Teacher has a right to rummage through backpacks with no one around?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Yankee7609
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Yankee7609

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My son and his class were at a "specials" class the teacher heard a cell phone go off. She then went through backpacks and one happens to be my sons. Now I am in no way condoning what he did.. but he had a friends airsoft gun in his back pack (it had an orange tip on it thus not a real gun but a "toy" I have never seen or heard of one before) The teacher put it into some bags and gave it to the office.. my son was then called to the office.. and asked about it.. he did say someone had approached him and asked him to help fix his car.. he was afraid to go to and from school.. He didn't tell anyone.. He shouldn't have had it NO DOUBT.. Please don't get stuck on that part...but do they have the right to go through the back packs just because? I mean can the children go through her purse when she isn't there? No officials were there, just the teacher.. rummaging through backpacks.. he is 12 and no one called me until after they had already interrogated him. No police were called.. no kids knew about it,,, he never took it out at school.. no show and tell going on.. He shouldn't have had it.. I know.. that isn't the point I am trying to make.. there was no probable cause.. she was just going though backpacks with no one around.. didn't ask the kids, nothing....
 
Even though the backpack was your son's private property, in most cases a school can search it.

It's sort of related to laws that allow employers to search the bags of employees each day when they're leaving work to make sure that nothing is leaving the building that shouldn't be.

It's not the same as probable cause with regard to a police search. If the teacher had tried to go through the kid's pockets (worn clothing), it might have been different.
 
Yes, they can go through back packs. Thanks to Columbine, the schools can look for things that they deem "contraband" like weapons. The security of the whole building outweighs the privacy issue. Now, in your sons case, I'm guessing that the school has a no cell phone policy (my daughters has that), if the teacher was looking to see who had the phone that was ringing, and stumbled onto something else, she is within her rights.
 
Yes they have the right if there is reasonable cause. And kids are not supposed to have cell phones.
 
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