Student's rights

I am from texas. This school year my son has been called to the office because his teacher said he was acting strange..My son has a different approach to the way he looks.. He likes to wear black clothing. He wears eyeliner and paints his nails. Just yesterday I received a call from the principle saying that a teacher e-mailed her and said he was behaving strange.. They called him in and checked his blood-pressure and said that it was high... They accused him of being on drugs. THis is the second time this year...They proceeded to ask to check his backpack and of course,my son said yes..He is not a drug user.. But in his backpack he had a small knife in which he did not remember to take out..They then checked his messages on the phone.. They told me that they were conscerned and that they have to be thorough..I would like to know what I can do to prevent this from happening again.. He had also been suspended for his nails being painted.. He has been suspended for suspision of being on drugs. They said his eyes were dialated..I have argued and told them that there is no law that states that a male cannot wear make-up or polish. Do they have a right to check his bp..

august said:

This school year my son has been called to the office because his teacher said he was acting strange..My son has a different approach to the way he looks.. He likes to wear black clothing. He wears eyeliner and paints his nails. Just yesterday I received a call from the principle saying that a teacher e-mailed her and said he was behaving strange.. They called him in and checked his blood-pressure and said that it was high... They accused him of being on drugs. THis is the second time this year...They proceeded to ask to check his backpack and of course,my son said yes..He is not a drug user.. But in his backpack he had a small knife in which he did not remember to take out..They then checked his messages on the phone.. They told me that they were conscerned and that they have to be thorough..I would like to know what I can do to prevent this from happening again.. He had also been suspended for his nails being painted.. He has been suspended for suspision of being on drugs. They said his eyes were dialated..I have argued and told them that there is no law that states that a male cannot wear make-up or polish. Do they have a right to check his bp..

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Sounds like your son is goth...?

august said:

This school year my son has been called to the office because his teacher said he was acting strange..My son has a different approach to the way he looks.. He likes to wear black clothing. He wears eyeliner and paints his nails. Just yesterday I received a call from the principle saying that a teacher e-mailed her and said he was behaving strange.. They called him in and checked his blood-pressure and said that it was high... They accused him of being on drugs. THis is the second time this year...They proceeded to ask to check his backpack and of course,my son said yes..He is not a drug user.. But in his backpack he had a small knife in which he did not remember to take out..They then checked his messages on the phone.. They told me that they were conscerned and that they have to be thorough..I would like to know what I can do to prevent this from happening again.. He had also been suspended for his nails being painted.. He has been suspended for suspision of being on drugs. They said his eyes were dialated..I have argued and told them that there is no law that states that a male cannot wear make-up or polish. Do they have a right to check his bp..

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Sorry to tell you but most schools do have a dress code and nail polish and make-up can fall under that. School do have the right to go through students lockers, which would include bookbages. They even have the right to go out in the school parking lot and check the students cars.

They do this to make the school safe from both drugs and violence;. Your son had a weapon in his bookbage, whether he remembered it was in there or not, is not the point. The point is it was on school grounds, your lucky they didn't expell him for the knife.

Not that I have a problem if a guy wears make-up or nail polish, but typical, the ones that do have problems, you might want to consider getting consouling for him. In most cases it could be just a phase, but if it continues, it could turn into something much more and it would be better to help him while you still can.

I wish people wouldn't judge..

The reason for this post was to inform you of my son's rights. He was called to the office based on his eyes being red and saying he is a drug user based on the way he looks..I don't think this gives the right to continue to search his bag when they searched his clothes and found no drugs.. They take his bp and accuse him of being on drugs... What if my son accused the teacher of sexual harrasment.. Would she like it? My son is whatever he wants to be..Goth or not. I guess people who like the color white are all saints. It's ashame that there are people that judge other people and accuse them of wrongdoing based on the way they look..I guess you look like everyone else..And if anyone needs couseling it people who judge other people. My son is in a local band here in Texas. He is a good student. He has never been convicted of a crime. He has alot of friends and I know all of the parents.. We all go out together when are kids perform..The only problem my son needs couseling for would be to learn how to stay in school when you can't concentrate from the abuse. My son want's to quit school and everyday I have to tell him reasons not to let them have there way..My son does not need cousceling because he dresses in black... The only one who can judge is Jesus..

I don't care for the Goth thing, I think it looks ridiculous but he has a right to dress as goofy (IMO) as he wants as long as he breaks no laws or school rules in doing it.

Your son exibited signs of drug use. The only other explanation of his condition at the time would me a medical problem. In either case the school does have the right to investigate.

As far as searching the backpack, yes they do have the right. Additionally you said he gave them permission to search it. This and the phone situation could be prevented by not having a knife or a cell phone on his person.
Many schools do not allow a student to have a cell phone in the school at all. It is legit (edit)to confiscate, but as Ceara pointed out, not to read.

Concerning the nail polish; if black is specifically disallowed by anyone ,male or female, he has no gripe. The school would have a hard time prohibiting nail polish specifically being worn by a male if it allows females the same right. Many schools disallow anything they deem "disruptive"; clothing. hair style, make-up etc. these restrictions are generally enforcable.

Not that I am suggesting he conform to "normal" attire but if your son cannot handle special attention brought on by his appearance, he should conform to more acceptable standards. He is basically asking everyone to look at and scrutinize him by his attire.

