Bullying

The movie about Jamie Nabozny revealed the troubles that occur in our school system regarding bullying. I never realized that there was so much discrimination, and harassment in Americas schooling system. Jamie was constantly being threatened, and physically beat up by his peers. When he couldn't take it anymore he tried to take his life, and when that failed, he ran away. He couldn't take the abuse everyday and was not looking forward to moving on to high school, unlike all the other kids at his middle school. His family had no choice but to send him back to school. Jamie called this is last straw and ran away to Minneapolis his parents knew he had to stay there for his own safety. Jamie ended up suing the school, for their non-involvement in his situation. The school system throughout his middle and high school career never interjected to protect Jamie. In the court case, the school administration was found guilty of failure to stop the harassment. Jamie and his family won 900,000 dollars. This is not a unique case, we looked into a lot of other cases having to do with bullying. Rachael Neblett was a regular 17-year old girl she was a happy cheerleader with a lot of friends. She started to get threatening text messages and let it go on, when she told the school officials they said they would keep an eye on Rachael and make sure she was safe. She ended up killing herself because of the acts of this person.
Bullying at DHS does not seem to be very apparent. I notice some groups of people not getting along but I have never seen someone phycially bully others. The most bullying I see is on the day of Pep Rally. All the grades are divided, and the students are all excited to be apart of their grade. I have personally seen seniors yell at freshman and even give a little shove. It doesn't go beyond that, and I don't notice it during a regular day at Deerfield. Our school does not have a big problem with bullying and therefore we don't need to do anything in percussion. I think that our students have an understanding of respect for each other. There may be something every once in a while that would be considered bullying, but its not to an extent of hatred or harassment. I think our school would benefit from a "Challenge Day" like they had in If You Really Knew Me. Not necessarily because of a bullying problem, but each student would be able to get to know each other on a more personal level. Its always nice to interact with students that you don't always hang out with and can broaden the relationships that develop in high school.

Student Cell Phone Search

In this article, a student got her cell phone taken away for violating the cell phone policy at school. When the principle conviscated the cell phone, he searched it and found naked pictures of her. The search of the contents of her cell phone was unnessisery and a violation of her fourth amendment right. She got in trouble for using her cell phone, which gives no reason to search through her text messages, photos and videos. In New Jersey vs. T.L.O  the desending opionion states that "to search a student they have reason to believe that the search will uncover evidence that the student is violating the law or engaging in conduct that is serisoulydisruptive of school order, or the educational process" The principle should not have searched through her phone, because there was no reason to beleieve that she has anything inapproriate.  the article states, "akin to browsing through someone’s address and appointment book, opening and reading letters sent by U.S. mail, and rummaging through a family photo album or viewing home videos.” By searching her phone, the adminstration is completely violating her rights.

Drug Testing in Schools

I believe that the administration of public schools has the right to drug test student athletes. In regards to the Constitution it is legal because of the fact that the fourth amendment has certain restrictions in a public school. In Vernonia v. Acton the courts came to a conclusion that the drug testing of student athletes was constitutional. In Petitioners vs. Lindsay Earls the court found it constitutional for the drug testing of any student in an activity to be drug tested, not just students involved in sports. By doing this to their athletes the administration is trying to create a safe environment for the athletes and teachers. Along with making a successful athlete program, these random drug tests can steer students away from drugs and led them to a clean and heathy life style. Some people might argue that it is an invasion of privacy. According to the FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy) it states that "all student drug-testing records shall be kept strictly confidential in accordance with written school policy."  Drug testing is done for one reason, and that's to keep students safe, and it is not a violation of privacy.