student cell phones

i'm from ohio and our principal took a students cell phone, right out of his hand, lead him back to his office where he smashed it with a hammer. in the rules it states that the school can take the cell phone until a parent/guardian comes gets it, for the 2nd offense the school can take it for the remainder of the year. is his rights being violeted in any way?our new principals is also taking student cell phones and using them to text message other students to see if anybody has their cell phone at school. are our rights being violated? what about our privacy to have them keep our cell phone turned off.

thank you

the priciple shouldn't be able to smash anything belonging to a student. if carrying a cell phone to school is not permitted then the right measures should be taken. also, it is against pivacy matters to go through the directory in someone else's phone as well. i advise you to go to the school board about this matter and bring your friend and his parents as well.

You need to find out what the school's written policy is on cell phones. You should be able to find it in the student handbook.

If the school didn't follow its own procedures, then you might have a cause of action.