Missing $10 sets off strip-search of preteens
School strip searches students
Mainland Preparatory Academy, an award winning charter school, doesn’t play around with theft on campus.
Principal Wilma Green admitted that seven girls and three boys who had been in a midday study hall were asked to take their clothes off down to their underwear while school officials searched for $10 that one of the students claimed was missing.
The students were all 11- and 12-year-olds, Green said.
�Everyone (of the students) acknowledges that that little girl had $10 and no one left that room for two hours,� said Green, who authorized the search. �Nobody objected to it. Most of the kids didn�t mind because they wanted to get their name cleared.�
The money wasn’t found on any of the children. Process of elimination indicates that the teacher took the $10. There is no mention in the article of whether she stripped also in order to “get her name cleared”.
Green does not understand that it is wrong to strip search little children. She also doesn’t understand what is wrong with telling a child “take off all of your clothes or I’ll think you stole the money”. Fortunately, at least one parent understands.
When Shelli Owens found out her 12-year-old son was searched, she was fuming.
�I have never signed any consent to let my kids be strip searched. Never,� said Owens, whose three other kids also attended the publicly funded charter school. �I went along with some of their methods in the past, but they would always call me. But no way would I have ever allowed this.
Green’s responses were less than satisfactory but say a lot about her.
�We�ve never called any parent on something like that,� said Green, who confirmed she had spoken with the mother Thursday afternoon when Owens came to the school to complain. �I have done it before (and) never had a complaint. I can�t say if it happened again I wouldn�t do the same thing.”
…
Green said she was sorry the mother is angry, but claimed such complaints are unwarranted.�I am sorry (Owens) is upset. I am sorry the girl�s money was stolen. I feel sorry for her, and I feel sorry for (Owens� son),� she said. �I have done it before (and) never had a complaint.
�Normally when you get complaints, it�s parents whose children have some sort of issue.�
Let me paraphrase: “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. I don’t need your permission and if you object to what I do that simply means you have issues.”
Owens has withdrawn her children from the school.
(Tip credit to Francois, Scotchman, and Brenda)
I’m thinking at this point I would file charges of sexual harassment and misconduct of a minor. My law is not the best but I seem to remember the fact an 11-12 your old can not give consent when it comes to that.
Actualy I think that would be considered Unlawfull Imprisonment and unlawful search. as a Security Guard and thus a private citizen no diferent from any other Private Citizen You must have seen the act take place before you can detain. (If this was just keeping from another class or school function then it can be ruled out the school can do that I think. But they cant keep them from leaving after school.) And even if you did see them take it. You cannot search them unless you have permmission in the case of a minor you would need the parents consent and normaly their presence.
Further more I am not Sure But I think that there is some rule about Strip searching members of the oposite sex, and I am pretty sure that would apply to minors.
Apparently, the district attorney is looking into this, but he doesn’t know if a law has been broken. Well, if a law hasn’t been broken, that should be a wake up call to parents. Do you want your kid to go through something like this, whether it’s legal or not? If you don’t, don’t send them to a Texas public school.
Well, this administrator should be fired! Strip Searching is a definite no-no as it should be. Why would she think this is OK. It isn’t and her response shows her lack of understanding and caring about kids. Get rid of her — Now!
Now about the comments….. the comment about the teacher was out of line and silly. Kids and teachers are not the same. Teachers don’t steal — kids do. I am unfortunately reminded that there are some exceptions, but the comment about strip searching the teacher is out of line She is not a suspect and the suggestion she was is rude and anti-teacher. Shame on you!
Also about the “unlawful” etc…. comment. No…. you don’t understand schools. School districts can search lockers, pockets, purses, gym bags, etc. of students. If the student refuses, the police can be called and they can strip search the students,. The schools don’t have to get permission from parents to search students. However, strip searching is a different issue. It is humiliating and disturbing that the school would do this. Even the Patriot act (certainly a misnomer) doesn’t allow strip searching!
Hang that administrator high!
barry
Can you imagine the charges filed,if Green were a male.
>Now about the comments….. the comment about the teacher was out of line and silly. Kids and teachers are not the same.
Children nowadays are being taught that they have no rights and can’t go against someone in power over them. That’s a dangerous precedent for them as they enter adulthood. What will be next, random house-to-house searches for drugs and weapons? Where do we as a people draw the line?
Thank you Barry, You are correct AI could ask if I can search them and if they refuse My next course could be to call the police.
And You are right as well Barry This Principal or whatever she is should be one of the first, to hang under my proposal several articles back
I don’t understand the need for kids with cash in school. It’s not a marketplace and I’m pretty sure the kids wouldn’t rob each other to get at any school lunch I’ve ever seen. Schools have promoted the idea of uniforms because it makes it more difficult for gangs to identify themselves. What is not generally understood is any clothing is a form of flag. The kids who can afford the school t-shirt, school lunch, pencils etc; are all identifying themselves as a gang. If you really want to create an environment of social civility you need to connect the icons of culture to civil behavior.
Carrying money should really be eliminated from schools and dress codes that express civil social identity should be enforced. I find it inconceivable that France would ban headscarves or any religous symbol. Money is a symbol of power just like religon is. How we manage it as individuals determines if it is perceived as a threat, or call to civil agreement. While my opinion of strip searching kids for drugs or weapons is differenct, I really think the money issues shouldn’t arise.
SWP:
What business is it of yours how much money somebody else’s kid is carrying? I have carried a 20 to school before, because my parents had run out of smaller bills for my school lunch. But, I guess under your iron fist, I would have been forced to starve that day as my $20 was confinscated for suspected gang activities.
One time a school official wanted to strip search my kid. I threatened him with a baseball bat. Anyone who strips my kid gets a baseball bat upside the head. They know I mean business.
It’s very simple. As a parent the crime here is severe: endangering the welfare of a child and official misconduct. Tell me, would any of you strip for a missing $10? If anyone, much less the head of the school, put my child in a situation like that I’d be extremely upset and troubled.
Let me paraphrase: “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. I don’t need your permission and if you object to what I do that simply means you have issues.”
Unfortunately this is the attitude of most school administrators. They think they are above the law, when they have the police, courts and judges on their side. Not to mention, attorneys funded to cover their teflon butts by none other than you and me. They know they are untouchable.
Strip searching will stop when parents stop allowing it. There is such a thing as privacy rights, and this school administrator should be sued in Federal Court. The Fourth Amendment applies, even to “reasonable suspicion.”
that dude is a petefile
If a schoold administrator tells a student to strip for a strip search, are they allowed to refuse?
Also, if the cops tell a minor to strip for a strip search can they refuse?
