In Schools across the country, cell phones ring or buzz and cell phones are confiscated, often on a daily basis. Students may louse their beloved cell phones for the rest of the school day, but most don't expect to lose their privacy too. However, many schools allow teachers and administrators to read messages and listen to voice mails on confiscated phones. Some students view this to be a breach of their right of privacy: after all, they say, if the school cant search their bedrooms, it shouldn't be able to search their phones either. On the other hand, school staff defend their searches by arguing that what they find in cell phones can help protect students from bullies or stalkers. They may even uncover plots that could endanger other students. Some people say the authorities make a valid point. Just as schools have the right to establish dress codes as a means to protect students, they also have the obligation to check on whom students are contacting during school hours.

To be honest they can take my phone but I have a lock on it so they wont get anything. Also, cell phones are not school property, it belongs to not the student but the parents, because they provide the service and device. So fellow dollars what do you think. Is it right or is it wrong, give me your feedback.

The rule is not to have your phone out in class. If you have your phone out in class, it gets taken. Whatever happens from there is free game, because you were not only the asshole who breaks the rules, but also the asshole who can't hide the fact they're breaking the rules. Is it that hard to wait until after class to respond to a text message?

>>2 Agreement, but this is not about me and I like my phone where it is, my possession, so I dont plan on or want to break the rules

im ok if they take my phone but look it to my stuff that just wrong that where i hidden my pron

when our school takes our phones, by the time we get them back, all the messages have been erased..

PROtip: At our school, we take the battery out before handing our phones over. Even when you have a teacher who demands the battery, you have a much more powerful case against them invading your privacy.

>>6

This is the protip for this stuff. Phones are private property, and depending on circumstances - IE: whether you are paying for it, or your parents - The ones who pay the bills are the ones with the authority to decide whether its contents can be viewed by another person or not.

Barring, of course, government seizure.

Of course, this can entirely be avoided if you just keep your god damn phone off during classes.

I can understand, and your teacher/faculty probably will as well, if you need it on for family or medical emergencies. But just idle conversation or twitter emergencies? No, I'd rather break your phone than take it.

I'll just set it on top of this industrial strength magnet.

>>1 when you said something about the dresscode for schools. i have one problem with one school. (one i graduated from) i noticed when a goth or emo kid try wearing a tank top they got in trouble for it but when a prep or pouplur kid wore one they didn't get into trouble. i find that fucked up. and i also find teachers going through a kids phone is fucked up too. they have no right to go through someone else's stuff.

I don't understand why people just can't wait to use their phone until class is over. So they deserve to have their phone confiscated.
However, it is still personal property and should not be searched. A phone lock is a good option, and so is taking out the battery. The argument that searching a phone to prevent bullies/stalkers/danger does not really hold water. They can't act on suspicion alone. Even police officers need to get search warrants.

This goes into the whole "what rights do you have at school" debate that has gone on forever. schools like to make you think they have total control over you while you are in their facilities, but that is the biggest load of shit ever spoon fed to any person ever (my school likes to try and convince us that if shit goes down during graduation, those responsible will not receive their diplomas, which is illegal as fuck, not to mention their actions during that protest that took place here a few years ago...). i look at it like this: if they need probable cause to search your backpacks, purses, etc... for any reason at all, then they should only look through your phone if there is a whole other situation going down other than "hey, this dipshit isn't listening in class and is texting" that they need to look at your phone to try to get to the bottom of. any other time a school staff member looks through your phone is unacceptable (well, except for this one time me and one of my cooler teachers were debating whether or not to change the contact info in my friend's phone after she confiscated it so that his mom and his GF's numbers were switched, just to mess with him, but he would have thought it was funny as well, so i don't reccomend to that to just anyone). aside form that. LEAVE THE DAMN THING OFF AND THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A PROBLEM.

I have a decoy phone. No battery or sim card. They take it away, it's all good.

>>11
Till you get your real one out.

i hate that they can do that, but if you didnt take the extra second to put a lock on your phone then thats your fault, ALWAYS lock your important items. Now what is worse is when the school takes your phone and then charges you $15 to get it back, i cant stand that policy at my school, its worse than nails on a freakin chalkboard!!!!

