child searched in school

[chonchon55]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I have a son who is 15 years old in high school. Yesterday he was accused of tagging on a locker that is next to his. The school confiscated all his belongings for their "investigation". This was a surprise to him, he had no time to get rid of anything if he had something in his possession. No markers or paint was in his possession. I picked him up from school. The school kept his belongings and would not return them due to the ongoing "investigation". The viewed all the pictures on his phone without permission or consent from myself or my wife. My son had pictures of a recent trip to a county run shooting range with guns laid out on the bed of our pickup. Now he is talking to a police officer in school because of the weapons, another bad mark against him. One last thing, he was removed from class and seated in the office around 11:30 am. I picked him up at 2 pm. He was never given a lunch break, simply sat and told to wait.... trying not to be petty but legally does this all sound legitimate???

wanted to add.... what if he had pictures of himself on his phone?? or of his girlfriend?? He didn't but it seems to me they invaded his privacy in this regard...

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I have a son who is 15 years old in high school. Yesterday he was accused of tagging on a locker that is next to his. The school confiscated all his belongings for their "investigation". This was a surprise to him, he had no time to get rid of anything if he had something in his possession. No markers or paint was in his possession. I picked him up from school. The school kept his belongings and would not return them due to the ongoing "investigation". The viewed all the pictures on his phone without permission or consent from myself or my wife. My son had pictures of a recent trip to a county run shooting range with guns laid out on the bed of our pickup. Now he is talking to a police officer in school because of the weapons, another bad mark against him. One last thing, he was removed from class and seated in the office around 11:30 am. I picked him up at 2 pm. He was never given a lunch break, simply sat and told to wait.... trying not to be petty but legally does this all sound legitimate???

wanted to add.... what if he had pictures of himself on his phone?? or of his girlfriend?? He didn't but it seems to me they invaded his privacy in this regard...

No expectation of privacy in school. The school did not act illegally, and yes you are being petty.

 

[swalsh411]

Of course they are going to investigate a high school student who has pictures on his phone of guns or anything else they are not legally allowed to own. But it sounds like there is a perfectly good explanation. There is nothing wrong with a child to go to a shooting range with his parents so that should be the end of it.

Anything a student brings onto school property is subject to search. If he doesn't want pictures like that available to be searched he should save them to a computer at home and delete them from his phone. A minor student at a school does not have, and should not expect, the same rights that adults have in terms of searches and questioning.

 

[mistoffolees]

wanted to add.... what if he had pictures of himself on his phone?? or of his girlfriend?? He didn't but it seems to me they invaded his privacy in this regard...

Aside from the answers you've already been given - if he DID have revealing pictures of himself or his girlfriend on his phone and they seized it, he could have been in a lot of trouble. If he sent them to anyone, he would have been guilty of a crime.

Time to teach him that the right to privacy only applies in your own home - and not even all the time then.

 

[CdwJava]

I have a son who is 15 years old in high school. Yesterday he was accused of tagging on a locker that is next to his. The school confiscated all his belongings for their "investigation". This was a surprise to him, he had no time to get rid of anything if he had something in his possession. No markers or paint was in his possession. I picked him up from school. The school kept his belongings and would not return them due to the ongoing "investigation". The viewed all the pictures on his phone without permission or consent from myself or my wife. My son had pictures of a recent trip to a county run shooting range with guns laid out on the bed of our pickup. Now he is talking to a police officer in school because of the weapons, another bad mark against him. One last thing, he was removed from class and seated in the office around 11:30 am. I picked him up at 2 pm. He was never given a lunch break, simply sat and told to wait.... trying not to be petty but legally does this all sound legitimate???

wanted to add.... what if he had pictures of himself on his phone?? or of his girlfriend?? He didn't but it seems to me they invaded his privacy in this regard...

I could see good cause to do all of these things. Whether the school had good cause to do any of it, I cannot say, but they very well could have.

Understand that the standard for a search of a juvenile in school is often the lesser standard of articulable "reasonable suspicion" as opposed to the higher burden generally applied of "probable cause."

If he is charged or subject to discipline, you might want to consult an attorney who can look into the matter. But, for the moment, it appears nothing has been found to implicate him in wrongdoing.

Understand that the police will always be interested in information about kids with an array of guns ... the sheriff and the school in Columbine (as in other school shootings) got sued because they allegedly failed to heed warnings (including images) of threats. So, schools and law enforcement will bend over backwards to err on the side of school safety and the courts have granted them this leeway.

If there is nothing amiss, then with luck the matter should be dropped shortly.