I find this wholly offensive. Now, I can understand that if someone lost $100 that some sort of search should be made, because that is quite a large sum of money to lose. Maybe then I would consider it perfectly plausible to use a strip search, but only if the proper authority figures authorized it, and police officers, not school administrators, are the ones who have that authority. But what sickens me is that this woman humiliated 7 young children by forcing them to strip down to their briefs/boxers over $10? Jesus. If I was in that position, I’d just give the girl $10 out of my own money and lecture the students that if anything like this happened again, more drastic measures would be taken and the police might be called. Of course, I’d probably never have to go to that extreme, but still, this is rather sickening. $10 is not a huge loss. It’s akin to having your lunch money stolen at school 3 times or so. To think that you have the power and authority to force a group of children to practically breach their privacy by forcing them to remove their clothes is heinous.
Does anyone else find it disturbing that 12 year olds were strip searched… for the sake of $10, no less?
This principal should lose her job, for allowing this incident in the first place, for doing NOTHING about it, and of course, for remaining indignant when confronted. “We’ll do it again and you can’t complain about it.” That’s just wrong.
Am I the only one who finds this a little more than disturbing? I have two children, both girls. One is 11, the other 14. If I were to find out the school had my children stripped searched over such a stupid reason, I would see those involved in jail and would hire a big guy by the name of Bubba to pay each and every one of them a visit on a Friday night.
I could honestly understand it if the reason was truely valid. It’d have to be a damned good reason however.
i think it is not right for people to to be stripped because of $10. i mean ive lost a few dollars at schoool becasuse of carelessness. for 10 dollars it isnt a big deal……AT ALL! to be striped is humiliating and if it was in the halls i would just punch the administrators. it is a shame how low goverment would go to solve little problems while there are bank robbers that do more and dont even get stripped in public. its sexual harrasment. and the teacher…..they dont make that person strip because they said it themselvs process of elimination makes it the teacher the only one. its ridiculous. i mean i go to highschool studing law and havent gotten this far but i know this isnt rite. if i could sue them i would make sure that thoughs children got the satifaction
I go to junior high, and I can say that this is really how school administrators act. I was once randomly searched for pot, but the principal had no reason to think i had any. I think its sad that its come to strip searching children for a few bucks and this lady should be arrested for sexual harrasement.
So none of the kids had the money…that doesn’t automatically mean the teacher stole it, but does that mean that the teacher is above suspicion? I think not…especially in today’s society when the media is full of stories of people being back-stabbed by ones they trust. Since the kids didn’t have the supposed-stolen money, I think it’s perfectly fair the teacher should have been asked to prove that she didn’t have it. If she wanted to “clear her name”, that is…
Is anyone above suspicion these days? Stealing is wrong, no matter what the object is…but to strip-search CHILDREN?!?! Come ON…in my opinion it doesn’t really matter WHAT was stolen, there is nothing that makes it ok to ask a child to strip…ESPECIALLY if their parents’ weren’t even contacted beforehand. To me that’s the most disturbing part…to have the kids informing the parents about this situation afterwards, not the school administration. And then the school admin not even CARING what the parents have to say!! Am I wrong? We are also forgetting that our tax dollars are paying these people’s wages!! Does that give them the right to have complete rule over our kids between the hours of 9:00am and 3:00pm?? If those were my kids I would DEFINATELY see this teacher and/or principal in court.
When I was in elementary school this was the same thing from before a couple of girls in 6th grade someone claimed someon stole some money 50$ at that much 1st things 1st no one brings 50$ dollers to school unless you willing to get it lost or stolin but the teacher and princable did A strip search on these girls and the teacher said some things that were sexually offensive that teacher was cool too lol who would have known anyways the princable and the teacher and the school got the living SHIT suide out of them the princaple lost here job and the teacher as well the princpal wound up later gettin her job back at a smaller school and she slapped a kid got her job back and the same thing happened the last kid deserved it lol but anyways the teacher was never heard of again and we lived happly ever after the end true story look it up gray elementary gray tn law suit for strip search look it up
That is insanity. Even cops can’t do that. I think this guy might be a control freak mad with power. There are other ways to find $10. If it was me I would try to find it and if I couldn’t I would have just gave the girl ten dollars out of my pocket instead of strip searching kids. Who strip searches kids? Why didn’t he just check their pockets and backpacks? I think this guy has issues. If I had a kid I would definitely be angry. Especially if my kid was a girl. I think the reason the kids didn’t care to strip search is because their still kids. Their consent doesn’t mean anything because they are too young to know better. That’s why they have parents to watch out for them. There must be some law against this. But at least it was only down to their underwear… But think about it. What did he expect to find? If they stuffed it in their underwear then they wouldn’t see it. And if they put it in their pocket they could just check that without strip searching anyone. What was this guy thinking? Then again I’m just some random guy on the internet who wasn’t even there. But from what I’ve heard this sounds pretty dumb.
At this act, I am beyond disgusted. This means of search was not only appaling, but immoral. Regardless of whatever rights the school may assume it can take liberties on in the name of “protecting the students” this should most certainly not be one of them. The school can search the students’ lockers because the lockers are school property, no argument there, but the personage of any students requires some sort of consent to search. IF both the students and the parents had signed some sort of agreement to this sort of drastic measure, this might be slightly less heinous… but I know that as a high school student, I sure wouldn’t have. The fact of the matter is the 4th ammendment guarantees “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” If strip searching children over a matter of $10 is not an unreasonable search, I don’t know what is, besides the fact that I’m sure that though most of the kids “didn’t mind” that is, first, only most of them, and second, out of the realm of children to give consent for. How can any legal institution claim that children have the ability to consent to a strip search, but not to other things, such as sexual intercourse (statutory rape), or give them the right to choose whether or not they want to smoke or drink. We have limits on these things in this country to protect our children, and these are not conveniently tossed asside by some drunk-with-power school official that believes herself to be above the law. Beside the fact that this “decision” that the children made was under duress, they came under the belief that they needed to submit to this ludicrous search in order to “clear thier name” or else get in trouble.. for all they knew arrested for robbery. All that I am trying to say is that if we are going to require by law that our nation’s children attend school, then we are required by it as well to make sure it’s safe. I wouldn’t exactly call a strange adult requiring that my kid strip down to their underwear “safe” would you?
Quite simply:
Had this happened to my daughter the school would have either fired the Principal or found itself sued for large amounts of money for violating my daughter’s and my civil rights. Any settlement offer would include the dismissal of the Principal or be rejected. I would also take pains to notify various news sources, including local newspaper, radio, and television. Heck, I’d probably also try some national news sources, like 60 Minutes, on the off-chance that they’d run the story.