This is stupid. Why is this even news? That's illegal. I think the students deserve to get their phones taken away and searched because they're stupid enough to not sue.

>>14
1) It's not illegal. Most likely it's in a satement that parents/ students sign before they start the school year.
2) You can't sue until your 18 years old in the U.S., however you can get your parents to sue in your defense. This would fail however, because they most likely signed the statement (as said in #1) that allows schools to take away phones.
3) You already have rights taken away from you when your in high school or lower. Example- Freedom of speech. If this still were in full effect at schools, you wouldn't get detention from cussing your teacher out. Example 2- You can't assemble in the cafeteria whenever you please, you must go to classes on a schedule or be tardy/ absent and reprimanded accordingly.

that was a quote by one named Winston, and i had this same exact writing on an exam (hadda write several paragraphs on it) just thought it was weird to see, cya later!

>>16 Custom, you are Fucking awesome, because you can read. And I am not kidding.

>>15 You serious?! o.o
I feel so lucky, then. We don't have anything like that to sign that gives the school permission to search.
That's true that you can't sure until you're 18, but our community is a bit... errr sue-happy...
And you can't cuss your teacher out because that's one of the things not protected by the first amendment. You cannot assemble in the cafeteria without a permit. If the principal says yes, you can. You have to go to classes because truancy is against the law.
I've studied the constitution and had an in-depth project on the first amendment, so I'm pretty sure schools can't search you, and if they do, you have the right to say no. Of course, there will be consequences like they'll treat you suspiciously or something, but yeah. I'm more the certain they can't just take your phone cuz it was out. It's not a good reason

>>18
They can take your phone while it's out. Almost every school does it. It doesn't need to be a good reason for them to just do it. They do it, anyway.

The phone is private and the school has no right to check
wether it's to protect the student or not.

This is just wrong on so many levels. Then again, if this was true, it would hrelp students learn to put their phones away for 6 or so hours. Still, this is an invansion of privacy and should not be allowed!

well its strictly against 1st amendment but has good points to it, i'm undecisive.

>>15 you must fallows rules inside facilities though, the first amindment works like this: lets say an officer pulls me over and i say "you're an asshole." this is aginst the amendment because I'm not speaking for myself. now same scenario but i say "officer, i think you're an asshole." he can't don anything about it because i spoke MY opinion. same applies in school.

>>23 I think you are completely misinterpreting the point of the first amendment.

It's freedom of speech, or freedom of expression. It isn't violating the first amendment by invading privacy, or by insulting someone. Insulting someone is still your own expression, and not against any sort of law, and invasion of privacy is another thing entirely.

The first amendment was not made to restrict, by to allow. If you find yourself thinking the first amendment somehow restricts someone from doing something, you're probably thinking about it wrong.

*but to allow. Typo.

And don't be anal and say "it stops people from arresting people for free speech." Calling that out before someone points out that obvious fact.

>>25

If that were true anyway, then people wouldn't get in so much trouble for being openly racist.

>>26 People get in trouble, but they don't get arrested. When was the last time someone got handcuffed for calling someone a nigger? In a school setting, they'll get a disciplinary reprimanding like any other small offense; in a job setting, you might get fired by your employer for fucking up the work environment; in no situation will the law ever stop you from being able to say things.

However, being racist in a way that is illegal is different. Discriminating by race as a teacher or employer in a school or work setting is another story entirely, in that you are infringing on someone's freedoms by your actions.

>>27 Nah, I just said in trouble. Not arrested.

The first time I ever had my phone out during school was during the wait for yearbook pictures. My friend asked me to send him a text to see if his phone was working, which I did, and then my phone got taken up by the teacher. She ASSURED me that she would put it in her desk and lock the door. The next day I find out that a student reported a cellphone on the ground in the hallways and it had been stabbed with scissors. Guess whos phone that was...

After this my parents instructed me to NEVER give the school my phone again for any reason. They said that if they ask for it then I should politely refuse, and if they ask again then tell them I'm not allowed to. My dad said that he would talk to the school about it if it cause any problems.( And by talk, I mean yell until they finally give up.)

I always thought you had constitutional rights to keep your phone if they ask. Oh well, I guess I learned something today.

