Are school searches ethical and do they help prevent violent issues in schools? |
Locker and bag searches are a very good idea for schools.
The reason why I think we should have backpack and locker searches daily is because of the number of people who bring guns to school each year. "The National School Boards Association estimates that more than 135,000 guns are brought into U.S. schools each day. (NSBA, 1993).[1]"
There are approximately 73 million children in the United States of America, which means around 1 in every 540 kids bring a gun to school each day. Not only are weapons brought to school, but they are also used there. "Between 1994 and 1999, there were 220 school associated violent events resulting in 253 deaths – 74.5% of these involved firearms. Handguns caused almost 60% of these deaths." [1] 60% of 253 deaths are approximately 151-152 people. Basically 152 people died from gun related events in school in this period of time. Since 1999, other major incidents have happened resulting in a growing number of deaths in school.Posted by: AnonymousI think school searches are ethical and help prevent violence, because anyone in a public place is subject to the rules of that place.
A school is a public place, and anyone in a public place is subject to the rules of that place. Searching is important at a school, because there are times when bad decisions are made and people bring in things that they should not. Searching for and finding potential weapons can help keep more people safe in schools.
Posted by: FemaleTyron73Yes, school searches are ethical, due to all the recent violence in schools.
With all the recent violence in schools, searches are not only ethical, but also necessary to protect our children. Kids now shoot another child who picks on them. Or they have a bad day, and go on a shooting spree, taking it out on the rest of the world. Children are lacking in home guidance, so the schools now have to step up and do what they can do to prevent crime.
Posted by: HealthyMose59Yes, I agree that school searches are beneficial, because they help provide safety to the students and staff.
Just as one is subject to searches at an airport to aid in the security of passengers, students in school should be subject to searches to aid in the safety of other students, as well as staff. If personal items are not wanted to be viewed or seen, they should be left at home and not brought. The students are entering a facility they do not own, therefore they should respect the wishes of the individuals that do in fact own the building.
Posted by: WalkerFreeLocker searches help many other schools rid themselves of danger, and also give students as well as teachers a sense of security.
In a survey done by the N.I.J, 55% of schools reported that they have used locker searches to rid themselves of lurking dangers. In no way are the schools accusing students, they are just taking precautionary measures. "Keeping an honest person honest" as some may state. All students and teachers should have the luxury of being safe in school.Without locker searches, schools cannot guarantee that safety.
Posted by: JusticeIsKeyI agree school searches are ethical, because a child's innocence should be protected.
School used to be an environment where kids could go there and be safe. Not any more. Kids are losing their innocence way too quickly, and if that is the case, the searches are ethical. School should be a place where every child should be secure with his or her peers and the school staff.
Posted by: StripperMorSchool searches are ethical up to a point and have made progress and slowing down, if not stopping, school violence.
School searches are a freedom of privacy issue, however, a school is an institution which mandates education. Therefore, students should not expect to have privacy in such a location; the lockers are not their property; the bathrooms are public, not private. Most importantly, our higher priority should be on the safety of our students, not the privacy of a few individuals to conceal illegal materials.
Posted by: Asher CummingsI believe school searches are ethical with the current state of our education system.
Citizens must forfeit some of their rights in exchange for security as per John Locke's Social Contract to which out government and constitution is strongly based. I believe the positive outweighs the negative on this issue, especially since it is one that concerns the safety of our children in school.
Posted by: AboriginalKing28School searches are ethically permissible as a means of protecting the study body as a whole.
Schools are legally held to be "in loco parentis," meaning they are held to a higher standard for protecting children by assuming a parental role for their care. As such, schools have an ethical obligation to protect the whole of the student population. Keeping weapons and drugs out of schools should trump some degree of individual student privacy. This overriding ethical obligation can often make searches a necessary part of the schools commitment to protecting students.
Posted by: N3r0nKrooISchool searches are ethical as there is no presumption of privacy in a school environment and safety of children is paramount.
A school building is a public location supported by public funds and is not the private property of the administration, the teachers or the pupils.
Children are assigned lockers and desks by the school for their use only not their ownership. Children are in school to learn not only academic subjects but also about correct behavior in society. Conducting school searches to determine if children are breaking the rules, endangering others, or themselves is well within the prerogative of the local community and the school system. Removal of dangerous items, the implicit knowledge that those items will be confiscated, and that rule breaking has consequences should work to increase safety for all children and the adults in the school environment.Posted by: CammyCrayonI believe that school searches are ethical, under limited conditions, if school officials believe that a student may become violent.