This kind of discipline is *way* out of bounds. The fact that the Principal doesn’t even recognize that is even more scary.
wow!!! i swear if that where my children that woman would open her door in the morning to one pissed off father with 2 cops ready to take her to jail. what that woman did was illegal! in no way is making a monor undress forcibly not a crime! not even if it’s the parents telling thier own children to do it! that is abuse and sexual battery! If i where to walk up to a grown woman on the street and force her to strip down to her panties i would be arrested on the spot! “im sory your honor. i thought she had my ten dollars” YEAH RIGHT… I’d be trading cigaretts for my toilet paper!!!
As soon as my children get home they will be informed not to consent to a search of any kind without thier mother or I being there. Words can’t even begin to describe how much this angers and sickens me.
[b]Fire At Will!!
Wilma Green - Principal - wgreen@mainlandprep.org
Diane Merchant - Administrator - dmerchant@mainlandprep.org[/b]
I swear, you people need to learn some serious spelling, grammar, and sentence/paragraph structure.
But onto the point: strip searching children for a missing $10 is absurd. There is no way I couldn’t see a major lawsuit coming out of this. Those responsible should be fired for incompetency, if not sexual harrassment or illegal detention (the latter which would not apply if the children were detained during school hours).
As far as the article stated, not many people seem to be pissed about this. What does that say about our society (or maybe the society of Texas)? That it’s reasonable and okay to strip search children — not even teens — for //suspected// petty theft? What next, life imprisonment for grand theft? Execution for burning the flag?
Why can’t people use REASON every once in a while…
Correcting my previous post; most of the later comments show passable skill at verbal communication.
“I was once randomly searched for pot, but the principal had no reason to think i had any.”
Yeah, this happens commonly in areas of heavy trafficking, like my school. Funny how they just pick people at random.
I also like the fact that, despite the fact you have to go to school, there is an implied consent law that assumes you agree to searches of your backpack, car, locker, anus, or whatever for pot and guns. I have only seen one or two headlines since Columbine online about a teacher actually //finding// something in a random search. It’s not like kids carry guns in their pockets, after all. Not like I mind kids being expelled if found; if they were stupid enough to carry it on their person, then they can gtfo of my school.
Schools are ridiculous. For example, at my high school, there was this boy that was always picking on m, calling me names so only I could hear them and so on, and so one day when there was a sub in class i took tiny little paperwads and started throwing them at his head.(It was amusing when they got stuck in his hair because he has kind of an afro thing) I got caught, naturally, and was sent to the office. They began to lecture and I wouldn’t talk to them, because I just thought that was a really dumb thing to go to the office for, and they threatened to call the police on me for “disorderly conduct”. Im sorry, but schools are sometimes just going too far in punishments. I even got my purse searched once because I forgot it in a classroom. All of this was done by the girl’s dean and just to clarify, she is nothing but a jerk.
On the subject, stripping kids is wrong, and if I were asked, I would flat-out refuse. ESPECIALLY if it were for something as minor as a ten dollar bill. I hope I get to move to Canada when i turn 18…i really do.
What you have to remember is that children have very few legal rights until the “state” deems them in an unfit home. Until that time they are basically property of their parents.
How can you make a child understand that there are rules/laws that they have to obey in public, when they have no boundries at home. Teenagers are not children they are young adults, or so they want everyone to beleive. Yet there are always a few who want to push the boundries of good conduct to show their “maturity”.
Why do parents who do not disipline their children scream the loudest when a teacher or a law enforcement tries to do so, to an unruly child.
Green is a pervert.
That’s just sick. They should treat children with respect, and that applies to all situations.
While the somewhat paranoid comments about it being equivalent to sexual abuse or rape are just plain stupid and incorrect, why not just give the child $10 and tell the kids that they’ll call the police if it ever happens again (as was suggested)? The whole problem is schools (not teachers usually, but administrators) don’t treat kids decently as human beings, just objects who must obey all school staff or get severly punished.
“Paranoid comments about sexual abuse or rape”, you say? Remember you said that if YOU ever get asked to strip because someone around you lost $10…I bet you’d feel like your rights were violated, too.
Regarding Barry’s comment:
Now about the comments….. the comment about the teacher was out of line and silly. Kids and teachers are not the same. Teachers don’t steal — kids do. I am unfortunately reminded that there are some exceptions, but the comment about strip searching the teacher is out of line She is not a suspect and the suggestion she was is rude and anti-teacher. Shame on you!
I can’t believe that you would suggest that teachers don’t steal and kids do. That is so biased… and the story clearly states that all the kids confirmed that the money did in fact exist and after all the kids were strip searched it wasn’t found, so where the heck was it? You have to admit that there sounds like there was only one last place to look, and going to that kind of extreme could in some sense actually imply guilt.
This world is made up of all kinds of people. We’ve read many times about pedophiles who are teachers, priests, and other authority figures, why can’t a teacher be a petty thief too?
Can her. The thought that this sort of behavior has occured once, let alone “before” is awful. Up in Canada, I don’t have to tell a police officer where I’m going, who I was with, let alone let him search my person. He has to have a damn good reason.
Any educator attempting this in Canada would not last an hour after a parent got wind of it.
Police = Called
Principle, VP, Teacher, Anyone = In Jail
Done, Case Closed. There is no way I’d take this lying down. Sue her, I’m sure there are half a dozen lawyers right now who would love a juicy lawsuit like this one. A mil, maybe more. Why not? Serves the woman right for treating children like terror suspects (worst!).
One of the things about this that really sticks out to me is, did any of the people involved in this search ever think that mabey the money wasn’t stolen? Mabey it was missplaced? It could have been dropped or fallen from where it was and gone under something, out into the hall (where some random passerby could have taken it), or possibly even out the window. If all of the kids acknowledges that she had $10 on her when she was in the room, it probably wasn’t hidden deep in her purse where it couldn’t easily fall out. This would make the whole scenerio of “take off your clothes or you’re a thief” even less rational (not that it needed any help doing this)
If a schoold administrator tells a student to strip for a strip search, are they allowed to refuse?
Also, if the cops tell a minor to strip for a strip search can they refuse?
—-
Yes, I was asked to strip for suspicion of stealing someones MP3 player, and I refused, but then they detain you (quite legally) until the police arive and then they have probable warrant to strip search you without consent. I didnt steal it, but I did get arrested and had to be picked up 7 hours later from police custody.
I for one think that the comment about the teacher being a suspect is a valid one. if the students didn’t have it why couldn’t the teacher have it. there have been cases where teachers have done some horrible things to kids why couldn’t stealing be one of them- the extra dashes are just to annoy whoever complained about the grammar anyways/
did it ever occur to the teachers or the students that maybe the kid misplaced his $10 dollars. last thing- why only one complaint? what’s wrong with the other parents?
I live in New Zealand and with different rules and regulations to USA when it comes to schools.
Even our teachers do not have the right to strip search the students, like the way the article goes on about.
If the parents and a police officer were present, THEN with the parents consent do the search.