>>29
Your parents don't have much of a say over the matter, even if they tell you not to hand it over. Once you're on school grounds, their say normally goes.

Yelling will only get the cops on school grounds involved, and your dad thrown off the property, or arrested firstly.

It's this reason that I password protected my phone.

>>31 This.

Look, smartphones aren't uncommon. If you have one, the obvious solution to the privacy issue is to passcode lock your phone.

But, for those who don't, I have an even BETTER idea! Don't get your damned phone confiscated in the first place, and you won't have any issues. Seriously, if you were that worried about a staff member looking through your phone, you wouldn't give them a reason to take it from you.

I payed for my phone and i pay for the bill every month. out of my own pocket. My parents aren't even allowed to look through my phone. I take the SIM card and the battery out before giving it to them. Last year, they tried to make me give them the SIM card as well, and i told them to go fuck themselves and snapped it. wasn't easy, either. I have noticed that the smaller an object is, the more difficult it is to break. Needless to say, i was suspended for a spell, but i made my point. Now that i think about it, they haven't bothered me about my phone all year... Odd...

>>32 You, my fellow intelligent person, deserve a cookie.

Only time a teacher took my phone was when she took them from the entire class and locked them in her office during gym. Just be smart enough to not get your phone taken and you don't have to worry about this stuff.

>>24 i didn't mean that it restricted us, if thats what you got from it i tried to give the best example that i could. my point is so long as its your opinion they cant do anything about it.

>>35
You really don't know how teachers work in a school. They don't give a SHIT if it's an opinion. They will still do something about it.

honestly, i dont meen to be rude by saying this, but why cant poeple just be smart and not do stupid stuff like texting during school. i mean is it so important to hear that jessica is having a horrible time in science class because they're learning about cells.

I go to two schools. At one, the teachers let you know at the beginning of the year how they feel about phones. The other, they're allowed to be out and we can use them if we choose to.

>>38
And thus will be the reason that school's over-all scores, will suck.

If you ALLOW it during any time, if they CHOOSE to, then guess what? They WILL during ANY time. Thus during tests, they would rather gossip around, texting each other, than to actual do some work.

um... dont have your phone out in front of teachers?

my school is very strict in relation to mobile phones, but this is the fault of two coordinators, then the only time we can get listening to music or turning on devices is where the coordinators are not.
I really think they should only be confiscated outside the hours of range and output.

Keep a phone like you keep a self defense weapon: conceal it or get in trouble.

I don't trust schools. Not only can they look at the things on your phone, but they can call and text the people on your phone. My bitch ass math teacher does it all the time.

Turn it off and put it away during class, that way you don't have to worry about this.

If you're dumb enough to text right in front of a teacher, I'd say you deserve to get in trouble. :/

Bump

>>43 You do have a point, but who'd be stupid enough to text right in plain sight of a teacher?
And what teacher would be nosy enough to look through your cell? AH'D PUNCH 'EM IN THE FACE IF THEY EVER WENT THROUGH MAH CELL!>:V
If I had one...

>>45

1. Everyone.

2. Most teachers.

3. No you wouldn't. If you did, though, enjoy your suspension.

>>46

1. Everyone
No, only morons. I never once had my phone out during class.

2. Most teachers
Only those who want to control you, and be able to hold shit against you. I know a lot who would just make you put it up.

3. No you wouldn't. If you did, though, enjoy your suspension.
Agreed, but I do know of quite a few who have hit teachers before. It's not like EVERYONE talks shit. Some actually follow through with what they say.

>>47

1. Obvious exaggeration.

2. Obvious slight exaggeration.

3. I'm hoping he's not stupid enough to hit someone over taking his phone. Maybe I put too much faith in people these days.

>>47

1. because no one texts you during the day(except for your family members...never mind not even family )

2. That's why he said most teachers.

3. If you agreed why write a comment to this one.
haters gonna hate

>>49

Why write a comment? Because I agreed that they wouldn't hit them. This is the net, obviously, or had you forgotten? Anything said, to make someone look TOUGH normally is a lie.

But then I went on, to say I know of some who would. I don't see how I'm HATING, or trolling or whatever the fuck else you're going to toss out.

