stripped, searched, and sued

*Required

Can schools strip search?  Short answer?  I’m going to side with the school on this one, but not necessarily because I think they were right in this incident…they weren’t.

I definitely do not think that the search was needed in this particular case as the girl had no prior history and the tip came from a random student.  There were grounds for searching the backpack, but not personal areas.  The bottom line is poor judgment.  Yes, if you have never had an incident with the student, then check her records.  Conference with her and her mother or the other student who gave the tip.  Send her home for the day if there was a problem.  Don’t make harass her.  If she’s a good student, I’m sure she’ll be scared straight anyways.

So why do I support the right to a strip search?  Probably for all the reasons this school does.  In cases of ACTUAL weapons, drugs, or other harmful materials, strip searches may be necessary to ensure that the students remain safe.  I would have to say, however, that a warrant in each case would not be out of the question.  I guess the highest court in the land will decide.

How does this impact curriculum and instruction?  Well, I’d say pulling students out for strip searches would definitely have students on edge and unable to focus in their learning environment.  Also, if students are accused by teachers and are not found guilty will loose all trust of any teachers.  That teacher will also be in trouble as an instructor.  Word gets around.  The key is keeping the decisions out of the hands of teachers and in the hands of CAPABLE administrators.