Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 2015
Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418
Page: A6

ABUSE OF AUTHORITY

An excerpt from a Winnipeg Free Press editorial:

The strip search of a Quebec teen at her school for drugs, by school
staff, is an unjustified breach of her privacy and assault on her
dignity. If school officials can defend such a move to root out a bit
of marijuana, searches of body cavities can't be far behind.

School boards across Canada ought to take this example of abuse of
authority as a lesson in the perils of unchecked arrogance.

The stripping of the teen was initially defended by Quebec's
government, but now it appears it, too, has recognized the offensive
nature of the search.

Education Minister Yves Bolduc is reviewing provincial guidelines that
permit strip searches of students, but said they are allowed in some
circumstances and only if they are done respectfully.

There may be an extreme case in which a strip search is required to
protect other students, but this one was far from it. The 15-year-old
sent a text to a friend offering to sell drugs - something she said
was a joke.

She was taken to an office and ordered to disrobe behind a blanket
held by one female staff member while another searched her garments,
including bra and underwear, formarijuana.

No pot was found. She said she was not allowed to call her parents
before the search took place.

Hardly a case of clear and present danger. Drugs on school property
are a problem, generally, but as drugs go, pot is the least of the
worries. There was no indication weapons were involved.

And there were other, more reasonable, ways to deal with the issue.
School officials might have called her parents, told her to empty her
pockets, her locker and her backpack.

A student could have found any of that insulting and an embarrassment
or an overreaction. But it would have left a young person's dignity
intact.

Finally, school officials have the ability to send a student home for
a day if they are still uncertain as to a teen's involvement in the
alleged misconduct. They can call police in for serious misconduct. It
depends on the credibility of the reports it gets and the level of
threat.

All of these actions will send a clear message to, and protect,
students. Instead, what the students at Quebec City's Neufchatel high
school learned earlier this month is they are easy marks for teachers
and principals who are insensitive to the boundaries of personal
privacy and quick to use unwarranted measures, disproportionate to the
suspected misconduct.

Stripping students and going through their underwear is not just
humiliating. It teaches them their rights are fragile, indeed.
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MAP posted-by: Matt