Strip searches at school?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Holly Ord on June 28, 2009 at 12:31am

I am really angry about this entire situation. I am angry that the matter went to a Supreme Court to be ruled on when it is never, ever, ever okay to strip search a young girl at school. I believe that the zero-tolerance drug policy that schools across the country have go too far. The first thing that I thought of when I heard about this case is that of course the young girl was carrying Ibuprofen, I remember when I first got my period, I was in middle school, and for my entire life I have always had horrible menstrual cramps, to the point where I can't get out of bed or off the couch without feeling like my insides are trying to burst out of me for at least the first day, if not first two days of my period. I think that young girls should have Ibuprofen readily available to them via a nurse's station on their school campuses, however, due to schools drug policies, this is not possible leaving young girls in school with either menstrual cramps, headaches, or since kids in school are becoming more and more competitive, a number of them are possibly suffering from headaches due to sleep deprivation or stress. There really are a number of reasons why these kids may need a painkiller or two, and if they were made readily available through a nurse's station, at least the school could keep track of who gets what and how often.

As for the illegal substances; schools all over the place have major illegal drug issues and that should be their concern instead of taking matters like a young girl having Ibuprofen to this degree. There is a line and the school system should pay attention to that.

My biggest concern with this issue is not what kind of drugs should be made available for students; it is the fact that a young girl was violated against her will by the same people who she has been told since kindergarten or earlier that she could trust. That is the worst possible thing that could have happen. No young girl, woman, or person should ever have to go through something like that, it is despicable.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rhonda S. Twitty on June 28, 2009 at 3:23am

This is a really hard situation. But here is my honest opinion.

I am not against my children's belongings being searched at school I want to know if my child is involved in anything dangerous. Strip Searching is a different level all together. If the school suspect my child so badly that they feel need to do a strip search then I think that I (the parent) should be called prior to any strip search has taken place. I don't think I would give the school permission to do such an invasive and potentially emotionally damaging event.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Samantha Fowler on June 29, 2009 at 1:21pm

Perfectly said coudn't agree more!! I would be ripping heads if that was my daughter, never a reason to submit a child to go through that.

Holly Ord said:

I am really angry about this entire situation. I am angry that the matter went to a Supreme Court to be ruled on when it is never, ever, ever okay to strip search a young girl at school. I believe that the zero-tolerance drug policy that schools across the country have go too far. The first thing that I thought of when I heard about this case is that of course the young girl was carrying Ibuprofen, I remember when I first got my period, I was in middle school, and for my entire life I have always had horrible menstrual cramps, to the point where I can't get out of bed or off the couch without feeling like my insides are trying to burst out of me for at least the first day, if not first two days of my period. I think that young girls should have Ibuprofen readily available to them via a nurse's station on their school campuses, however, due to schools drug policies, this is not possible leaving young girls in school with either menstrual cramps, headaches, or since kids in school are becoming more and more competitive, a number of them are possibly suffering from headaches due to sleep deprivation or stress. There really are a number of reasons why these kids may need a painkiller or two, and if they were made readily available through a nurse's station, at least the school could keep track of who gets what and how often.

As for the illegal substances; schools all over the place have major illegal drug issues and that should be their concern instead of taking matters like a young girl having Ibuprofen to this degree. There is a line and the school system should pay attention to that.

My biggest concern with this issue is not what kind of drugs should be made available for students; it is the fact that a young girl was violated against her will by the same people who she has been told since kindergarten or earlier that she could trust. That is the worst possible thing that could have happen. No young girl, woman, or person should ever have to go through something like that, it is despicable.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michele on July 1, 2009 at 12:12pm

No one should be seeing my child naked outside of our family except for our doctor, or another medical professional in a health emergency. Period. Further - the parent should have been called immediately when something was suspected. The mother should not have found out when the child came home from school, the mother should have been part of the process. The search - while I don't think it should have happened at ALL - Should NEVER happen without the parent present in the room. And when you add the fact that it's not even an illegal substance (although probably against school policy) it infuriates me even more. Also, a small note to add - at my child's school, the nurse is not allowed to give medication at all. If you want your child to have any medication of any kind, you have to go to the school personally and administer it. This includes everything from prescriptions to tylenol, cramps to headaches. For children who require medication daily at certain times - their parent literally goes back and forth to the school several times daily. Kind of makes it difficult for that parent to also earn a living.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kim on July 1, 2009 at 2:27pm

I can understand them searching lockers, purses, and backpacks, but if my kid were asked to remove their clothes for Motrin, you can be sure heads would roll. I only skimmed over the article, but I hope that the staff that allowed this were fired and banned from working around children.

Kids are creative...I don't think there's a way to keep 100% of drugs out of schools, but asking a child to remove their clothing is WRONG.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Dawn Noe Matthews on July 3, 2009 at 8:40am

I could not agree more. Searching backpacks and bags is one thing - but go to the extreme of strip search a girl is going way to far. I would not be happy if that was my daughter. A phone call to the parent would should have been made if the school questioned something illegal taking place. What message is this sending to our young girls. The school was in my opinion totally out of line.

Rhonda S. Twitty said:

This is a really hard situation. But here is my honest opinion.

I am not against my children's belongings being searched at school I want to know if my child is involved in anything dangerous. Strip Searching is a different level all together. If the school suspect my child so badly that they feel need to do a strip search then I think that I (the parent) should be called prior to any strip search has taken place. I don't think I would give the school permission to do such an invasive and potentially emotionally damaging event.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Jerri Ann on July 3, 2009 at 10:50am

Ok, kind of a different point of view here. Actually a stark degree of opposite. However, I have ideas of how to make this a better situation.

