws concerning your vehicle as it pertains to school grounds. As previously discussed when I wrote to you about locker searches, most schools these days hand out some form of Student Handbook. This handbook is a very important legal document for schools. When it comes to the law, prior knowledge is a big factor. For example, let's say a jar of pickles falls on the floor of your local supermarket and someone slips and falls on it a few seconds later. There is no grounds for a lawsuit (I know some lawyers are out there disagreeing with me) because the supermarket did not have a chance to clean the mess up. Take the same scenario but tweak it a little. A jar of pickles falls and an employee notifies the manager. The manager calls for clean-up in aisle six, but the clean-up crew is on break. The mess sits there for a few minutes and eventually someone comes along and slips. Now there is a potential lawsuit because there was prior knowledge of this spill and the supermarket did not do its best to either clean the spill or close off the area until it could be cleaned up.

This handbook that you receive, and in many cases have to sign along with your parents, is the school giving you prior knowledge of its rules and regulations. You can try and claim ignorance, meaning you didn't read it, but we know this isn't going to fly. (Get into the habit of reading everything you put your signature on. That goes for the fine print as well) In this handbook should be a section dealing with what the school's expectations of you are for allowing you to park on school grounds. It may look something like this.

It is a privilege and not a right for Juniors and Seniors to use the High School's parking facilities. This privilege can be revoked at anytime at the administration's discretion. Reasons for revocation can be but are not limited to;
1)Reckless driving on school grounds
2)Speeding on school grounds
3)Leaving school grounds without permission
4)Disciplinary issues
5)Contraband found in vehicle while on school property
6)Insubordination

All student vehicles parked on school grounds are subject to search at the administration's discretion.

This last statement in bold print is the school's caveat emptor. They're basically telling you if you bring a car on school property you better not have anything in it that will get you in trouble. I agree with this statement and it makes sense for a school to let students know what their policy is. The question remains. Is the school entitled to search your car if you park it on their property, even if they warn you ahead of time in writing that they have the right to do so?

This question can be answered if we break it down into two parts. The first part is do they have the right to search your car? They have the right to ask to search your car. For those of you who are not mentally challenged you probably see where I'm going with this. The second part to this should be quite obvious. Do you have the right to say no? Yes you do, however there will be consequences to saying no. The most obvious is you're going to have your parking privileges removed. Then you're probably going to get in trouble for insubordination. Insubordination is a disciplinary term that most schools use because it is broad in scope. It usually will end up in a student being suspended. The obvious thing here is that you have to weigh your options. Most teens will let the administration search their cars because they have nothing to hide. If you do have something to hide ( you should never bring anything on school grounds that needs to be hidden) then you're going to have to decide what's more severe. Being suspended and having your parking privileges taken away, or school officials discovering something in your car that you can be arrested for.

School officials need reasonible suspicion to search you, your locker, backpack, purse, pocketbook and your car. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that a search is “reasonable,” if it meets two requirements. It must be justified at its inception. This means that “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." The second requirement is that the search be reasonably related in scope to the circumstances that justified the search in the first place, meaning the measures used to search must be “reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction." This standard of proof that school officials use is much less than a police officer needs to do the same thing. However, a school official can't force you to open your car and search it where a police officer can. Yes, you will be hit with an insubordination charge by your school, but you have to weigh your options.

The cases I have studied, which have been appealed to higher courts in regards to search and seizure on school gounds, all have been upheld because the students voluntarily opened their cars because of the school rule. The courts always rule that the futherance of educational goals outweighs the individuals rights on school gounds. The following links are news articles about search and seizure on school grounds. In each of these cases the students consented to the search based on school rules.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/44890082.html
http://www.school-training.com/newsletter/articles/search-of-students-car.shtml
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/nj_school_officials_can_search.html

I will discuss police searchers, especially drug sweeps with canines at another time. Hope this was helpful and have a safe and productive school year.

My Top Ten Teen Horror Films of All Time

With summer vacation just days away I figure it would be a good time for another top ten list having to do with movies, since going to the movies is a big part of the summer. These are my top ten teen horror films. The late seventies and early eighties started the genre of movie now known as teen slasher flicks. It's amazing how sex, drugs, and killing teens on film has lined Hollywood's pockets over the years. If you're not sure what DVDs to rent you might want to give one of these a try if you're in the mood for a good scare, or laugh, depending on how serious you take your horror films.

10 - The House on Sorority Row (1983)

9 - Prom Night (1980)

8 - Black Christmas (1974)

7 - I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

6 - Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

5 - Friday The 13th (1980)

4 - Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)

3 - Carrie (1976)

2 - Scream (1996)

1 - Halloween (!978)

Do I Give "IT" Up on Prom Night?

Times have changed, but some things always stay the same. Prom night has been synonymous with getting laid since caveman donned their best animal skins to impress their dates. The media (movies in particular) has gone a long way in promoting the concept that the prom and sex go together like PB&J. But this is one of the rare times when I'll cut the media some slack. I remember my dad talking about his prom night (not a comfortable conversation), and the media didn't have quite the influence when my dad was a teen that it does now.

