Bullying

Bullying is an issue that has existed all around the world, in all different age groups, for hundreds of years now. The issues has not gotten any better, but rather increasing worse. Which technology becoming more and more advanced and powerful there are new opportunities and ways to bully other people. I believe that to say a school does not have a bullying problem, is false. Every school has a bullying problem, but the level of severity varies from every school. While I believe that Deerfield does not really have a bullying problem, I could be very wrong. I do not think anyone really has a clue what it is like for someone else to go to school every day. I do not think that public bullying and harassment is an issue at Deerfield, but for all I know some student could be getting harassing text messages and threatening phone calls every night. The amount of bullying that goes on at a school is really unknown.
A young girl named Megan Meier was bullied through MySpace. She was relentlessly made fun of and picked on and no one ever really knew. The story ends with Megan taking her own life. The hurtful words became too much for her to handle. Megan's case was the first cyberbullying case that Missouri had ever seen, this left it in a difficult situation. The court could not charge her predator because there were no laws for cyberbullying, but afterwards the courts made cyberharassment illegal. While the law in continuing to catch up with technology, is it really even helping?
I do not believe that by increasing laws it will slow down bullying. It has always been illegal for teenagers to drink, yet it does not stop them from drinking. So how do we find a solution? In class we watched the show "If You Really Knew Me," it was a crew of people who went to a high school and challenged kids to get to know other students for who they truly are. While it is all tears and hugs on the show, does it really work? I believe it can work, but the question really is, is it going to affect the issue in a long term sense? Can a school really not fall back into its old habits from just talking with other classmates for one day? I don't believe so. In class while we were discussing this I remember someone saying that maybe something needs to happen in order to have a real impact. This meaning maybe there needs to be an incident so powerful that it stops the student body and makes them change. I disagree. In 2006 at Deerfield High School there was a tragic drinking and driving accident, that led to two student deaths. While I was not at the high school I had three brothers who were and I saw the terrible impact it had on them and their friends. I remember them saying that they hope it helps people learn, but does it? Has the drinking problem at Deerfield gotten better since then? No. So how do we create change in a situation that seems to have no solution? I believe the first step is wanting to change. Kids at schools around the country need to want bullying to stop in order for it to stop, and each and every person can make a difference. It is not only the students who need a change or attitude, but the administration as well. It is there job to protect each and every student, this includes the bully. By this I mean it is their job to try and help to bully get better. The administration cannot just give someone a detention for yelling something inappropriate, they must get to the root of the problem. By doing this and the school working with the students we can all make a difference.

Drug Testing

Drug testing in public schools in unconstitutional. Public schools use the terms "reasonable" to justify searches of students. Drug testing is a search of students, through an invasive process schools take and examine the students urine. Random drug testing does not fall under the term "reasonable" because it is unreasonable to believe that all students are under the influence of drugs. Public schools have no right to "parent" students by checking up on them, especially if the parents do not approve. In the case of Vernonia School District v. Acton, James Acton's parents did not approve of the school drug testing their son, so they said no and for that he was not allowed to participate in sports at his school. The school is not James Acton's parent, his parents are and it is up to them to make decisions for their child. If James Acton gets into trouble with the law, his parents are held responsible not the school, and for that it is not up to the school to make decisions and check up on him. While it is true that in order for James Acton to play a sport for his school, he had to get a physical with his doctor which included a urine test, there is a difference between his doctor testing his urine and his school testing his urine. This is an invasion of his privacy. James Acton's doctor knows the medication that he is on, because his job to watch over his health, this is not the schools job. In a drug test, the person being tested must enclose all the medication that they are currently taking, this in itself is an invasion of privacy because the school does not have the right to make kids tell them the medication that they are on. Students have a right to the fourth amendment while at school and without probable cause drug testing is unconstitutional.

Using the standard of "reasonableness" in schools allows for an search to be valid. School administrators can easily say that a search is reasonable for any reason. It is important for the education system to show students that when they walk through the doors of the school their rights do not go away. They cannot force any unnecessary search on students which, through drug testing and reasonableness, is what they are doing. In a 'sexting' suit that took place in Pennsylvania, a public school took away a students cell phone, searched it, and then handed the student a punishment for her nude pictures. This public school, took a students private property that contained private messages, as the suit said like U.S. mail, and searched them. The principal defended the search as being "reasonable" while in reality it is a huge violation of this students forth amendment rights. She violated the cell phone policy at her school, so school officials took away her personal property but for them to take it a step further by looking through her phone and reading her messages and looking at her pictures is stripping her of her freedoms. Public schools are there for the purpose of educating students and providing a safe learning environment if those two things are not in danger, by the standards of the forth amendment and not by "reasonableness", then school has no reason to play a parent's role in their students lives.