Let the lawsuits fly I say. What an overly Politically Correct world we live in.
My biggest thought was:
What if one of the kids had their own $10 bill in a pocket?
I mean, I could understand a larger amount, but $10? That could be a couple day’s lunch money!
Totally, completely unfair. I’d be willing to bet that the teacher would love a totalitarian society.
When people resort to this to find a measly amount of money is just sick. Not only is it uncalled for, it also stands up to “why” public schools need to be re-organised.
If they had strip searched them in a public place (like a room with a window) and it was me, I would personally give this lady the “bird” tell her to call not only my parent, but also the authorities to come down and hear both sides of the story and see who should be arrested. After which I would have brought this lady into court not for money, not to see if this is a law or not, not for a few seconds of TV fame, but just to see if our justice system is true.
Nobody should be put through that line of bullshit without a perfect explanation, or had the authorities, parents, and if it were the only thing left to do.
This is one of the most f–ked up things I have ever heard of in my life. I thought we fought a couple world wars so we wouldn’t have to deal with this sort of bullshit. This happened in Texas, huh? Why in the name of all things decent hasn’t she been lynched yet?! I mean, if she thinks stripsearching kids over $10 is right, surely public hanging is a fair punishment for sexual abuse of a child! If anyone did this to my son, I would be the one waking up to the cops the next morning, not them. They would wake up in hell.
Well I see why no other parent ever complained before.
“We�ve never called any parent on something like that”, said Green.
If you stripped down like that I’m sure your embaressed and wouldn’t talk about it. Burn this lady on the Stake because she is a wwiittcchh.
This is a pretty sick case but sadly most children wouldn’t tell their parents about it. They tell us often in school that while we’re their they have our parents permission to do what they want.
If they had the police their doing the search and in private this wouldn’t be as bad of a case, but in the classroom by an untrained individual?
Another thing I want to get straight, our parents sign paper upon paper about how we’re aloud to have tylenol if it’s needed, that the school is aloud to call an ambulance in case of extreme medical problem, whether we are aloud to go on the internet or not, but not a single one about being strip searched if they find it necessary. I’ve been forced outside in -20 f weather so that they could search my backpack and had to leave my sweatshirt behind. Of course this was with police supervision.
Kid in my english class was once dragged out of class after they saw a box cutter in his utility belt which he had because he worked on construction after school. Suspended to 2 weeks.
Well, this is bullshit. First, who carries $10 to school and second, who would care about that much? In response to the “I would give them $10 and tell the class that if it ever happened again, I would call the authorities” posts, that is crap. I would give the kid however much he/she needed, and if it happens again, I would give the right amount again. if it starts happening too much, I quit doing it. I say “tough” and tell them to move on.
Well first of all, as many befor me have said, that teacher should be at the very least fired, banned from teaching ever again and most possibly locked up for several years on the possibly grounds that she is a child predator. She is infact very lucky that the parent did not infact decide to accuse her of being a predator as in this day and age all it would take would be for the kids themselves to say they were forced to strip on the grounds that they would be assumed the culprit of the crime. I personally hope that they throw the book at this ‘teacher’ and she is banned from teaching ever again an placed on the sex offenders register.
I hope all this PC zero tolerance “Cry Columbine” “GTA made me do it” nonsense is over by the time I have kids. I’m not getting my hopes up, and homeschooling is looking pretty tempting, combining this with the low quality of education. If this sort of thing happens to my future hypothetical children, I’ll probably scream at lots of people until I lose my voice.
It’s a good thing imaginary violence isn’t a crime (yet), because my +3 flaming tire iron is getting a lot of use right now.
I completely agree with Darian Tucker. For a larger sum of money, this would be quite acceptable if the proper people had been called in, but I don’t think school administrators should have this kind of right. On the other hand you’re not going to steal again if it’s gonna make you end up being stripped searched ;p Double edged sword I’d say myself. Though I want to stay more neutral here.
I go to a private highschool, which basically means that if my teachers and such feel that something is appropriate, then they have permission from my parents and myself (from papers you have to sign to be allowed to attend the school) to do whatever they want.
My friends and I have had much larger sums of money stolen, the most being around $90, and my friends who drive have had their car radios stolen, and nothing this drastic has ever been done by my teahcers.
The fact that these kids were stripped searched for $10??!!!! There might be something seriously and psycologically wrong with this woman for doing that. I mean, that’s sick and depraved.
And also, to Sephys comment “Burn this lady on the Stake because she is a wwiittcchh.” I’m a witch, and I kinda take offense to that.
Note: the teacher wasn’t searched.
Note: The kids were minors. 11-12 year olds for that matter. They can’t legally give consent, it would be sexual misconduct with a minor, and below the age of twelve… that makes it automatic jail time in most states.
Note: The school is publicly funded, not privately funded. Thus the goings-on at this school become public. The public has a right to know, and Green has a right to be sacked.
Note: This isn’t the only school where it happens. A school I used to attend (Oak Valley Centre in Fairfax, VA) did something similar. A gameboy went missing one day, and for it all of the students in all the classes that the former owner of said gameboy attended were called to the school’s disciplinarian’s office. Their backpacks were confiscated and searched (i was one of them), and they took everything. One kid had his CD player, his CD book, and his own Gameboy - in it’s carrying case and with his game collection - taken. It took the parents coming in to confirm that the gameboy was his to make them give it back. He still hasn’t gotten his CDs back and that was two years ago. Students were also taken into smaller rooms that the disciplinarian would normally use to allow students to get out their aggressions behind the privacy of a windowless door (when I went in there I ususally meditated or practiced martial arts), and strip-searched. They didn’t stop at ‘down to the underwear’ either. The one thing they did do was the lined up the male students with a male staff member and the female students with a female staff member.
Parents complained about all this, but there is a little line in the school contract that should not be quite so vague: “I, as the legal guardian of this child, allow any measures that may be decided neccessary to resolve a situation by the staff to be performed.”
I’ll give anybody 20$ American saying that no parent would have signed that contract if they knew their kids would be strip-searched for a gameboy the little brat had left wedged between the bottom cushion and back cushion of his bus seat (I sat in the seat opposite him. I can attest to this first-hand. They didn’t believe me when I said ‘check the bus’.)
Let it also be known that at this school, during this incident, students who refused to remove garments of their clothing were restrained and had them forcefully removed. One girl fought it so hard that they actually tore her panties, and all she had to wear over them was a mini-skirt. Me, I wasn’t stupid. I told them that if they touched me I would be sure to struggle in just the proper way to leave bruises visible enough to prove to my parents. They knew I could do this because I had before. They did, however, pat me down.
To kano:
I think it best to just ignore that kind of stupidity from people who’s minds are so closed to reality that they barely percieve themselves, let alone others.
