School Privacy
The incidents of April 20, 1999 from Columbine High School in Littleton,Colorado put the consequences of student privacy in schools into a newperspective. Two students, Dylan Klebold and Ryan Harris, who were, forall intents, intelligent and well adjusted went on a killing spree. Theykilled and injured several members of the school including a teacher.(Rosenberg, 2000) Then they turned the guns on themselves. Their planswere grandiose. After the massacre, they intended to flee the country.Once the furor had died down, new information showed that the two studentswere generally reticent, withdrawn and subjected to bullying by theirpeers, especially the physically stronger students. Klebold and Harriswere emotionally and physically abused. Isolated, they developed a hatredfor their fellow students. Following this heinous incident, the usualsuspects began opining on how this could have been prevented. One of thekey points were whether their privacy ought to have been intruded bysearching their lockers for clues that might have prevented this disaster. Many such instances make news these days. Among these: students bringing
Often, intervention by the police and other lawenforcement officials is required to get situations under control. These issues cannotbe dismissed offhand. The search was justifiable aslong as it was conducted under a reasonable premise. But the US Congress has mandated that the Statesimpose penalties for weapons possession in schools. Principals are expected to understandsituations and problems facing the school, and make decisions in a timelyand appropriate manner. The fourteenth amendmentto the US Constitution protects the right of an individual to privacy. " The ethical issue when using a studentin the class to obtain information is how much the student can be trusted. Public schools have changed significantly over time. On being informedabout a couple, the principal may bring this to the attention of theparents of the students. Thislaw protects a student's education records. At the core ofall these problems is addressing the issues of any individual's privacyversus the common good and safety of fellow students. FERPA also allows the school toinform the parent when the health, safety and even life of the studentmight be in jeopardy. gov, 2003) Why do we have to be monitored when we are nowgrown-up' The answers to many of these questions cannot be, "because Itold you so. They should not completely abdicate this responsibility toschool officials. The police took the boys to the police station and lectured them onthe biblical teachings against homosexuality.
Common topics in this essay:
Fourth Amendment,
Supreme Court,
Privacy Act,
Lesbian Gay,
Fiore Curtin,
Civil Rights,
Education FERPA,
Klebold Harris,
Borough Minersville,
Supreme Courts,
supreme court,
drugs guns,
court ruled,
school officials,
supreme court ruled,
instructional leadership,
fourth amendment,
ethical issues,
fellow students,
carry gun,
legal issues,
privacy fourth amendment,
student's education records,
protection student's privacy,
|