Let me start by saying that I too had horrible cramps and I was always armed with tylenol or motrin in my purse at school. Once I got to high school, my parents sent a note to school and one of my dad's friends (who was a teacher in another school) would keep my tylenol in her desk for me. Yes, still against school rules at that time but I never told a soul that she had them, neither did she and truth be known, I was forced to stay home from school with cramps and the only time it was an issue was when the onset occurred at school. I never told another student and the teacher was mum too so it worked for us.

Now, as a teacher myself who witnessed 2 children moving a bag a weed from one of their backpacks into the battery compartment of another child's cd player (yea, these kids are no dummies - the cd player was against the rules too), I reported the children to the school administration. They were taken to the office and talked to. When it was done, I was sent a message over the intercom that this student was returning to his homeroom but for me to prevent him from re-entering my room and retrieving his backpack.

The kid knew he was in serious trouble. And at the point he returned to the area where all 4 of the classrooms for his age group were located, I had lined my class up for lunch, essentially blocking my door. I had planned to lock the door once the last student had left. Instead, what transpired was 5'10' 180 pound 8th grade boy knocking me flat on my back to get into my room and retrieve his backpack. Now, this calls for all kinds of thoughts on my part.

First of all, why did the administrators not come pic up the backpack instead of putting me in that position. Laziness is honestly the only call I can make here. Secondly, the kid retrieved his bag and headed to lunch with his peers while I recovered from a near body slam to the floor. Luckily there was a male teacher nearby who restrained him from hitting me further but he was still able to retrieve his bag.

If you think these things only happen some where else and not at your kids school? You are very very wrong, these were junior high school students. The same jr high school students who had told me during our studies in Health and Drugs that there was a ton of marijuana growing on the other side of the playground fence and they could "bring me some the next day if I wanted to see it". I was fairly certain that in no way possible this could be true. Later, a peer teacher informed me that it was true and took me to the edge of the playground where it was extremely visable.

Now, on to the strip searching. If my child is male and being searched by a male administrator and another male teacher, I will not complain and at the same time, a female student and 2 female admin's or teachers will garner much the same ideas in my mind.

Now, knowing what I know now............as all that was more than 15 years ago, if I felt a child deserved to be searched, he/she would be put in the room with someone who would at no time leave him alone. And, his/her parents would be called. They parent would be required to come to the school and witness the strip search themselves. I would never take the initiative to strip a child with even two same sex employee's present anymore. Now, the parent would be required to either come to the school and observe the strip search or conduct it in front of an administrator or remove the child from the school.

Why did I have a change in mind? Because as a female physical education teacher, I was required to remain in the locker room while my classes of all girls changed into proper physical education attire. And, most students would find a place in a stall to change, but others (who I joked to myself about being pole dancers one day) would simply strip naked in front of everyone and change. And, when I did scoliosis screenings, it was me, alone with each student, asking them to remove their shirt to check them. It was something I did then out of ignorance but would never do now. Again, that was almost 20 years ago.

On more than one occasion, students complained about me being in the locker room while they were changing. I could not in any way prevent this, it was a safety issue and I had to remain with my students. However, so many people are "out to get" someone all in the name of "suing" for something or another in one way or another. So, as I was never required to actually strip search one I was forced to attend those on several occasions due to the 2 employee rule for searches.

And, no matter what most students will tell you, it isn't like a prison search where they are required to strip to nothing, bits and pieces of clothing are removed, checked, and then returned to the child's body and then again, another article removed.

So, my suggestion to all the parents out there, don't fight the policy in full. Suggest ways to make it more efficient and if that includes the parents coming to school and witnessing the search themselves, then absolutely that's what parents will be required to do.

And, furthermore, from my other experiences, parents are very reluctant to leave their jobs to do this because most of us have to work and can't go running to the school if our child(ren) get in trouble. I even witnessed my own cousin's mother telling me after she had left her job as a nurse in hospital the following "I don't know what X has done but it better be something serious because I can't just up and leave the hospital when I have patients waiting on me". She was highly pissed at the idea of having to leave her job. However, her son had stolen dried sticks of dynamite, along with some other students and brought it to school. It was hidden in the gymnasium and we were all in danger as a first grader found the backpack with the dynamite in it and tossed it off a high set of bleachers. When the bomb squad arrived, they were in complete shock because they said that the pure force of that bag hitting the floor was enough to generate enough power to cause the dynamite to fire.

Now, do I need to tell you that all of this was my first year as a teacher and well...........anyone wonder why I was not to thrilled about going back into the public schools?

By the way, the dynamite kids were discovered because a school memo the next day was announced in each room that read something like this, "if you own a blue jansport bag and have lost it, please come to the office to claim your bag" and one of the kids actually went to the office to claim his bag.

So, I could tell you the other horrors of public schools but the fact of the matter is, you are ultimately responsible for your child's action. And, if you have to make it known at the begging of each school year that you are ok with bags, lockers and external items like a coat being searched but would like to be present if your child is strip searched, then you should be covered.

If an administration is foolish enough to ignore your WRITTEN orders on this matter, they deserve what they deserve.

Ok, stepping off of my soapbox.

▶ Reply to This

▶ Reply to This