Privacy in Schools

[Suicida1 Midget]

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.

 

[henkalv]

On one hand, there is absolutely no reason why you need your phone in class. There is no benefit to having them in the classroom, and they only serve to distract and annoy the people around the student using the phone (or everyone, if it goes off).

On the other hand, the school has no rights to go through personal information like that. It is a definite violation of privacy, and it needs to be stopped.

With the school making it into a big issue they only make certain that the students will be more distracted. Phones ringing in class should be dealt with a quick slap on the wrist (figuratively speaking) before it is forgot, so the teachers can actually get around to do what they are supposed to do, namely teach!

I refuse to believe that it is such a big problem that it deserves such draconian measures for it to be quelled

 

[manic_depressive13]

From the first post it seems the principal is the one who started the entire business. I suppose the assistant-principal just helped.

Oops! My mistake. I thought it was only the assistant-principal. I suppose either parents or publicity is the way to go then.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Nobody even had cell phones when I was in school. I had one for emergencies by the time I was a junior in high school. My thoughts are, if we could get through the day without using a cell phone in school, so can you kids. If you don't want it confiscated or searched when there is a disciplinary incident, don't bring it in or leave it in your locker/car/whatever.

I never really understood the whole "for emergency" excuse. I mean if there was an incident with a family member being hospitalized or the like, they would call the school.

As for the OP this is unacceptable you should really tell an outside authority about this.

I probably should have rephrased that. I meant like, if you have an extracurricular event or something where you need to call for a ride later on, stuff like that. But yeah, I think in actual emergency, someone would call the school.

 

[Antari]

I've always been okay with my school being allowed to take phones and such, seeing as it was against the rules. But today that has all changed.

I was sitting in a class, and we hear a phone go off. No one confesses to it, so the principal decides to take EVERYONE'S phone in the class. Not only did they take our phone, but they go through your messages, your Facebook and anything else they feel like doing. It just doesn't seem right, and there has to be SOME other way to avoid what they do now.

So I ask you Escapist, how do you feel about school privacy?

EDIT: They can get pass our passwords which is what brought this whole incident up.

Your best option will be to tell your parents and have all your friends do the same. Regardless of what rules they put in place at the school it does not give them the right to violate actual laws. Which is what they are doing.

 

[Erttheking]

It depends, on one hand privacy is important, on the other hand high schools are filled with people at the point in their lives where most of them have not developed enough to make intelligent decisions 100% of the time but have the strength and capability to do some damage. Depends on the situation.

 

[henkalv]

It depends, on one hand privacy is important, on the other hand high schools are filled with people at the point in their lives where most of them have not developed enough to make intelligent decisions 100% of the time but have the strength and capability to do some damage. Depends on the situation.

[joking]Ah yes, I fully agree that a teacher who confiscates an ipod because somehow someone might call it is someone that I would not call developed enough to make 100% intelligent decisions. [/joking]

 

[twohundredpercent]

You just know some friendless, unlikable douche will support this.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Depends where you live. In the United States, the right of privacy for students under the age of 18 is non-existent and any personal belongings you may have with you during your time there can be confiscated, searched and even trashed by the faculty. Where a police officer would need a warrant to search your bags, your teacher could do it without a moments hesitation.

 

[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.

 

[LadyDeadly]

I'm pretty sure its illegal for some stupid assistant or principal to go through your messages without a viable reason.

I'd would've raised heck about it, theres no way in hades thats legal

 

[Hero in a half shell]

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.

Divide and Conquer my friend, Divide and Conquer.

Unless you use the school's wi-fi connection for your data transfer this should be impossible with a password in place. If they are hacking your password then in many places they are committing a criminal offense (and are more technically inclined than any teachers I know)...

I'm starting to smell something unpleasant in this story.

Yeah, there is no way to simply 'get past' phone passwords... unless you're all using 0000 as your code. This would need a really really computer literate technician to pull off, (if it is indeed possible) and from my experience of teachers, well, let's just say Mircosoft Word may as well be the enigma machine.

And I've been on the other side of the classroom as well, phones are fricking annoying when you are trying to keep the attention of 30 people, and Black Betty [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R044sleOW6I] keeps erupting at full volume from some dingbats pocket.

EDIT: On topic, I suppose it is an invasion of privacy, but to be brutally honest I can guarantee you that the teachers are not in any way interested or concerned with your social life. They have far better things to do than search through 300 messages of "I'm on the toilet Lolz" to get any personal information you may have on it.

 

[MaoExE]

So I ask you Escapist, how do you feel about school privacy?

I feel you are pretty stupid to not have a password on your phone.

I also feel its pretty stupid to bring your phone to school if its not allowed.

I should have added that they get past the password on your phone.

And how exactly do they get past the password on your phone?

No idea, and that's what bugs me the most. I have no idea how, but they can. Because they'll tell you exactly when you sent/recieved a message. With a password, or without a password.

Unless you use the school's wi-fi connection for your data transfer this should be impossible with a password in place. If they are hacking your password then in many places they are committing a criminal offense (and are more technically inclined than any teachers I know).

I'm having a difficult time believing this.

Well most kids probably do use their wifi, but their proof on if you did it is based on if any of your messages match the time on it.

From the first post it seems the principal is the one who started the entire business. I suppose the assistant-principal just helped.

Oops! My mistake. I thought it was only the assistant-principal. I suppose either parents or publicity is the way to go then.

I'm having trouble believing this too. A single phone goes off in one class and its a matter for the two senior administrators of the school?

I'm starting to smell something unpleasant in this story.

Well most kids probably do use their wifi, but their proof on if you did it is based on if any of your messages match the time on it.

Also, sorry if I mislead you, I mean that the principal is okay with the matter. Not that he himself took part. And yes, if one phone goes off and they don't discover whose it is, the entire class has to cough up their phones. One of the assistant-principals was called up to collect them. The other was the one who figured out whose phone went off.

 

[Astoria]

They have no right to go through your phone. If it's against the rules and you get caught then they can take it but that's it. It stays in a teachers desk untouched until you are allowed to collect it. You need to complain about this to someone, no way this is legal.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

One guy in my class, chose to have the guts to do this. He said, "I don't have my phone so it wasn't me." And the assistant-principal made him empty all his pockets, and picked up his back-pack searched through it, and took his IPod.

**blinks**

I was about to give this whole thread a miss as "one more reason to not allow my kid(s) to take phones to school when I got to this bit.

Why did they take his iPod? iPods don't ring! Unless they're against school rules (you didn't say either way) how does that make any sense?

Also, I don't see how it was guts to say "I don't have my phone" if he didn't have his phone on him. Seems to me he was being respectful by not having his phone at school - so why was he punished with an iPod confiscation? Again, unless they aren't allowed on school. which you never specified.

If it was my kid, I'd be calling that principal for a little chat.