If the school has a no cell phone policy, they have the right to confiscate the phone. That does NOT give them the right to listen to or read any messages on that phone.

Other than that, the other actions the school took are perfectly legal.

august said:

The reason for this post was to inform you of my son's rights. He was called to the office based on his eyes being red and saying he is a drug user based on the way he looks..I don't think this gives the right to continue to search his bag when they searched his clothes and found no drugs.. They take his bp and accuse him of being on drugs... What if my son accused the teacher of sexual harrasment.. Would she like it? My son is whatever he wants to be..Goth or not. I guess people who like the color white are all saints. It's ashame that there are people that judge other people and accuse them of wrongdoing based on the way they look..I guess you look like everyone else..And if anyone needs couseling it people who judge other people. My son is in a local band here in Texas. He is a good student. He has never been convicted of a crime. He has alot of friends and I know all of the parents.. We all go out together when are kids perform..The only problem my son needs couseling for would be to learn how to stay in school when you can't concentrate from the abuse. My son want's to quit school and everyday I have to tell him reasons not to let them have there way..My son does not need cousceling because he dresses in black... The only one who can judge is Jesus..

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Hmmm... You know what they say about the nut not falling too far from the tree. Seems to apply here. Let him quit school - McDonald's is hiring.

I'll echo what was asked - if dressing like that draws unwanted attention, why does he continue to do it?

Your son was called down to the office, becasue his eyes were red and the teacher felt concern for him. Like something may have been wrong with him. So that is why he went to the office and had his blood pressure checked out.

Then his book bage was checked out, due to the fact that what ever caused this could be in the book bage, but the only thing dangerious they found was the knife. So basicly this happened out of the concern for his wellbean.

Did it ever accure to you that the make-up and nail polish, could be effecting your sons health. Making his eyes turn red and his blood pressure being high. There have been test that on certain types of nail polish, that they can make people sick, because of a certain substance that is used to make the polish. It's possible your son could be allergic to it. Perhaps you want to get that checked out.

Unfortunately for your son, the "look" he has adopted is the same that was adopted by a couple of high profile school shooters. The schools are a little leary of this and will almost always err on the side of caution.

- Carl

august said:

The only one who can judge is Jesus..

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Release all the felons, they have not been judged by the proper controlling legal authority!

high bp

I believe it was reasonable for the nurse to check his B/P. After all, if he was exhibiting signs of a problem or behaving out of character, it could indicate a medical problem. As a nurse, the first thing I would do would be to check his vitals and do an assessment. That is why she is there after all. what's important here is that he did have an abnormally high B/P. I don't agree that in itself indicates drug usage but should be investigated further to reveal other possible underlying causes. It is reassuring to me that teachers are paying attention to these things, as behavioral changes are usually the first indication of an illness. Look on the bright side and commend her. What the school did with the info.concerning his assessmment is another story. To my knowledge..high b/p, dilated pupils and abnormal behavior ARE common with drug usage but not necessarily a definitive indicator. maybe a drug test is in order? realistically you are innocent until proven guilty but we all know how that works.

Rich Uncle said:

Release all the felons, they have not been judged by the proper controlling legal authority!

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Jesus has the robe thing down.

Innocent until proven guilty

I don't think that my son sitting in class doing his work should of concerned his teacher at all. My son was not doing anything but what he was suppose to be doing.. And they checked his bp and of course it would of been slightly high from being scared of getting removed from class without any knowledge of what was wrong.. and by the way, it was o.k. five minutes later.. I would like to know where they find their so called R.N. I have given them information before from his doctor that stated that my son has allergies.. They can always use the no tolerance law to convict innocent people.. And as far as the nut not falling far from the tree remark, You must be the one who judges people based on the way they look..I hope that you get a taste of your own medicine... My son doesn't want to draw attention to himself.. I'ts the boring people who seem to be jealous because they have no balls to stand up for their rights. My son will not give permission to any school officials to check his bp or anything else... If they were concerned for his well-being they would of first called the emergency medical services and me. But instead they they chose to interagate him to make themselves look good.

august said:

I don't think that my son sitting in class doing his work should of concerned his teacher at all. My son was not doing anything but what he was suppose to be doing.. And they checked his bp and of course it would of been slightly high from being scared of getting removed from class without any knowledge of what was wrong.. and by the way, it was o.k. five minutes later.. I would like to know where they find their so called R.N. I have given them information before from his doctor that stated that my son has allergies.. They can always use the no tolerance law to convict innocent people.. And as far as the nut not falling far from the tree remark, You must be the one who judges people based on the way they look..I hope that you get a taste of your own medicine... My son doesn't want to draw attention to himself.. I'ts the boring people who seem to be jealous because they have no balls to stand up for their rights. My son will not give permission to any school officials to check his bp or anything else... If they were concerned for his well-being they would of first called the emergency medical services and me. But instead they they chose to interagate him to make themselves look good.

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They school had the right to search his backpack, any other type of bag he was carrying, locker and person. There's nothing you can do to change that. They don't need permission from anyone to search these thing. However, they had NO RIGHT at all to listen to his cell phone messages and to read his text messages. As for the BP check, it could go either way. They should not do ANY type of medical test unless without parental consent outside of in life-threatening situations. However, you have probably already signed some sort of written permission form at the beginning of the year.

If they thought he was drunk or high they could have called the police and let THEM do the tests. The DRE protocol includes BP, pulse and temperature among other tests.

- Carl