Also: Strip-searching for ten bucks is the most ridiculous thing I can think of a school doing, even more ridiculous than my previous reason for saying the current generation in power needs to die out before anything good can happen: A highschool in Pittsburg expelled a senior because there was a steak knife on the floor of her car, which had been used to move out of her parents house and into the apartment she would be sharing with her boyfriend/then fiance/later husband.
Okay… third post in ten minutes, i know, excessive, but i forgot to add this tag to my previous statements:
http://www.overcriminalized.com/studies/2004.01_ZT2.html
not a school, but still a stupid example of zero tolerance (ZT could mirror this one, if they haven’t already.)
the only reason i could see to do any kind of strip search is if a dangerous wepon had been reported and varrifyied I.E. if shots had been fired or it was seen then the police could veriy by a strip search after the parents had been called and were present
“Children nowadays are being taught that they have no rights and can’t go against someone in power over them. That’s a dangerous precedent for them as they enter adulthood.”
Please explain what that means.
“What will be next, random house-to-house searches for drugs and weapons? Where do we as a people draw the line?”
Well…wouldn’t that be a GOOD thing? Who knows how many people around here are potheads…
The only thing I would ever allow a school official to search would be my locker. To me, that’s the only thing they have a right to check, because it isn’t my personal property, but only loaned to me for school use. Besides, if I decided to hide something somewhere, it sure as hell would not be my locker. The school administration has all the locker and combos at their disposal.
Now, a search of my backpack, car or my self is something I would not allow. I would flipping kick and scream my way out of any strip search or any search of my personal property. I may allow the search of my vehicle or backpack if an police officer asked and he had a warrant to search my car, but a strip search is out of the question. I wouldn’t even care if they threatened to suspend me. When it comes to my education and personal rights, I’d go for my rights any day. I would take the suspension then return with my parents for whatever search still may need to be taken.
It sickens me that there are teachers and principals out there that think they are above the law and can just strip search any child they ‘think’ may have stolen items or possess illegal substances. I will never allow such a blatant attack on my personal rights, whether I be a minor or not, to be ever followed through with.
Before I make my point… To the person who posted 2 before this one; The reason that random-house-to-house searches for pot, etc., are *very* bad, is that we have rights listed in the Constitution that say that that is not to be done without reasonable suspicion and/or a court order. The right to privacy is one held dear by nearly everyone in the entire world, not just the U.S., and if random searches were conducted, privacy would be a thing of the past. Plus it would lead to more violations of the Constitution, because if one doesn’t matter, then why should the others be held sacred?
Anyway.
Someone also mentioned that the twelve-year-olds who gave consent wouldn’t know better. I sincerely doubt that that is true. I remember being 12. It really wasn’t that long ago for me; I’m only 18. I know that I would have been humiliated by being forced to strip down. I would have been equally humiliated by it when I was eight, as well. By the time I was eight, the only people allowed to see me unclothed were myself and my mother, but only when she was bathing me. And even then, she had to turn around when I got out of the tub. To say that these children would not care about being forced to strip down to their underwear (which, by the way, wouldn’t necessarily include bras for girls) in front of other people, especially classmates and authority figures, is ridiculous.
Instead, I would think that, like me, they would have been too scared to say no. After all, the adults are the ones that know everything, that are powerful, that have the power to tell your parents that you were bad or even just punish you then. And even when children are terrified, and desperately *don’t* want to do something that they are told to do, they will still do it if an adult tells them to, because they still do not contest the adult’s right to make and enforce the rules. Part of becoming an adult is realizing that sometimes the authorities don’t know everything, and that sometimes, rules aren’t right, and shouldn’t be followed. But children, even if they rebel against the rules, don’t really question that the authorities (their parents, teachers, etc.) have the right to make them. So they do as they’re told, although given a few more years of life and some good teenage rebelliousness, they undoubtedly would have refused.
In any case, it can probably honestly be said that the school officials didn’t see what they were doing as sexual assault or a way to humiliate the children. They, as many people often do, assume that children don’t feel things the same way adults do; even if they know that such a thing would mortify them, that knowledge doesn’t translate to applying that to the children they work with. Children are often as mature, intelligent, and capable of realizing that the sancity of their own bodies should be kept private if they wish it to. However, the fear and awe of adults reins in any protests, and school officials, who often are not too in touch with children, assume that there is nothing wrong.
I hope that was coherent… If it wasn’t so late at night, I’d organize my points a little better, but alas, I haven’t the motivation to edit.
They didnt make the teacher strip down to clear her name because it is unfair to make a human being do such a humiliating thing and it was just plain unnecessary. Thus we must conclude that this Principal has a serious lack of respect for her students. Going through High School I met a few administrators like that, people who get a huge power trip because theyre surrounded by younger people who are descent enough to listen to them. People like that are sick and dont belong in schools- period. This is the absolute worst example ive ever heard of; that principal needs to be fired and never allowed to work with children again.
Everyone keeps mentioning daughters, franky I don’t care if it were my son or daughter, if some psycho (i say psycho cause you can not be in a proper state of mind to think this is right in any way) forced my kid to strip down for ANY reason especially at school, a place where kids are supposed to be safe, at least from odd pedophillic adults I wouldn’t sue anyone, I’d be getting my ass down there with a bat/knife/insert household appliance that can harm someone, and be showing these freaks why you don’t strip down 11 and 12 year old kids. Hell if I caught my 16 year old daughter being stripped down by her boyfriend, he’d be well on his way to a beating, let alone my 12 year old being stripped by a 30-60 year old. Has the world gone completely nuts that people actually get away with that?
Hell if I caught my 16 year old daughter being stripped down by her boyfriend, he’d be well on his way to a beating.
………………….Why? (No, I really want someone to answer this.)
So they do as they’re told, although given a few more years of life and some good teenage rebelliousness, they undoubtedly would have refused.
I would also like to note here that not all teens are rebelious.
Also someone please define “Civil Rights” for me.
Thank you.
No, not *all* teenagers are rebellious, but a good percentage of them are. And by rebellious, I don’t necessarily mean the bad, run out and do drugs/have sex/get in fights with their parents type of rebelliousness.
What I meant was that by the time they were teenagers, they would have a better idea of their own rights as human beings, and would object to being treated as less than that. God knows if some of the stuff adults pulled on me when I was in grade school had happened during high school, I would have been pissed, and not afraid to express that fact. I was a typical good little straight-A student, but I was more than willing to tell teachers and administrators when they overstepped the bounds of appropriate behavior, and I did, several times. It didn’t have much effect, other than to reassure me of the fact that school administrators are about as intelligent and responsible as rocks, but I tried, which is more than I would have done when I was 12.
