Article Review: Random School Searches Undermine Students

Introduction:
March 7, 1980: two freshman girls in a New Jersey high school were caught smoking in the bathroom by a teacher. The teacher sent both girls to the principle's office since smoking in the bathroom was a violation of a school rule. Both girls were questioned by the Assistant Vice Principle, Theodore Choplick. In response to questioning by Mr. Choplick, one of the girls admitted that she was smoking in the bathroom. However, the other girl, T.L.O. denied that she had been smoking in the bathroom and claimed that she did not smoke at all. Mr. Choplick demanded to see T.L.O.'s purse. As Mr. Choplick opened the purse, the pack of cigarettes was clearly visible. As he reached into the purse for the cigarettes, he noticed a package of cigarette rolling papers. In Mr. Choplick's experience, high school students possessing rolling papers was a correlation
The authors also state that suspicionless searches teach students that rights do not matter. I disagree with the author's point of view on overstating the dangers of drugs in schools. I believe it is a growing concern in our public school system. How do we expect a student to concentrate in class if he is stoned all the time? I think instituting random school searches should be on a case by case basis by school district. Blankenau and Leeper's article do not raise any issues of escalating school violence. Are weapons growing concerns like drugs are? The authors surveyed responses of Nebraska High School Principles to obtain data on how effective their drug polices have been. The article in this book does not allow me to make any comments on the strengths and weaknesses of their field study because they did not go in depth of what the study