Does A School Have The Right To Confiscate...

[bleachit]

the law tends to screw over kids/students... according to my teacher, the police can legally search your car if it is on school property. they do not have to have any probable cause, evidence, warrant, etc., they can just ask to search your car and you have to let them.

Not exactly true... schools need reasonable suspicion as opposed to probable cause in order to conduct a search. Police can search if the administration of the school presents reasonable suspicion and allows them to.. or I think the administration has to conduct the search but the police can be present. either way reasonable suspicion is required. randomly searching without cause or suspicion is not allowed...

Cops can bring in dogs to sniff for whatever with administrations permission, and if they get a hit on a car or locker, its fair game.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

Ok, let me get this straight. You went to HIS school and used HIS computers and HIS network and HIS internet, and you don't think he has the right to check whats on the flashdrive? Uh yea he does. Just like he has the right to know what is in the locker he lets you use.

See, this is the gray area. At least in NJ, they are legally allowed to search a students locker due to reasonable suspsicion because it is school property. Now his flash drive was private property, however it was being used in/on school property. Honestly, I am not sure that reasonable suspsicion allows him to search his flash drive in this case. In NJ, a police officer must be present when searching property, which is only warranted under reasonable suspicion of an illegal act. And from what Echo has said, they had no reason to believe it was an illegal act. I do not know if any of this is applicable to Florida law though.

[Maksimus54]

how should i put this, you sound like a jackass. You bring up the point that you have been in trouble numerous times, you openly disrespect your teachers and principles. You sound like a problem child and honestly until you change your attitude they have no reason to respect you. Before you can expect respect you need to first earn it. By being the jackass you are you have a slim chance of enjoying anything about school cause you are just gonna piss everyone off. You need to learn how to control yourself and do something that would make teachers actually care about you. As for the legal side of it, I would like to say they are in the wrong, but while in school your rights are severely limited. File your police reports, talk to a lawyer, the most i would expect is that you get your flash card back. So one more time, before you can expect anyone to respect you, first give them a reason to. If you are a known trouble maker you have just shot yourself in the foot. That is just that much more to make up before you will ever get through to anyone.

[InfinatyBPS]

Hahaha, the wonderful memories of high school. Things like this is why I don't remember 3/4 of my high school experience; it was either find a way to deal with every teacher and administrator treating you like an idiot, animal and a criminal; or kill everybody because they all deserved to die in my mind after it was all said and done. I think high school administrators and employees are complete morons for how they treat teenagers as if they have no common sense of right and wrong.

[Lohman446]

Ok, let me get this straight. You went to HIS school and used HIS computers and HIS network and HIS internet, and you don't think he has the right to check whats on the flashdrive? Uh yea he does. Just like he has the right to know what is in the locker he lets you use.

Unless its a private school it is not HIS school, or HIS property, or HIS network, or HIS internet. It is public property paid for by the tax payers and governed by the school board. Unless what you have is contraband your personal property is not subject to HIS seizure because HE feels like it. HE answers to the school board and to the LAW. HE likely does not have a legal right to cease your property.

However, you still threw a hissy fit and told someone over twice your age (I assume) that he was disrespecting you, making you a friggin punk. Now, you can step back and do it right, police report and letter of demand, ask your parent to talk to him, or duck your head and follow the rules.

Edit: This is not a locker granted to you with no contract or no compensation that remains school property. Unless they purchased and provided that flash drive to you at no charge, it remains your public property. It remains subject to seizure as contraband (perhaps), but is certainly not subject to search.

[anomoly40]

[Echo419]

Lohman I agree, and this "work" I had to do is Private work on www.vortexcybercafe.com, A website for a Cyber Cafe I work at, one of my friends from there is going to call there lawyer this morning, to see if any legal issues can be pressed... Its not even a thing of if I get my flash drive, its if every kid who has ever had there crap taken like me gets justice. They just wen't one step to far this time

[Echo419]

My parents are totally on there side, and are willing to support THEM in any way possible, just because of the fact I had the never to disrespect the school authority, which they somehow relate to them... They care nothing about the issue, just the fact I wasn't all YAY to my principal afterschool

[maxama10]

I hate those dang school Nazi's.....
and oobviously those against him, youre either too old to understand where hes coming from or your just i dont know...

[PyRo]

That's private property, but if a teacher confiscated it from you and you made a big deal to get it back, I would think you had a gun or some other thing in it that was against school policy. The way I see it, the teacher had a right to take the contraband away from you because of school policy, and YOU made the big deal out of it. So they had reasonable suspicion to search it.

