Heard in the Halls:

“At my high school, I see in the halls people who ‘look and act different’ are bullied and poked fun of all the time. . . . The people who are treated this way are the ones who get depressed and could end up killing themselves, their peers, or even their family.’
– Jeff, Oregon

Studies such as the one conducted by the United States Secret Service give us new reasons to take bullying seriously. This study shows that two-thirds of boys who committed school shootings had been bullied and that revenge was a motive for their actions.

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that the threat is a serious expression of intent to harm or assault another person. A student may be punished where he/she has “directly and unambiguously threatened physical harm” to a fellow student or teacher.

Accordingly, students’ speech rights may be limited where they infringe on the rights of others to be secure and let alone, such as disrupting classwork, causing substantial disorder or invading the personal rights of others. Finally, school conduct codes should clearly identify the behavior related to threats that could result in discipline. This will provide teachers, students and parents with an enforceable understanding of the appropriate conduct in school.

Cameras

Technology increases the ability of school officials to monitor the activity of the student population through advanced camera and recording systems. The key question is whether a student has an expectation of privacy in the area being filmed. Accordingly, photographing public areas such as buses, hallways, classrooms, and cafeterias is permissible, while the use of a camera in a gym locker room or bathroom is typically unacceptable.

Defenses to Claims Against Schools

Some students and their families will challenge the validity of the actions of school officials in conducting searches. Schools may assert standard defenses allowed to them, including: governmental immunity, official immunity, failure to state a claim, and substantive defenses to constitutional claims. For the sake of space, these defenses are not reviewed in detail here. Please consult with your school attorney regarding any specific questions or situations.

(Note: HFI cautions that profiling students or assigning such labels as “potentially dangerous” to students could further limit a young person’s prospects and outlook for the future. Offer positive support whenever possible.)


This article is an excerpt from "School Safety and Youth Violence: A Legal Primer." Download the complete text at http://hamfish.org/
framework/frameworks/primer.pdf.



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Checklist: Search & Seizure
  • A student’s freedom from unreasonable search should be carefully balanced against the need for school officials to maintain order and discipline and protect the health, safety, and welfare of all students.
  • A decision to conduct a school search should be based on reasonable grounds for believing it will produce evidence of misconduct or contraband (drugs, weapons, stolen property) and consider factors such as the need for the search; the student’s age, history, and record of behavior; the gravity of the problem; and the need for an immediate search.
  • Arbitrary searches, general sweep searches, or mass shakedowns are not reasonable and are illegal.
  • Teachers and school officials should document their preliminary observations, sources of information, tips, investigative steps, or other evidence that led to reasonable grounds for a search.
  • The information leading to school searches should be independent of police activity. Probable cause and a search warrant must accompany searches involving law enforcement.
  • Items retrieved from students, if not illegal, should be returned to students or their parents promptly. Illegal items should be presented to law enforcement personnel and parents notified.
  • Strip searches should be avoided except where imminent danger exists. When unavoidable, strip searches should be as brief as possible and be designed not to be humiliating. School officials and an adult witness with administrative, security, or health backgrounds (all the same gender as the student) should conduct strip searches in a private setting with nonstudents or unnecessary third parties excluded from the search.
  • Handheld metal detectors should be used when there is evidence of student behavior that poses a threat to the health and safety of students in the school.
  • Students and parents should be informed beforehand that metal detectors will be employed and informed of the reasons for their use.
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