While the Constitution guarantees that citizens will not be subjected to unreasonable search and seizure, searching a school locker, when it is suspected that a student may become violent, is acceptable for several reasons. The lockers belong to the school, so they have a right to know that there is not anything dangerous inside. The school will be held liable if they know that a child might do something and they take no action to try to prevent it. Parents have a wide variety of educational options these days, and they do not need to use the public school system. Schools can limit their searches to occasions where they suspect that a student might become a danger to the other students around them.
Posted by: MeaslyLavern83School searches are very important in preventing crime in schools because problems can be found before they get too bad.
When lockers are searched then if some sort of bad evidence is found against a child then they can be given help. It is unfortunate that searches of this sort have to be conducted in order to help a child. If these types of searches were not done then many parents would be in the dark about their own children's issues.
Posted by: B3rkIffyWith all of the violence that has happened in the last few years on our campuses, I believe that searches are ethical in that they may prevent a tragedy.
I believe that school searches have become ethical because of the violence and death that have occurred on our campuses over the past few years. School officials need to have some guidance as to how these searches should be handled. But when they suspect that there might be a problem, I believe that they owe it to the law-abiding students in the school to do searches to try to keep the students safe. These searches could save lives.
Posted by: R0d0FerdyI think school searches are ethical and can prevent tragedies like Columbine.
I think school searches are ethical and can save lives. If students were to know it is against the law to have their bag or locker searched, they would be comfortable carrying a weapon, which would put everyone at the school in danger.
What if there was a policy in place to search lockers and backpacks based on information school officials received from other students? Tragedies like Columbine and the Virginia Tech shootings could have been prevented.
Students, as well as the school staff should be able to go to school or work and be safe.Posted by: I33IessI agree that school searches are ethical and help prevent violent issues in schools because it gives the students a sense of very little privacy.
I think that school searches are ethical because a student locker belongs to the school and if there is a chance that it might be holding something that could be a danger to students then it needs to be removed. Students should only have "school stuff" in their lockers and should not feel violated if a search is done.
Posted by: SlayrKalle
Locker searches are unethical and if students want to bring weapons into schools they will find a way to do it.
While locker searches may make administrators and parents feel good about their proactive behavior, they are truly ineffective. If a student wishes to bring a weapon or some other such illegal item onto school premises they will find a way and/or hide it in a location other than their locker, making a locker search irrelevant.
Posted by: barbz129No, school searches are unethical and violate the privacy of students for this very reason, and they are also ineffective in addressing issues of violence.
As we look and find that, though the level of security in schools has increased, with metal detectors, drug dog searches, and security personnel, we find the violence has increased, and schools are starting to look more like prisons. So, here we see that school searches have done nothing, except violate the privacy of students, while failing to tackle the heart of the problem of violence in society at large.
Posted by: R4yAnychno
no because people might have somthing
Posted by: AnonymousLocker searches violate rights that all citizens have; students should not be different.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees citizens freedom from unwarranted searches. In short, that means that the state (typically through the police) cannot perform a search without probable cause. School searches typically occur randomly, without any suspicion of the student whatsoever. Such searches have been held not to violate the Fourth Amendment, but they should not be allowed because of the reasoning behind the Fourth Amendment. Students should be able to go through their days and have private lives without fear of arbitrary searches, just like every other citizen.
Posted by: A BassNo! School searches are not ethical and are a violation of the Constitution of the United States.
Searches may help to prevent violent issues in schools, but the blatant disregard of the rights of the student is the bigger issue. All Americans have the right to privacy; that right is granted in the Constitution of the United States. Unless the search is accompanied by a search warrant and the parents are present to insure the rights of their children are not violated, the search should not be allowed.
Posted by: LimpingChauncey64No, Locker searches are not an important measure in fighting student crime.
People fight, it is human nature. School kids have always had fights, and crime in schools has always existed. Simply instituting locker searches will not reduce crime. I believe it only enrages kids more. It may end up encouraging crime toward authority. When you infringe on people's personal belongings, you never will produce a friendly result. So no, locker searches are pointless and unnecessary.
Posted by: D Callahan