I go to a private high school. Recently, in fact, today, two kids were followed home from the school by a police officer, and it was subsequently discovered that they were in possession of some marijuana. This following was done at the request of the school’s head administrator. This pair is now suspended, and whether they will be able to take final exams next week is in question. Do you think this is justified? I personally am undecided at the moment, however, the people were not smoking on campus, but rather were caught off school grounds and therefore I would think it is outside the school’s jurisdiction. Then again, going to a private school, I suppose they have a lot more leeway with these things, and I guess they thought the people were badly representing the school. Any thoughts?
I should think that it is perfectly justified. If you witness something or suspect something illegal is going on and tip the police, it doesn’t matter if you are a principal, a banker, or the bum on the street. The police were the ones who did the search and made the arrests, which is within their purview. The issue might be a little stickier if the principal had searched the kids themselves, but I don’t see how this is a problem legally.
It’s unfortunate that it happened, yes (the drug laws are, as far as I’m concerned, travesties of justice) but it’s certainly within the school’s rights.
Even if it was a public school, alerting the police to a possible illegal activity by the students isn’t really considered inappropriate. Suspending the students for illegal activities outside of school probably wouldn’t happen in a public school, but then again, a lot of people send their kids to these private schools precisely because these schools can do that.
I think it’s a little harsh to keep the kids from taking their finals. Why should their future be compromised by this? It’s not as if they put anyone else in danger. If the law decides to punish them, well, that’s at their discretion, but the school shouldn’t punish them as well, especially by keeping them from graduating. I think the kids should be allowed to take their final exams, and have their diplomas sent to them through the mail. Keeping them out of the graduation ceremony is punishment enough, especially for so light an offense.
A: Drugs and Schools?
Q: What goes together better than Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms?
There seems to be two issues in the OP:
First: The police involvement. As stated by others, the administrator reported suspicious & possibly criminal activity to the police which investigated and made the arrest. Clearly, this is reasonable. It is the way things are supposed to work. Whether or not drug laws are right or wrong is irrelevent. Whether or not drugs are harmful or not is irrelevent. It is against the law.
Second: The school punishment. This is a private school and as such if they don’t want potheads in their school they are well within their rights to do so, especially if they have a predetermined course of action in dealing with drug using students (this isn’t specified by the OP so who knows). Presumably, the students were aware of the school’s policy on drug use and if they weren’t then ignorance is still no excuse. In all liklihood, these students knowingly violated the rules of conduct for students of the school and now must suffer the consequences.
Even if this were a public school the suspension may still be 100% valid. Most school districts have criteria for suspension and expulsion that students are expected to follow or suffer the consequeces. This may not always include drug use, but it could and if it does then that is the rule as determined lawfully by the local elected school board.
Of course, the one thing Glitch never mentions in his analysis of the situation is whether the action resulted in greater harm to the students. As long as we follow the procedures, it doesn’t much matter whether the outcome was actually beneficial to anyone. Is that your basic argument, Glitch?
Glitch, did you learn anything from the last time we discussed this subject?