What I was trying to point out was the fact that the 12-year-olds might have put up more of a fight over the strip search if they were a little older and more confident in their own self-worth and right to defend themselves when they felt they were being mistreated.
This whole thing was total bullshit. I agree with almost every other comment: The teacher should have been searched if the kids were, and they should not have been searched in the first place. At my school, some teachers will snatch something left out like, say, 10$, but they tell them about it when the person asks, return it, and tell them to put it away properly.
Just to note, since no one seems to have looked at the original article, which this one seems to have been based off (the link is at the top) this article failed to note that the students were taken out of the class room, the girls with a female teacher and the boys with a male teacher.
Just posting this for the sake of getting as many facts straight as possible.
At my old school, no one would do anything about ten missing dollers. Much less strip search for it. I think that woman simply has control/domination issues.
…wow….thats all i can think of to say to that…strip searching 12 yr old boys and girls over $10?? what possessed this teacher to do so? Notice the teacher didnt have to “clear her name”…and its possible that she was the culprit, it would explain such an intense overreaction to the situation… But regardless of her innocence or lackthereof, strip-seaching 12 year old children? what if someone else had $10, as mentioned before? and shes done it before, and would again, and doesnt care what the parents think or say? I’m surprised the parents didnt have the media all over this, not to mention the teacher and principal dismissed.
To Ron Riehn: On the topic of your orignial post:
What grade was this? Private school or no, thats overreaching autority by just a little bit, wouldn’t you say? And…those who refused and resisted were stripped anyway, violently? To the point where her panties were torn? I mean, christ, it shouldnt have even come to that, wth are you going to hide a gameboy in your underwear? Its really amazing how totalitarian, for lack of a more suitable word coming to mind, some authorities can be. As for your method of resistance, smart move. Bravo. If it had been me, anyone trying to strip me would have had black eyes, or worse…
On another note, had that been my school, they wouldnt have worried about it. If the kid complained some more, they would have responded with something like, “Oh? And just what were you doing with a gameboy in school, anyway?” There certainly would not have been a strip search!
I swear…what is america coming to these days?
“Before I make my point… To the person who posted 2 before this one; The reason that random-house-to-house searches for pot, etc., are *very* bad, is that we have rights listed in the Constitution that say that that is not to be done without reasonable suspicion and/or a court order. The right to privacy is one held dear by nearly everyone in the entire world, not just the U.S., and if random searches were conducted, privacy would be a thing of the past. Plus it would lead to more violations of the Constitution, because if one doesn’t matter, then why should the others be held sacred?”
I, personally, wouldn’t mind if my house was searched randomly and without a search warrant.
*sigh*… I guess that don’t make it right.
Actual comments: Anyways, one’s age or gender shouldn’t have anything to do with this. Also, If you were the principal of a prep school, $10 shouldn’t be a big loss with that kind of salary. Who’s knows? Maybe she just forgot it somewhere and possible traumatized some kids who may have to undergo thearapy later in life. The last thing I find disturbing about this is that ONLY ONE PARENT seemed to put any sort of resistanace, what about the parents of the other kids?
As a woman who has taken some psychology, I would like to make some points about children at that age.
The younger students (Junior high through high school) profess as to how they would behave in such a situation.
Of course you would tell them where to get off. Of course you would be outraged and indignant and refuse to go along with it.
But, if the theories of mental developement hold, that is indicative of your age group. You are at the age where you are pushing against your set boundaries. Finding out, “Do these people really have the right to tell me what to do? What if I don’t want to listen to them?” Young children (elementary and younger) have the mental mindset wherien they will still do what they are told, simply because they are told to by an authority figure. Now, I’m not saying that young children are mindless drones. I know from personal experience, myself being a “problem child” at that stage.
What I am saying is that if you were to tell a child to do something and they asked for a reason, most of them would be satisfied with the rationale of, “Because the teacher tells you to.”
It is not until one matures a step further that one begins to change one’s worldview and interpretation of morals.
An adult can say, “No. It’s immoral.”
A teenager can say, “No. It’s against the law.”
But a child, unless otherwise notified by their parents, can’t look at an authority figure and say, “You can’t do that.” Unless someone tells them that the people in question cannot, in fact, do that.
I am not trying to imply that children are stupid. Quite contrary. Children, I believe, are far more intelligent than adults. The speed at which children learn is staggering. If only I could master my course matter as quickly and completely as a toddler goes from crawling to running around the house!
But children are viewed by some (terrible) instructors as less than humans.
Numbers.
Dumb as animals.
These are people who are not fit to teach. My mother worked last year with one such individual as her aide. She worked in the “resource room”, which is where they put children who, for one reason or another, have a slower learning speed than the rest of the class. Her job, as far as I know, was to assist them in completing their math papers from class that day.
Often she would get students that the teacher didn’t want to handle, who had to be taught the entire day’s course because this woman believed they were just dumb or that they behaved that way on purpose to be surly and challenge her authority.
That’s all it’s really about with those people. They want to be teachers or administrators not out of love for children or educating, but because they enjoy being the absolute dictator of so many little lives.
It is twisted and perverse, but not in the sense that we have been looking at it.
I fully condone a legal action of the most extreme kind.
Anybody like that should not be allowed around our precious, innocewnt babies.
“Note: the teacher wasn’t searched.
Note: The kids were minors. 11-12 year olds for that matter. They can’t legally give consent, it would be sexual misconduct with a minor, and below the age of twelve… that makes it automatic jail time in most states.
Note: The school is publicly funded, not privately funded. Thus the goings-on at this school become public. The public has a right to know, and Green has a right to be sacked.
Note: This isn’t the only school where it happens. A school I used to attend (Oak Valley Centre in Fairfax, VA) did something similar. A gameboy went missing one day, and for it all of the students in all the classes that the former owner of said gameboy attended were called to the school’s disciplinarian’s office. Their backpacks were confiscated and searched (i was one of them), and they took everything. One kid had his CD player, his CD book, and his own Gameboy - in it’s carrying case and with his game collection - taken. It took the parents coming in to confirm that the gameboy was his to make them give it back. He still hasn’t gotten his CDs back and that was two years ago. Students were also taken into smaller rooms that the disciplinarian would normally use to allow students to get out their aggressions behind the privacy of a windowless door (when I went in there I ususally meditated or practiced martial arts), and strip-searched. They didn’t stop at ‘down to the underwear’ either. The one thing they did do was the lined up the male students with a male staff member and the female students with a female staff member.
Parents complained about all this, but there is a little line in the school contract that should not be quite so vague: “I, as the legal guardian of this child, allow any measures that may be decided neccessary to resolve a situation by the staff to be performed.”
I’ll give anybody 20$ American saying that no parent would have signed that contract if they knew their kids would be strip-searched for a gameboy the little brat had left wedged between the bottom cushion and back cushion of his bus seat (I sat in the seat opposite him. I can attest to this first-hand. They didn’t believe me when I said ‘check the bus’.)