Of course it is wrong. It is an invasion of privacy parents and teachers especially should not go through students texts, emails, internet history or anything like that. It is an invasion of privacy and what if the teacher were to install a virus or something? Treat your teachers the same way you would treat a stranger.

>>52

Parents do have that right, if you're living under their ROOF, has every right to know what you say, or do, or plan to do.

Until the day that you move out, you don't have a right to privacy, as your privacy was given to you by them. Your privacy is theirs.

Teachers don't have the right, because your phone isn't theirs, nor are you living in that school. It's a public place, to learn for only 8 hours a day, Monday through Friday, starting from August till...what..May/June? You're not living there, nor going to be there the rest of your life.

Bump

Parents: is their business. Their job is to raise you, your under their roof, they feed you.
Teacher: Its about as much their business as is the freaking color of your underwear. (in other words...they have no right)

I repeat.
If you weren't on your phone in class to begin with, your teacher wouldn't get the chance to do this.

It's a very simple rule. Your privacy deserves to be breached if you're so stupid that you can't obide by one, simple rule. Keep your phone away during class.

How about-Don't go on your damn phone during school hours?Unless you have to be reached by a family member about something important or reach them, you should not be on your phone.Is it really that awful important to check if you got a text from your friend during class instead of after class?

It's wrong to look through people's cell phones. I mean, you shouldn't hae it anyways, but still, that's invasion of personal privacy.

>>58 No, it's not. You sign a waver when you start school and part of that is giving up your right to privacy in certain situations. If your phone is taken, it's up to the teacher what to do with it. They can look through it, make calls with it, smash it, etc., and it's all your fault for being stupid.

How Dumb. I don't have a phone, and even when I did I NEVER signed a waiver. But privacy is privacy, If they're allowed to search our phones, then we should view theirs. Who knows what teachers do behind the schools backs?

>>60
Not how it works. Sorry.
But it's the parents that sign it, and as I sated, due to living under their roof, it is not up to you any longer.
You don't have a right to privacy, that your PARENTS didn't already give to you. They can take it away just as easily.

>>61 Actually, both sign now. This guy probably just didn't read it like every other ignorant child in the world.

>>59 I never signed a waiver for any of that :| Only thing I ever signed was an agreement to not plagiarize.

I don't text, so I don't care, and it's stupid to have your phone out during class anyway. However, if there was something that personal on my phone that it would bother me if the teacher took it, I wouldn't give it to the teacher in the first place. I would gladly throw it out the window, leave class, retrieve it, and then just leave school. I don't think most people have anything really personal on their phones, though (and if they do, they should delete it; it's stupid to have something really personal on something that is easily lost/stolen).

>>62

Well then that is YOUR school. I know back when I was in school, it was the parents who signed it, and from what I know now, they still are the only ones who do.

>>63
Then you would get in trouble, and most likely suspended or expelled depending on the severity of the case. This is why most people hand it over and not just try to question why, or try to be some 'rebel' to the adults trying to tell them what to do in their school.

In my school, teachers are texting on their phones all the time (other than older teachers) and if someone is caught in class, the teacher sends it to the office or keeps it till the end of class. I admit that I have my phone on silent, but I only check it when my parents have work.

>>65 Yeah, duh. I'm not stupid; I know what the consequences are. And you can't get expelled for that unless you break the window :V All you're doing is refusing to hand it over and cutting class. It's not a big deal. A few days in-school suspension, tops. Some teachers may not even report it (here, at least).

It's not like I'm saying I want to rebel because I can; I'm saying, if I had something so personal on it that I wouldn't want someone to see, especially not my teacher, I wouldn't hand it over. I put my personal privacy and health over school. But, again, I don't use my phone in class (and neither should you guys :/) so I don't have to worry about this kind of stupid shit.

Bump.

Bump.

i belieave its wrong for teachers to look at students phones

>>70 Care to elaborate?

its an invasion of privacy and my school is full of those kinds of teachers. we students dont have any rights to have privacy. i wonder how they would feel if we went through their phones and read all their things that they say is "private"

>>72 Once again, signed contract.

Who knoews whether these rights can be abused...