Enchantrah Makes the News!

[Prophet]

Hey Everyone! I have a cool story about our Friend Meghann and Dire Wraith Enchantrah that is also a cool topic for debate! Meghann was suspended from school for 3 days because she refused to let he bag be searched by random drug sniffing dogs!

Here is the link and let me know what you think!

http://www.chicoer.com/Stories/0,1413,135~25088~2714115,00.html

I personally think she is in the right! I wouldn't have done it either! Go Meghann!

 

[Tempest]

Well duh the inspections would be announced...then druggies wouldn't bring their stuff to school with them lmao.

And even though it's a defiance of "civil rights" which about everything is these days...when you register to attend any school (even though it's not specifically told anywhere but the registration contract and I think is stupid lol but) you give away that right. That's why teachers can legally go through your lockers and RAs/cops can legally go through your dorm rooms for any alcoholic/drug substances that shouldn't be there. So technically, even though it was right in her view and in many other's views to not have her back checked, she was refusing to do something she'd already given permission to do.

It's a really weird subject lol.

 

[Prophet]

They don't announce the searches though..I remember when they did that to us.. Granted my Senior Class was a bunch of druggies, but going out and checking CARS.. that doesn't belong to them...even though it is on school property where the hell ELSE are we supposed to park.

 

[Karma]

back when i was in highschool...this sort of thing never happend. but then again i was in a private school...and i never had to deal with "security", or "metal detectors".....but we live in a world POST "Columbine" and "9/11"...and now...what was once really unheard of is now at the forefront of everyone's mind. school officials everywhere are taking these "zero tolerance" policies and extending their latitude of what constitutes "security".

i think Meghan's heart was in the right place...and i totally understand her thinking. i think if this had happened to me back when i was in highschool ( i was in 11th grade during 1993-94) i too wouldve protested and refused as well. BUT Amy makes a valid point... times have changed and so the laws have as well..and teachers/school officials now have a greater latitude when it comes to searching/security.

 

[Tempest]

They don't announce the searches though..I remember when they did that to us.. Granted my Senior Class was a bunch of druggies, but going out and checking CARS.. that doesn't belong to them...even though it is on school property where the hell ELSE are we supposed to park.

Yeah...our cars never got checked lmao that's just weird x.x I've only gone to private schools, and we didn't get checked much unless they was due cause or suspicion first.

 

[Black Widow]

Go meghan! it takes a lot of brass to stand up like that... :tup:

I think that... provided it is IN the contract that you sign and whatever... the school should be able to search lockers for contraband.

HOWEVER.... students bags/backpacks and CARS... thats PERSONAL property and a bit trickier and issue... we DO have civil rights that protect citizens from unlawful RANDOM searches of their homes, cars and belongings... That is why if you get pulled over and the officer asks to search your car... you ask to see a WARRANT... and the same for your home. the students MAY be on school premises... and i realize that the officials are trying to get a handle on a GROWING drug epidemic.... but i personally feel that this is pushing it. :nod:

 

[Oblivion]

Hm, this reminds me of a Supreme Court Case we learned about in Government this year (Yes, I DO pay attention on occasion), I believe it was something vs. TLO, and it involved a girl being caught smoking marijuana in the bathroom at her school, and she was sent to the assistant principles office - where he proceeded to empty her bag, where he found a note card with everyone who owed money to the girl, joints, and more Marijuana.

HOWEVER, I believe they need probable cause to search through your PERSONAL belongings, we have random police dogs to come in and search our lockers and sniff our stuff as well, but they NEVER go through purses and bags and stuff, and I've never even heard of them searching cars, thats a total violation of your Civil Rights - like Lexi said; unless they have a warrent - they aren't aloud to search car's without consequences, at least thats what it is around here.

So I DO believe Meghan did the right thing, Lockers and stuff that the school owns is fine, but going through your personal belongings is out of the question. At my old school we had frequent lockers checks and such - since my previous school had a history of bad students and contraband; IE Guns, drugs, knives etc. But I don't think anyone ever looked through your bags unless they had a reason to believe you were hiding something.

 

[Tempest]

LOL that dip shit girl x.x You don't smoke on campus without taking the risk of being caught. They saw her doing it, obviously they'd make her empty her belongings lol. Marijuana is against the law for now, she shouldn't have it. I'd have killed her too if I was on that list of money...what idiot carries their list of suppliers and suppliees on them?? People have become less bright these days lol.

Actually, the constitutional law is cops cannot search your car without due suspicion. They can peek into your car as much as they want or have dogs sniff the outside of it - that is all perfectly legal anywhere. If one's dumb ass minor self left say a beer can in the back seat of one's car, then the cops have enough cause right there to search your entire vehicle without warrent, since minors aren't supposed to have alcohol to begin with, for example. That's just the owner being stupid lol, don't leave stuff out in the open.

Anything brought on campus becomes part of their jurisdiction, that includes backpacks, purses, wallets and whatnot. But I don't agree with random just telling people to whip them out without any due cause for doing it. They have no reason to search those things unless there's suspicion about it; like someone worried someone might have a gun on them, teacher seeing someone put blunts in their bag etc. Now those are reasons, randomly walking into a room and going "check time!" isn't lol.

 

[Karma]

i credit meghan for going against the grain. just because school officials are using columbine, 9/11 and everything else to broaden their lattitude of power and what they can and cant do with students doesnt mean the students should accept that as gospel.

not ALL kids are going to wreck havoc and turmoil simply because they refuse to subject themselves to random drug searches. its invasive...and to me THAT is more disruptive than the supposed "threat" they are trying to avert with the random searches.

 

[Tempest]

i credit meghan for going against the grain. just because school officials are using columbine, 9/11 and everything else to broaden their lattitude of power and what they can and cant do with students doesnt mean the students should accept that as gospel.

Actually...that's not the reason for the searches...they're been doing it since before any of those things ever happened, it's normal procedure. When all of that crap happened they just made it a lot more strict and consistant...but they are in no way blaming it on terrorism or a dumbass kid who thought it'd be great to shoot people.

 

[Karma]

Actually...that's not the reason for the searches...they're been doing it since before any of those things ever happened, it's normal procedure. When all of that crap happened they just made it a lot more strict and consistant...but they are in no way blaming it on terrorism or a dumbass kid who thought it'd be great to shoot people.

i NEVER went through that at my highschool....EVER. I went to Highschool from fall of 91 till the spring of 95 and not once were we subject to random searches, or metal detectors, etc.

 

[Prophet]

Actually at my school, which the school that Meghann currently attends, they haven't even used the sniffing dogs or anything of the sort since the beginning of the year, there has just always been talk about the School Board and what not was going to START doing that. I think if they would have been doing it for awhile I would have at least seen or heard someone experience in the last four years and I haven't...

My problem with the whole search is that they don't randomly search the teacher's bags.. It is only for the Students.. what is stopping a teacher from doing drugs or having a gun? Yet they get some kind of amnesty, if they are really doing the checks for our safety, then why isn't EVERYONE searched? It's ridiculous.

It ISN'T normal procedure at my school. The only way they should be allowed to check bags is for suspicions on gun or like violence. Drugs not so much unless they just take it out and start smoking it right in front of everyone. It's not anyone's business on who is doing what just as long as nobody is hurting anyone.