Privacy in Schools

[chadachada123]

If you live in the US, contact the ACLU. And tell some local newspapers and such.

Frankly, this is pretty dang hard to believe. If this is a US public school, it's absolutely illegal and would be stopped almost immediately after it gets out into the news, barring an inner-city school or something. I know nothing of non-US schools or private schools, though.

 

[S_SienZ]

Ah 1st world problems. When I was in school the only electronics you were allowed to bring were calculators and watches. Anything else (including radios for music lessons) required a permit.

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

How about you just dont take your phone to school? You are there to learn. Not to fucking socialise.
So if your phone is not at school then they cant go through your shit. Easy fix.

However I thought in the states it was a crime to even open someone elses mail so wouldn't going through someone elses email and shit also be illegal?

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[krazymouse]

Well, if everything is true, they have just broken about a couple laws there. Bring it up to the Principal and if he doesn't respond, take it to the local newspaper, and trust me, your teacher will lose his job REAL quick.

 

[Cazza]

Actually, punishing a group for the actions of one is a pretty often used re-training method. The idea behind it being the individual's rely on the support of the rest of the group to get through whatever is going on. By punishing the whole group, that individual must decide between risking being alienated from the group or having a little moral fortitude and owning up to the wrong doing.

The problem like that is not everyone would know who's phone went off. Maybe only the people sitting right next to the person and they are most likely friends that wouldn't tell everyone. That only works if enough people know who it was to spree through the whole group.

It's another thing if that group decides to alienate that person. When I was in school my group of friends got the group punishment a few times. Each time we knew who it was. We laughed called them an idiot and nothing more came of it. So in that way the peer punishment never happened which is what that method of punishment trys to do.

 

[BushMonstar]

First Thought: Your problem for having phones in class
Second Thought: What the hell is wrong with these people, searching through one's phone and Facebook and stuff (Which, as I gather from the story, has jack-shit all to do with who's phone went off), and if this gets out, they could have some rather angry parents coming their way.
Third Thought: They took an iPod, which isn't a phone. If I remember correctly (I don't know if they've updated this in later models), the iPod couldn't emit sound without headphones.

 

[Aussie502]

Heres a fun one. Someone was showing me something on her phone and i got caught with it. So doing the whole i am a good friend thing i remove the battery and give it to the teacher. Apparently thats grounds for suspention.

How is that grounds for suspension in any way? I would go crazy if I got suspended for that. What's the harm in taking the battery out? The teacher must have been pissed they couldn't read your messages.

 

[Emperor Nat]

As far as I'm aware it's illegal, both in the US and the UK, to read someone's emails or private messages without their permission. It's an invasion of privacy, simple as.

 

[requisitename]

I'm pretty tech savvy and as far as I know, there's no way they can pull the passcode/lock code for your device off their wifi since it has nothing whatsoever to do with wifi. Also, why would the school let you use their wifi if they don't want you using your phone? And how could they get your facebook/email/etc. passwords if you were using 3/4g since that has nothing to do with their system?

I have to say I find this a little hard to believe. Not that they'd be asshats and take everyone's phone because someone's went off.. but that they were able to get into them like you're saying to look through your stuff.

 

[emeraldrafael]

If theres a rule stating no phones in school then you're legally allowed to confiscate them all en mass. you cant damage the property or go through messages though, (since both of those are separate crimes), but you can collect en mass. I had a teacher who did that. you walked in, put your phone in a box, and if you didnt he told you to leave and face teh truancy officer. If you refused to leave he just called the school officer to make you turn over your phone or escort you to the principal to explain why you were decided to be a disruptance to the other students educations.

Though raelly if you're gonna just roll over and let them, then theres no real right to complain. And if you dont want it happening, leave your phone in your locker. there's no reason to have one in clas that cant be solved with a simple four function calculator and a watch.

Off-T, I just saw my name in the captcha. Albeit my first name, but still.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

furthermore, punishing an entire group for the action of one individual is just plain idiotic as well. Credit should be given where due.

Actually, punishing a group for the actions of one is a pretty often used re-training method. The idea behind it being the individual's rely on the support of the rest of the group to get through whatever is going on. By punishing the whole group, that individual must decide between risking being alienated from the group or having a little moral fortitude and owning up to the wrong doing.

But that doesn't work. The sorts of people who cause a group to be punished are the sorts of people who don't care or sometimes even think it's funny that everyone else got in trouble.

 

[isometry]

The school is asinine for banning cell phones in the first place, and confiscating everyone's phone is completely unacceptable.

We need laws in place to stop power tripping school administrators and protect students. Although the 4th amendment (US) does not apply to minors in public school, the school should be ashamed for violating the students privacy, over nothing important. No one was in danger. No property was at risk.

The fact is, many teachers and administrators at public schools are not normal adults, instead they are effectively weirdos who never grew up. Normal people do not over-react so badly to a cell phone and they believe in treating people as if they have rights.

 

[Browncoat86]

My advice to you would be, the next time this happens, refuse to give up the phone. As far as I know in both North America and the UK teachers and school officials aren't allowed to make physical contact with you, so if you just flat out say no there isn't anything that they can really do other than hand out a detention or attempt to make you go to the office and have your folks come in.

 

[torzath]

I dislike how many people in this thread just went, "Well, don't bring your phone, then." when this is a pretty big privacy issue if it's true.

Also, it's just ridiculous that they can take your stuff.

 

[DarthSka]

Schools can be really weird when it comes to cell phones. My senior year in high school, one teacher of mine needed a student to text something for her and told him to do it behind a marker board so she wouldn't see him do it. I know there's such a thing as plausible deniability, but that was just ridiculous. As for group punishment, that's another ***** to deal with. Hell, I just learned that my entire dorm floor could be charged 20 bucks a week for the idiocy of a couple of people. You gotta find a way to fight it.

 

[Fatboy_41]

furthermore, punishing an entire group for the action of one individual is just plain idiotic as well. Credit should be given where due.

Actually, punishing a group for the actions of one is a pretty often used re-training method. The idea behind it being the individual's rely on the support of the rest of the group to get through whatever is going on. By punishing the whole group, that individual must decide between risking being alienated from the group or having a little moral fortitude and owning up to the wrong doing.

But that doesn't work. The sorts of people who cause a group to be punished are the sorts of people who don't care or sometimes even think it's funny that everyone else got in trouble.

It works very well when done correctly. As I said, the intention is to cause the group to turn against the individual. And believe me, this will happen given enough time. Just look at this thread. TS is obviously pissed off about how things have panned out here and would prefer no one else gave reason for it to happen again. Now, I don't condone the school going as far as accessing the content on the phones due to the privacy issues involved, but I see no issue at all with confiscation. I'm sure TS and fellow students would still get pretty pissed off if their phones were confiscated every other day.

I'm not saying it will work in every instance, but to call the tactic idiotic is, in itself, idiotic.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

Dumb of you, but VERY wrong of them.

There is only one clear path: [strike/]Molotov the school[/S] Bring this to your parents attention.

At this point, if you are honest about breaking the rule, I'm sure the parents will be reasonable enough to talk to the school and have something done.

 

[sinterklaas]

Err, just object to it and don't give them your phone?

They can't just take your phone, you should report them to the police for stealing.

 

[standokan]

They are definetly breaking some kind of privacy rule in my book, I mean, they have a right to take your phone but going through the messages is crossing the line.