Posted on 07/13/2008 9:25:13 AM PDT by 21stCenturyFreeThinker
Schools may not strip-search students for drugs based on an unverified tip, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
Overturning two other rulings, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said an assistant principal at an Arizona middle school violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old by ordering her to be strip-searched. He thought the honor student had prescription-strength ibuprofen; she did not.
The 6-5 ruling by the San Francisco-based court reinstated a lawsuit that a divided three-judge circuit panel threw out last year. The lawsuit was brought by the parents of Savana Redding, who was an eighth-grader at Safford Middle School in southeastern Arizona when the assistant principal ordered her out of math class and into his office to investigate whether she had violated a school policy that prohibited students from bringing medication -- even over-the-counter medication -- to school.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I can see why you’re tired of explaining. For heavens sakes, I swear some don’t bother reading at all.
We may not agree on some things but I get what you’re saying here.
I think it’s appalling and criminal that this kid was stip searched for script motrin (or maybe OTC motrin). If that were my kid, I’d be in jail for assualt for beating the hell out of the nurse, AP, whomever.
However, we gotta decide what’s ok given hell would break loose if a kid came to school and succeeded to murder a few classmates, etc. with no one intervening for fear of lawsuits.
I know what you’re saying. Shame some don’t.
Thanks. I just hate to see a zero tolerance hands off policy. With this girl the system worked. She was wronged...the courts on appeal agreed and she should get a sizeable compensation. Not large enough to break the city but big enough to make tax payers come down on the school district. Each case just needs to be looked at individually and common sense used. Call the parents if it is a pill concern. If a teacher should see a kid stuff a gun or knife in his pants though...I have no problem with him being restrained while another removes it.
Home schooling is good. I wish I could home school my grandkids:’)
These are children, not prison inmates. The school has absolutely no authority to remove the clothing of a child for a search. If someone did this to my child a lawsuit would be the least of their worries.
Me too. I had a pill box with a few aspirin in it for headaches. I also carried my (legally prescribed) birth control pills when I was a bit older in HS. There should have been no reason why I couldn’t have either one of those things on me.
I agree.
There are so many stupid cases, this wasn’t one of them, that we get frustrated with it all.
I’ve taken knives out of kids hands. I don’t know any teacher or admin who’d make a fuss about otc or script motrin. Or any who’d be ok with a stip search.
You’ve taken knives out of students hands as a teacher? Are you a man or a woman? Do you think what you do as a teacher is worth that kind of risk? Are you aware of how much prison guards make, doing the same thing?
You should look into that line of work. It would pay a LOT more, and the inmates would be more appreciative of you than those nasty public school children are. :-(
Cute. Sorta. I’m a woman and a small one at that. I was lucky. Lucky I had a father and brothers who taught me how to fight and to protect myself.
Yes I have. Those gang banger black kids have such awful lives. Imagine trying to be a positive influence, some here would call me a racist for being real about what goes on in inner city schools and worse, their homelife. They’re just the downtrodden African Americans that the white world doesn’t understand and has kept down all these years. RME.
I’ve not only taken knives out of 12 yr olds hands, I used their knives as protection and to make a point. No kid in my classes ever felt scared. They had an adult who’d protect them.
I thought what I did as a teacher in inner city philly made a difference when I was a young, naive, idealistic teacher. Then I grew up and learned that it’s all about the home and all about teens taking responsibility for their lives. It’s all about the parents. And teaching in suburbia pays more and doesn’t require combat pay or putting up with that crap.
I have no idea what prison guards make but I do know what cops make. And what firefighters make. Got a whole family of them.
Fortunately, my husband made enough for me to be a stay at home mom for many years. And now I can work at a nice, safe public high school or community college.
But I grew up in the city, went to school in the city, taught in the inner city.
BTW, you’re a stay at home single mom of 4 kids. How do you pay your bills? I admire what you do but wonder if you’re independently wealthy, which would be so cool and sorta easy, or if you rely on some kind of assistance. You’ve said you gave up your career to adopt 4 kids as a single mother. I’m just curious how you pay all the bills.
Are you independently wealthy or is someone else paying the bills?
“She’s saying she has concerns, valid concerns, that teachers can’t intervene even in dangerous situations for fear of being sued.”
I did read her posts. She says its ok for teachers to do strip searches. IMO its never ok for a teacher to do a strip search. Is it ok for a teacher/principal to prevent imminent danger to someone? yes but that does not involve a strip search.
DD...please show me where I posted that. Show me what post has you so riled.
IMO, most teachers and administrators probably handle these types of issues routinely with common sense. We don’t hear about that though. The ones that make the news are the exceptions.
Wrong. The system put this kid and her parents through five years of hell in the courts with more to come, apparently. The system with its stupid and vulgar intolerance violated the girl.
This happened several years ago. Where are the perps? Are they in jail? Stripped of their licenses, at the least?
Each case just needs to be looked at individually and common sense used.
You mean schools should not over-react? All over the country kids in schools are getting expelled (or worse) for wearing hats to school, having inhalers in their backpacks, drawing pictures of guns, rough-housing, mouthing off...in short, being normal kids. The school's over-reaction in this case was criminal. Where are the criminals?
By the way, no one posting here thinks its okay for Johnny to bring a gun or knife into the classroom.
You have mixed the issue.
As for your other comment, I didn't mix anything. I was responding to the posts about "keep your paws off my kid." I'm just saying we need to be careful and not over-react. If people take the road that physical contact is never allowed with a child then there may be unacceptable consequences.
I get asked this incredibly personal question all the time — about how I support my children. I’ll answer it — if YOU tell me what method of birth control you use and what sexual positions you enjoy together with your husband?
I was raised that finances and sex are not appropriate questions to ask other adults. Trust me — I understand the curiosity, but I also understand the judgment and superiority many people in this country have toward folks like me who adopt multiple children and are able to stay home with them. I’ve been asked if I’m homosexual, whether I’m wealthy, and who pays my bills — by people who know me much better than you do.
If I were in front of you, I would just smile, and say that God provides what we need every month, and leave it at that. (Shame on you for asking me, by the way, the way you did.) If I have financial means of my own after working as a professional for 25 years, I’d get labeled for that. If I had help from friends and family to support us so i could be home and homeschool my children, you’d fry me for that. If I was on “public assistance”, I’d never hear the end of it. It should be enough that God made a way and prepared me to rescue four siblings who no one else wanted — who were lost in the system, split up, and whose lives were at risk for incarceration, teen pregnancy, depression, suicide, school drop out, and homelessness. Thank God He’s made it possible to bring them back together and save their lives (literally).
If you knew the process required to adopt four siblings through foster care in CA as a single “only” parent, you wouldn’t ask such a ridiculous question. I went through the equivalent of a gynecological exam with finances, credit checks, background checks, criminal investigations, references, interviews, applications, medical exams, and housing inspections. I’ll keep all THAT to myself, thank you.
That's not an over-reaction.
It's a warning.
Look, know your school. If you aren't comfortable with the way teachers do things then pull them out. I have never understood why parents send their kids to "lion's dens". If they feel the kids are in danger then keep them home.
You like common sense? Use some. (And have a good day.)
Thanks. You too.
Geez, this is the Ninth Circus. I thought they’d be all over something that empowered the government over the children of their employers and had some kinkyness thrown in, in a New York minute.
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