"Super Teach" has sent us some very interesting info on school strip searches. Just remember, young ladies, you don't have to submit and should NOT submit to any male teacher. You have the right to have a female teacher/officer conduct this search. Our opinion that this is a sex crime seems to be verified:
Per Brian Lindsey’s statement that “no laws were broken”...... I taught for 20 years in the state of Alabama, and Lindsey must be reading from a different set of laws than the rest of us. I realize that certain aspects of protocol may differ according to individual school policies. However, there are general guidelines. Teachers may ask students to empty their pockets or open their backpacks/purses if they suspect that the student is in possession of something inappropriate or illegal.
Students have the right to refuse. I have NEVER seen a teacher do this without a witness. I have never seen or heard of a teacher actually touching a student during a search. They simply ask the student to turn their pockets inside out or to empty the contents of a bag. Most teachers who feel that a student needs to be searched contact a member of the administration to either perform the search, or at the very least, to witness it. The addition of school resource officers to schools has made the proper procedure for searches much less complicated, since police are provided more protection under the law that school employees.
Every teacher or principal I know now calls on resource officers to conduct searches, and even then, a witness is always present. As for parents being contacted prior to a search, I’m not sure about the protocol. My former principals generally contacted parents before searching if the search was of the student’s pockets or backpacks. Schools do NOT have to contact parents if the search is confined to a student’s locker or desk, since those are school property. This is not rocket science.
Administrators and teachers’ unions constantly preach 2 things: 1. Never allow yourself to be alone with a student. Always have another employee in the room, and always keep the door open. 2. Don’t put your hands on a student. The exceptions are if you’re helping to break up a fight and physically restraining a student from inflicting harm on others is the only way to stop him/her, or if the student is sick or in some sort of physical distress that requires aid. Outside of those scenarios, hands off!
Administrators and teachers’ unions constantly preach 2 things: 1. Never allow yourself to be alone with a student. Always have another employee in the room, and always keep the door open. 2. Don’t put your hands on a student. The exceptions are if you’re helping to break up a fight and physically restraining a student from inflicting harm on others is the only way to stop him/her, or if the student is sick or in some sort of physical distress that requires aid. Outside of those scenarios, hands off!
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