So what's all the fuss about having sex after the prom? I'm talking to the young ladies out there of course, because we all know young men don't need any special reason to have sex. Here comes my disclaimer for those girls out there ready to jump all over me because of the double standard in this country when it comes to sex. Women have every right to engage in as much sex as men do. Do they run the risk of being labeled a slut? Of course. Is this fair? No, but this is the society we live in. Because of these societal norms that have been created through the years we live in a world that expects teenage boys to engage in as much sex as is humanly possible, yet expect teenage girls to remain virgins until at least college, and if possible marriage. This equation just doesn't add up. We either have a mass of teenage boys walking around with severely calloused hands, or white weddings really are a myth.

Throw out the double standard for a second. Most young ladies are taught to be more responsible than the young men out there. The simple reason for this is that men can not get pregnant. (without surgery that is) It is the woman that has to bear most of the emotional and all of the physical issues that come with unplanned, out-of-wedlock pregnancies. Because of this it seems that society has left the responsibility of sex entirely up to the woman. Is this fair? No, but it is true. To prove my point just look at the amount of single mothers as opposed to single fathers. When it comes to sex men like to chalk everything up to genetics. Supposedly we are predisposed to want to spread our seed with as many partners as possible. This is where the saying, "The little head tells the big head what to do." comes from. I'll admit that most men ages 13 to 30 have baby batter on the brain most of the time, but this doesn't mean we are mindless zombies who throw all reason out the window when blood rushes to a certain part of our anatomy.

So, getting back to sex on prom night. We have the oversexed male thinking it's an even money shot that he's getting laid on prom night, even though his date has an impeccable reputation as a young lady. We have a young lady who is feeling all sorts of pressure because it's prom night and she's been dating this guy for most of her senior year, and she is pretty sure he thinks tonight is the night. She likes him, but is not sure she is ready to take the next step with him. What to do, what to do? This is the crux of what I'm talking about. We all know there are couples in high school that have engaged in sexual intercourse before the prom, so having sex on prom night isn't a big deal. I'm talking about the girl who hasn't had sex with her current boyfriend or date to the prom, and even more importantly let's say she's a virgin. Yes people there are still plenty of virgins left in high school. The big question is does she give "IT" up?

The simple solution to answering this question is to take the prom out of the situation. If it wasn't prom night would you be willing to cross that line with this person? When I say this people always want to start in on how the prom is a special event in a person's life. It's a night of memories and spending time with the people you care most about at the end of your high school career. It can be all these things without having sex. The pressure on our young ladies to have sex on prom night can ruin all these memories they're supposed to be creating. Proms are no longer about the prom, but what happens after. In some communities the prom has turned into long weekends where high school students rent out seedy motels and play "house". Last time I checked you need a credit card and have to be over 21 to rent a hotel room. (wake up parents) Some proms are held at hotel banquet halls and the hotel rooms are then booked by the students. I've had parents tell me this is acceptable because their daughters are rooming with other girls. (Yeah right.) We are giving life to the saying, "Off like a prom dress."

I know I sound like a prude. I'm certainly not against premarital sex, and a woman can certainly do what she wants with her body. (as long as she's old enough according to her state's statutory consent laws) All I'm saying is there are girls out there who should not be overwhelmed about having sex just because it's prom night.

Locker Searches, are they legal?

Most high school and middle school students will go their entire school career and not have their locker searched. But there are rare occasions when certain students will have their locker searched. Most students expect a certain right to privacy and assume school officials can not search their lockers. If this is your line of reasoning I only have one thing to say to you. You're wrong.

Schools can and will search your lockers if they feel there is reasonable suspicion that there is contraband in your locker. Contraband consists of stolen property, drugs, weapons, pornographic material, and anything else a school deems as inappropriate material. What you have in your locker doesn't necessarily have to be breaking any laws for school officials to search your locker. The bottom line is that the lockers you use are the property of the school. Unless you are paying some form of rent for them, the supreme court says the school can not be in violation for searching something that belongs to them in the first place.

Most schools usually cover themselves even though the supreme court has pretty much given them carte blanche over locker searches. The way they do this is by issuing every student a handbook at the beginning of the year. Some places call it a handbook, others call it a code of conduct, and others call it the rules and regulations of their institution. Whatever it is called by your school, most students don't take the time to read it. I suggest you do because it has a direct effect on your school life. These handbooks are given out and usually there is a page in it that has to be signed by your parents and returned to school. The school then keeps this on file. In this handbook it will clearly state, among other things, that all lockers are subject to search at the administration's discretion. By you and your parents signing it you are acknowledging this and saying that you agree with the policy. Get into the habit of reading what you sign.

I'm not condoning bringing contraband to school and keeping it in your locker. What I'm saying is that your down right stupid if you do. And please don't think your smart and change the lock on it thinking they will not be able to get into your locker. They'll just call a custodian and cut the lock and be well within their rights to do so. Now car searches that are on school property are a whole other matter. I'll discuss the legal issues of that topic at another time.

Top Ten Influencial Teen Movies

Here is a list of what I think are the top ten influential teen movies. These are not necessarily my favorites, although some might fall into that category. It is simply a list of films about teens that I think had the most influence on their generation.


Honorable Mention - 16 Candles, Porky's, Napoleon Dynamite, Say Anything, Heathers, Grease

10 - Mean Girls (2004)

9 - Clueless (1995)

8 - Boyz In The Hood (1991)

7 - Superbad (2007)

6 - Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

5 - American Pie (1999)

4 - American Graffiti (1973)

3 - Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

2 - Rebel Without A Cause (1955)

1 - The Breakfast Club (1985)