In America, many schools across the nation face the harsh reality of increasing violence and drug use within the confinement of the educational buildings. The response by most school administrators is to conduct individualized searches and seizures of student’s lockers, backpacks, and cellphones, hoping to find drugs and weapons, or signs of their use. Without reasonable suspicion to suspect weapons or drugs, school officials do not lawfully, under the Constitution, have the right to conduct such unreasonable searches and/or seizures of student’s belongings. As new court cases arise pertaining to the issue, many begin to realize how school officials take advantage of student’s right to privacy and unlawfully administer searches and seizures of personal belongings based on the mere hope of discovering illegal contraband. I believe school administrators need to …show more content…
This is a strong individual right, given by The Constitution, that should protect students from searches of personal belongings and property. Amy Feldman shares this belief, noting “... the 14th Amendment protects the rights of the students against encroachment by public school officials” (Feldman 1). Feldman builds upon this statement in her article by providing court cases and various instances in schools where the Fourteenth Amendment protected students from intrusion of privacy made by school administrators. Just as with the Fourth Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment is clearly stated and interpreted as a broad claim of privacy for the American people, hence it should be considered in the educational system as