Sounds just like a cop claiming reasonable cause because you declinded a search.

[Lohman446]

My parents are totally on there side, and are willing to support THEM in any way possible, just because of the fact I had the never to disrespect the school authority, which they somehow relate to them... They care nothing about the issue, just the fact I wasn't all YAY to my principal afterschool

You overstepped two bounds of discussing issues with anyone. When I am discussing issues, be they with customer's or employees I have a few ground rules. You cuss at me the conversation is over and I am going to ask you to leave. You tell me lawyer / sue etc. I will hand you my lawyers business card and ask you to contact them and will not continue the conversation. You act like a punk and you are not going to get anywhere. You showed a vast amount of disrespect to your elders in this situation. Even if someone is wrong, they deserve respect in a conversation with them. You can disagree with someone in a civil manner, and you will find it will get you a lot further than yelling about lawyers and cussing them. I'm not surprised after that display your parents are leaving you out in the cold. Assuming you did not have anything malicious on that disk, your best course of action to resolve this is to go to the principal or superintent, swallow your pride, apologize for your outburst, explain the situation of your work on it, and ask for it nicely. If you want to be a jerk about it, file a police report and issue a letter of demand. I think it will be equally effective, though you may have some issues considering you do not have parental support. Unless of course your work is willing to state it is there drive that you were using and demand it.

[Echo419]

Lohman, I definitly agree with you.. The way I handeled the sistuation was wrong... The situation had already blown up before he searched the drive... I do not believe under any cirumcstances he has right to search it... The reason I was making a fus, is because I had to be at work in 30 minutes, and I needed that drive.

My employer tried to come and get it yesterday, and was going to claim it was hers and I need it for work...

But honestly, its not a fact that I can't get it back.. Because sure my mom could come in, I could act all sad and depressed and get away with it all... But thats what they want, I'm sick of bieng run over, maybe I i take it far enough others will follow and I can get some stuff changed.

-echo

[Echo419]

Everyone I have spoke to even teachers say what he did was illegal, but they like I said in my previous post, think I should just apologize and have a teacher conference.

The reaosn I didnt just have my mom come get it yesterday, is because I know I am in high school, and I am old enough to deal with my OWN stuff on MY time, regarding my Life... crap bell rang, gotta run

[Lohman446]

I am in high school, and I am old enough to deal with my OWN stuff on MY time, regarding my Life... crap bell rang, gotta run

Anyone else find that statement ironically funny?

Life lesson - until you are 18, and often far older than that, adults will not see you on a level that allows you to deal with your own stuff in a fair manner.

[Dryden]

^^^ LOL Lohman446.

I am in high school, and I am old enough to deal with my OWN stuff on MY time, regarding my Life... crap bell rang, gotta run

No, you're not. Sorry, but you don't know squat. I don't care how 'grown up' a person thinks they are or how mature they think they are, but you don't really begin to understand jack until you're about 30 with kids, two car payments, a mortgage, and the #1 priority in finding a job is whether or not you get good insurance (hooray dental!) for your family.

Everybody thinks they're a genius when they're 18. When you're 22 you realize that that 18 year old you used to be was a moron. When you're 25 you'll realize that the 22 year old you used to be was a moron. When you're 30 you'll realize that you didn't know nearly as much as you thought you did when you were 25.

Apologize to the principal, ask your mother to pick up the flash drive, and suck it up and move on. You will get ZERO respect challenging your school district. It doesn't matter whether or not you think it is fair, in 2005, post-Columbine, post-9/11, your school can do whatever they please with your stuff while you are on school property. Whether it is your bookbag, your lunchbox, your flash drive, or your car, your school has the authority to search and seize it if given cause. You've been given an easy alternative for resolving this situation amicably and you're throwing it away.

The school's course for dealing with this behaviour will ultimately be to expel you. If you're under 18 you'll have to go to court, where a merciless judge will not have any sympathy for you and you'll be ordered to see both a probation officer and possibly a psychiatrist who specializes in family care, once or even twice a week for each. If you're over 18 you'll skip all that, but either way you'll wind-up having to spend several hundred on correspondence courses or settle for a GED, which won't get you a job anywhere worthwhile. Damaging any positive relationship with your principal or school administration won't help you get to college either.

By your post profile you're what? 15 or 16?

I've got news for you, I have seen thousands upon thousands of teenage kids in the halls of my county court building. All of them thought they could change things too. You will lose if you pursue this. I guarantee it. There are multiple outcomes, but all of them will be very, very bad for you longterm.