Let it also be known that at this school, during this incident, students who refused to remove garments of their clothing were restrained and had them forcefully removed. One girl fought it so hard that they actually tore her panties, and all she had to wear over them was a mini-skirt. Me, I wasn’t stupid. I told them that if they touched me I would be sure to struggle in just the proper way to leave bruises visible enough to prove to my parents. They knew I could do this because I had before. They did, however, pat me down.”
Ronald:
Put that in a review of the school here:
http://www.greatschools.net/cgi-bin/va/private/2327
and let your message be heard!!
http://www.overcriminalized.com/studies/2004.01_ZT2.html
Read this
It was eighth grade, to the guy who asked.
it was a mixed-grade school, she was in tenth grade.
the guy who lost his gameboy? ninth grade. He also happened to be two years older than the other kids in his class and dumber than dead skin (no joke. placed at third-grade level mathematics his senior year)
To jen:
I know not all 12-year-olds feel the way i did, but i know for a fact that if they’d done that, they’d have some choice language. If they tried to force me into it (like in the case i listed) i’d have gone straight for the GIK (Groin, Instep, Knee). More parents in this country need to be like mine: teach their kids they aren’t just the animals that their teachers like them to think they are. TEACH YOUR kids SOMETHING at least.
slightly off-topic, who else here is pissed off whenever they hear about a parent using TV as a babysitter?
I am a senior in high school and I know for a fact that if security asks to search your backpack and you refuse, they can call the police. I have seen it happen before when a girl got her cell phone taken from her backpack in one of my classes. And in response to an old comment made by “Jay”, lots of children take large amounts of money to school now adays. I take my whole wallet with me that usually has 50 or 60 some odd dollars in it. So I don’t think it is any concern of yours as to how much money kids take to school.
Whats really distrubing is that more and more of our freedons are being taken away on a daily basis by “The New World Order” thanks to the “Patriot Act”. Did you know the Nazi SS was “disbanded” and later reorganized as the “United Nations”?
Read more here: http://cipmax.com/911/
Yes, absolutely true. That’s why the central theme of the UN is to kill Jews.
Another little known fact - After the Allies had secured Germany, Hitler and his top aides snuck into America and founded the KKK and the Libertarian Alliance.
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
^^ You’d be surprised. The US was profiting a great deal from selling various goods to the Germans? Guess where many of the surviving ex-nazis ended up after the end of WW2? To the US of course, mainly government positions and corporate leaders. Do the research, if you think you can handle the sick sad truth.
In regards to the main article, I am deeply sorry for the people involved, including the children, parents, and even the staff who committed such sickening acts. The Principal was probably abused as a child (that is the most common justification for something like this). For her to think that this type of “punishment” is acceptable is a deep seeded issue that is unfortunate.
I primarily work in a charter high school, but I also teach younger children as well. I can tell you from experience, many kids wouldn’t know better than to “follow orders” by adults in these positions of power. Interestingly, My $300 Ipod was stolen last year by a student. The Principal of the school I work at told me nothing could be done without evidence, even though he had a suspician of who the culprit was.
I don’t have children yet, but since I’m a charter school teacher this issue does personally relate to me. If this happened to one of my students I would fantasize about personally acting out revenge as retribution. If it was my child, however, I wouldn’t want them to suffer any more than they already have, and seeing their father arrested for manslaughter would be traumatizing.
And the upshot of all this zero tolerance school fascism bullshit is it will inspire MORE school violence as armies of kids who once had a bright future ahead of them have time to sit at home and brood of the wretched failure their life and decide to go out in a blaze of homicidal glory.
Mind you if I had it to do all over again I’d wanna be like that Killdozer dude in Colorado. I mean ripping through school in an armor plated bulldozer? That’s just WAYYYY cool!
Well, I just figured I’d comment on this a little bit. The basic was the law goes, its not legal even for a police officer to request a strip search unless you are under arrest, therefore there’s no god damned way a teacher should be forcing that issue. If that was my kid, I’d be securing him a very financially secure future by way of the legal system.
“Teachers don’t steal — kids do”
That…is sheer ignorance. Anyone who can convince themself that someone won’t do wrong simply because they’re in x position, or have x job, is a moron. Plain and simple, anyone can be a criminal, regardless who they are.
More on topic, the strip search was indeed unlawful. There was no proof, no official evidence, nothing…but foremost was lack of parental consent, which would HAVE to be obtained for a child that young to take a blood test, much less be strip searched.
Hey, I went to an Boarding School (Anglican Church Grammar School)in Australia for my education, and as you might expect, dorm-life from the ages of 14-18 is a bit different than regular schooling. BUT. Permission was needed for anything. For example, (im about to lay some blame on myself) I made a “dorm-boxing” video (It was all consentual fighting, things that boys do to blow off steam) and when i think back now it seems a pretty stupid idea, but, yeah, i liked making videos and this was just begging to be put to tape, and a nice ‘ol soundtrack added to it. So as time passed more and more people saw it, and eventually word leaked to the Dorm Master, and I was called on my mobile phone (I was out at my family’s apartment nearby for the weekend) and _asked permission_ to have my cupboard opened, and my computer checked. I really don’t know how hard this is for people in the U.S. of A. to comprehend. I was asked permission my someone who had a signed admission of loco parentis from my parents. He RULED my world while i was there. He didn’t need to ask, but common sense and professional conduct made him ask first. And addmittedly, i got into some deep sh- well, i was neck deep in it. But i accepted the descison, and was able to joke with my dorm master about it after the event had passed. Fairness and Reason is respected by children, especially boys, and if more was used in schools today less situations like this would arise. I have NEVER heard of ANY school in australia having to strip search anyone. Even when 50 dollars (mine, incidentally) was stolen from the year 8 dorm (bit of backround here, i gave my 50 dollars to the dorm senior, because he was responsible for getting my senior jersey made) nothing more serious than a cupboard search took place. In the end all of the year 8’s, around 12 of them, had to chip in and make up the 50 dollars, not because the were suspected, but because they weren’t responsible enough to make sure no-one took it. In the end it was a TEACHER (sorry, im a bit peeved at the “teachers don’t steal, students do” comment) who took the money, and was summilariy (err henious spelling error) dismissed. Theft will happen at schools, as many of the kids don’t know better. But if a bunch of boys can live together for 5 years, with only minor happenings (one of the year 8’s when i was in year 12 was stealing, but a quick word from the seniors, myself included, made him return all the property) I think that school authorities can manage incidents without having to strip pre-teens for petty cash. OR having events escalate to the point that police are involved.
- Josh Ferguson.
