[deleted account] ( 11 moms have responded )
This is a debate about privacy, and the extent to which the state can invade the private life of its citizens. Although it may seem unimportant, the school locker is usually the only private space available to a student in the communal environment of the school, and so it focuses many of the issues involved in privacy debates.
This is usually thought of as an American issue, but it could apply in any country and the arguments could also be transferred from school lockers to desks and lockers in the adult workplace. The rights to privacy claimed in this debate find expression in two key documents: Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks." 4th Amendment to the US Constitution: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." In the USA this became an issue at the highest level with the 1980 Supreme Court case, New Jersey v T.L.O. The law differs from state to state as to whether reasonable suspicion is required before an individual student’s locker can be searched, or whether blanket/random searches can be carried out.
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Emma - posted on 04/04/2010
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Hell yes !!
Your locker is lent to you by the school, where you are aloud to store books, and other things that you don't want to lug around in your bag all day.
You should not be putting anything in there that you would not happily show a teacher in the first place.
The best they would of found in my locker when i was at school would of been gym cloths and most likely an old sandwich,
You really have to be a dumb ass to put something dodgy in your locker at school and if you have you deserve to get caught,
Most company's that supply lockers or even desk draws reserve the right to search those places as they belong to said company, they also read your email as you sent it off a work computer on company time using the company internet connection.
Its just a fact of life
So keep you dodgy shit at home where the police are required to get a search warrant to search.
Lady - posted on 04/03/2010
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We paid £15 for my son's locker for the whole time he's in that school (I think we get it back when he leaves) but I would have no problem with them serching it if they think there is something in it that shouldn't be - I very much believe if you've nothing to hide then what's the problem - I don't have a problem with ID cards or CCTV cameras either. Whether my son would be bothered about it I don't know, I'd only be worried about them getting knocked out by the smell of the PE kit I keep asking him to bring home to get washed!!
Tracey - posted on 04/03/2010
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as far as i remember the locker is on school property and the school has all rights to search that locker even a persons backpack or purse if they suspect there is something that should not be there. if you are under a certain age you are the responsibility of the school. that is why they have the attendance policy and they call to verify why you were not there. as a parent getting ready to send my daughter to kindergarten the school is responsible for her and is they wanted to search her things if they think something is up then they can. its no just your safety that they are insuring but also the safety of all the others in the school.