Virginia Attorney General Says Teachers Can Take Students' Cell Phones, Read Texts

Students in Virginia may want to think twice about texting in class.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a Republican, issued a legal opinion Wednesday ruling that not only can school officials seize students' cell phones and laptops, but they can also read their text messages if there is "reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law or the rules of the school."
Cuccinelli was responding to a request from Republican Delegate Robert Bell who wanted to know when principals or teachers can seize the devices to battle cyberbullying and how school officials can address "sexting," or sexual messages sent via text, without violating the state law themselves.


Read more: www.foxnews.com...

Yet another invasion of privacy by government employees.

Violating school rules? Sorry but when did violating a policy become grounds for a government employee to confiscate private property and violate the students 4th Amendment?

reply to post by BigTimeCheater


Sorry but this one I agree with..
Schools are for learning, not chatting with mates on facebook or twitter..
Simple answer is, turn off your phone in class and learn instead..

reply to post by backinblack


Saying no phones in class is vastly different from a teacher confiscating a students private property and violating their privacy by reading text messages.

When i was at school in 1992, they used electroinc mind control on me to totally humilate me behind my back. I had total invasion of privacy.

Things are laot worse than people know.

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by BigTimeCheater

 

Sorry but this one I agree with..
Schools are for learning, not chatting with mates on facebook or twitter..
Simple answer is, turn off your phone in class and learn instead..

Oh, no no no no. Whether schools are for learning or not, it is a human rights violation to confiscate property because some school made a rule. What if they make a rule, "No silver phones will be tolerated?" Then is it ok for them to take all silver phones...?

Now, maybe the rule should be turn them off or they will be held until end of class. But snooping... That is beyond the pale.

Ridiculous. The worst part? I bet most parents SUPPORT this rape of their children's rights.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


Lol what? Parents support the school confiscating an expensive electronic that they more than likely bought them? I highly doubt it.

Kids should be leaving their phones in their lockers during school hours, maybe be allowed to use them at lunch periods. There is no reason to have a cellphone when you are supposed to be learning.

I have to agree with this, to a point. There is too much texting and cell phone use at school. It is very distracting and addictive. Children need to be learning, not thinking about what they will text, when they will text again, and how to do it without being seen doing it. Doing all that devotes a lot of mental energy to something that isn't going to help you in the real world. The only way it might help is for you to be able to take your cell phone to work, where you will be devoting the same energy to the phone rather than doing productive work.

It is very simple. If the child does not want someone to invade their precious privacy, then don't bring the phone to school. It is very very simple.

Now, I am not totally against a child having a sort of phone at school. The parent can get the child some sort of phone that is equipped to only call home and 911 I think. If they put some sort of parental controls onto the phone, then they can still reach the child in an emergency and the child could call for help.

Really,.it is the school's responsibility to keep the child safe and to call 911 if there is an emergency. I know some parents want their child to have a phone, because every minute counts. The child might need to call for help. But the child does not NEED to text anyone. They may WANT to, but it isn't something they have to be able to do.

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by BigTimeCheater

 

Sorry but this one I agree with..
Schools are for learning, not chatting with mates on facebook or twitter..
Simple answer is, turn off your phone in class and learn instead..

I can't agree.
It's a student's right to ruin their education.
Make a rule that bans phones in classes if you want to control the distractions that they provide.
confiscate a phone until the end of class, sure, understandable if it is a continuous problem.
but reading their private messages? that is absolutely illegal. 100% illegal.
you see what happens when you mix emotion and individual bias with the law?
this judge out to be reprimanded. oust him, i say, and his ruling, and any teacher that violates the students right to privacy.

When I was a child, sometimes a kid would pass a note in class, and the teacher would take and read it out loud. No one said that was illegal.
"If it is important enough to pass a note in class, then it must be very important and I should read it to everyone," the teacher would say.
It could be very embarrassing to have that happen. What is the difference between reading a note and reading a cell phone?
Maybe the teacher could tell the parents if the child were sexting or looking for drugs or planning to go to a drinking party or something the child should not be doing.

Invading the privacy may save the child's life or stop them from making a bad decision that they will regret later.

i think thats ok for a child under 16..

you would also say nothing when he take a written paper away and read it...

and we live in 2010...messages are on handys now 20 years ago it was on paper

hey it is OK to give a kid a lap top and then watch him or her in their bedrooms...
and then call the cops on them for eating candy

lets teach the children to be good little slaves
anyone who trusts teachers "if you can't do teach"
aught to consider who taught the sheeple we have today to be sheeple...
the sheeple.

reply to post by BigTimeCheater


Students are not protected by the 4th amendment. Nor should they be.

Originally posted by Danbones

lets teach the children to be good little slaves
anyone who trusts teachers "if you can't do teach"
aught to consider who taught the sheeple we have today to be sheeple...
the sheeple.

aught Noun: The digit 0; zero.

ought /ôt/Verb 1. Used to indicate duty or correctness, typically when criticizing someone's actions: "they ought to respect the law".

There are some things that even spell check cannot teach


sheeple indeed.

Originally posted by Rockpuck
reply to post by BigTimeCheater

 

Students are not protected by the 4th amendment. Nor should they be.

Of course they should be protected by the 4th Amendment.

A teacher is not a LEO, nor do they have training under due process of probable cause.

Say a student has a naked pic of themselves on their phone. Why should the teacher be allowed to see it?

If for no other reason, students should learn to stand up against government, and not simply bend over for them.

Simple solution:
No unauthorized internet usage, even if IPs need to be banned by the schools.
No phone usage AT ALL during school hours.


I understand there is a reasonably priced program that can deactivate cell phone usages during certain hours: parents need to get and use it.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Simple solution:
No unauthorized internet usage, even if IPs need to be banned by the schools.
No phone usage AT ALL during school hours.


I understand there is a reasonably priced program that can deactivate cell phone usages during certain hours: parents need to get and use it.

And if students need to call 911 for an emergency at the school, your solution is?

That they rely on the teachers?

reply to post by dr_strangecraft


I'm dyslexic which all the regulars here have already noticed
I taught myself how to read
because if it is left up to teachers to do it, I wouldn't most likely be able to read
which is why I am not a sheeple
nore a spell nazi


And thank you for correcting the most insignificant, most unimportant thing on this page.
Are you by any chance a teacher?.
because not being able to spell because of dyslexia is NOT in the definition of sheeple
have you ever heard of dictionaries?
they have those on line too

PS'Thanx for making my point so elokuently

what are you watching on your lap top?
PS I notice you capitalized the word Good in the middle of a sentance on your AV
hypocrit much?

Transformational Education - Preparing Our Children for Global Citizenship
Lincoln obviously recognised how important education was in creating the government of the future. But what if that education is decided, managed and implimented by the government to suit it's own agenda?

www.abovetopsecret.com...

here ya go Doc
what a timely thread
heh heh
many thanks liveforever8

Oh and doc:
What ever happened to all the pre world war 2 teachers in Nazi germany?
I know what happened to the jewish ones.