Please send any comments, queries to oz_boy_1@hotmail.com as i don’t think i will be able to remember this site to check for comments
Cheers.
I cannot add any more to what has already been said here on this issue. To “unknown” on civil rights. Look up the constitution and the bill of rights. Here is the definitions:
Personal rights guaranteed and protected by the Constitution, ie, freedom of speech, press, freedom from discrimination.
or
The protections and privileges of personal liberty given to all US citizens by the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
I will say that children should not be stripped searched and no public or private authority has any right to do so. This public school administrator’s attitude towards children’s rights and PARENT’s RIGHTS is becoming more and more prevalent in the public school systems. This is a slippery slope and the school systems have begun to slide.
For those of you who cannot beleive this happens in the USA, wake up and smell the coffee. This type of approach to socialist and totaltarian mentalities inflicted on the young impressionable minds of our children is an assault on everyone’s freedoms.
what in gods name could possibly //POSSIBLY// make this woman think that what she did was alright? christ, if *anyone i know*(or think i know) had their kid strip-searched for a ten, they would go absolutely insane. I WOULD GO INSANE!!! im so mad rightnow i can barely think and i wasnt even involved in this. i cant even imagine how the parent(s) reacted, maybe the ones who did nothing, was because their kids were to embarrassed to say anything. i had my lockerand my car searched for pot in high school, and i made them bring in the cops to search the car. no damned way they would have strip searched me for an “illegal drug” let alone ten bucks. im gonna email the teacher and administrator, as well as the district attorney, and let loose on these filth. god, i almost still cant believe it.
ps i am 21 and have no kids so i am still probably not as pissed as i could be
…What the hell. Sad thing is, I could see this happening at my school. What this amounts to is the school administration being on a powertrip, which mine is. If anyone tries to strip-search me cause some moron lost $10, I’d leave. There is no way in hell that anyone could get me to stay. On another note, I seriously doubt that the kids wanted to get their name’s cleared that badly, our friend Green is making excuses.
the comment about a teacher stealing the $10 is not at all rude or anti teacher and i do not see how you can think that. children have the same constitional rights as adults, and if the childre were strip searched the teacher definitly should have been as well. if a child has the mental capacity to steal $10, so does an adult.if process of elimnation sais that the children did not steal the $10 then what other conclusion can you draw? not all teachers are saints,anyone dosnt think so is either a teacher, or very , very closed minded. it dosnt take a rocket scientist to know that strip searching a child, is wrong and just plain disgusting. i think this school is definetly ready for a new princaple,ONE WHO WOULD NOT CONDONE THE UNLAWFUL AND ABSOUTLY,UNDOUBTEDLY DISGUSTING ACT OF STRIP SEARCHING SEVERAL INOCENT CHILDREN!!!!!!!!! myself,being a grade 7 student, even though not living in texas, am extremly angry that any school board would allow such inappropriate conduct by grown men and women.
Somthing similiar to this has happened before to me. In 8th grade while in Physical education our bags were searched because a girl said she lost her lunch money. First I am a boy. I still to this day do not know why they searched for money the girl herself lost, let alone the boys’ bags. And Second we werent even asked or notified about it. We only knew because everyone’s bags were thrown all over the floor and we asked the teacher who had a prep period that period. The second situation happened last year as a freshman. Someone said that they thought they had a can of Axe body spray stolen from them. We were all threatened with detention if we didn’t take off all our clothes that had pockets (no matter how small the pocket was), open our bags to be searched, and open our lockers to be searched. The can in question was found under my classmates gym shorts when he picked them up to let the teacher search them. This also happened in Physical Education.
ok… i have to add my two cents..
first of all, i think its fair for me to tell you that im an 18 y/o female who used to have problems with stealing stuff (pre-teen; i have since grown out of it)
i got caught shoplifting at walmart once, and refused to be searched. they had the police there (only because the police were already there) and even THEY didnt do anything more then threaten me with a huge fine. i didnt get strip-searched or anything; they didnt even threaten to strip-search me! and i can tell you it was worth WAY more than 10$!!
weather the school was public or private, weather they had uniformes or street clothes, weather the school was populated by minority members or majority, weather one thing or another, there is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON for that kind of behavior on the school’s part!
at my school, they can do locker searches. allow me to further explain that; POLICE can do locker searches ONLY when they bring the drug dogs through, and ONLY when the dog finds something. the school ITSELF can ONLY do locker searches if someone tips them off about weapons, ect.
as far as personal searches, be the student adult or minor, the school has NO AUTHORITY to do ANYTHING. let me say that again, just so we are clear… the school, all of the school officials, anyone having anything to do with the school, CAN DO NOTHING without the police there to not only witness, but to execute the search.
incidences like this one are the problem; not the students, not the media, not some big conspiricy. THIS is why students dont feel safe going to school. if i knew my school had a policy of “if its 10$ or more missing, we will strip-search everyone the person came in contact with” i don’t think i would EVER go to school. just in case.
when a child cant even trust the school’s authorities to do the right thing, who DO they trust?
[Troll deleted]
what the hell is wrong with this Green woman?! and what’s wrong with the other parents! if it were my kids I’d've sued that bitches ass off!
Well now…, it’s happened again! Almost 2 dozen high school girls in Pike County, Ohio at Vern Riffe Vocational School were strip searched for missing cash and a credit card. My son attends this school and the outrage is absolutely evident! This is insanity!
That lady should never have done that. I think that instead she could have just said “somebody give me the money or im going to beat you all”. and then when the kid admits that it took the money, the teacher should of given it a few good, hard, whacks across the face. Thats what i would have done.
This is so stupid this is what is wrong with america. So lets say i was in the library and i was at a table reading a book, and i laid 10 dollars on the table and 5 minutes later it was missing.So i tell the librarian that there were only 4 people sitting at that table with me.Can she stip search them? Of course not, so i call the cops and they show up will they strip search them? You guessed it NO. This is a cause of teachers way out of line and they should be sued and fired. Why doesn’t America see thing like we did in the old days? We would find the people responsible for this and make them pay back in the day, if you strip one of are kids.
It has happened in smalltown schools as well and with only 300 students it is hard to get away with stuff. They have appointed students as hall guards and parking guards for the girls so they get attacked. On April 23 a guard said his gard arm band was missing and he said that saw a girl in frnot of his locker when he went to do a hallcheck and the was taken to Mr. couches office he left the room while female staff member strip searched the girl and the arm band was no found until 3:00pm in the parking lot. If suspicous actvity gets warrented for strip search then it is warrented but he have asked her if she too the arm band and saved the school alot trouble
$10…!!!!! That is crazy, no only is the principal dumb-founded, but at that age a child is very protective of their body parts. A child will not show their own father/mother their body parts. I don’t get what the deal is over ten dollars…