Pubdate: Thu, 19 Feb 2015
Source: Toronto Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 The Toronto Star
Contact:  http://www.thestar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456
Page: A18

STRIPPING AWAY RIGHTS

Quebec Outrage

Young people should not be strip-searched by school officials

Quebec's education minister has stepped back from defending the
strip-searching of a 15-year-old girl at school. Provincial officials
now say they'll review rules that were used to justify taking such an
extreme measure.

But what's there to review? Young people should not be stripsearched
by school officials. Period.

Rather than acknowledging the obvious, however, and admitting that
staff at a high school in the Quebec City area had gone too far,
Education Minister Yves Bolduc initially cited security concerns in an
attempt to justify the search. He went on to claim that politicians
have a duty to stand behind the system's teachers and principals.

What rubbish. Politicians need to support what's right and speak out
against abuses. No wonder the public responded with outrage.

As reported by the Star's Allan Woods, the case involves a teenage
girl who was suspected by school officials of selling drugs to other
students. After she sent a text message to a friend evidently joking
about selling marijuana, she was questioned, her locker was searched
in vain and she was sent to a closed-off room and ordered to remove
all her clothes, including her underwear, so the garments could be
examined for drugs.

It's absurd to cite security concerns in this situation. Making
matters worse, the girl's request to call her mother was reportedly
refused by school officials. Such mistreatment is inexcusable.

If there's worry that a student might pose a threat, for example, by
concealing a weapon on their person, police should be summoned. It
should never be up to school staff to strip them naked.

Searching a locker is obviously acceptable. It's school property. And
a case could be made for examining the contents of a student's purse
or turning out a pocket. But there's no reason to have any young
person subjected to the humiliating and intrusive process of being
strip-searched by school staff.
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MAP posted-by: Matt