YOUTH LAW ADVOCATE SAYS PUPIL STRIP-SEARCH 'OVER THE TOP'

The strip-search of five Long Bay College students for drugs was "over the
top, degrading and humiliating," says a youth law advocate.

The male students were made to strip naked from the waist down in the
deputy principal's office during a police search for drugs.

The family of at least one of the boys is now considering laying a
complaint with the Police Complaints Authority and taking legal action
against the school on the grounds the search was unreasonable and breached
his rights.

John Hancock, a lawyer for Youth Law, believed the students could challenge
the validity of the search under the Bill of Rights and the Convention on
the Rights of the Child.

"We are of the opinion it was an unreasonable search, over the top,
degrading and humiliating to those students ... there was a real imbalance
of power."

Children's Commissioner Roger McClay has also criticised the search, saying
it appeared the students' rights to dignity, privacy and respect had been
neglected.

But Superintendent Ollie Beckett, commander for North Shore and Waitakere,
said the community constable had his "wholehearted support."

The students, aged 14 to 17, are understood to have been suspended after
they were found smoking cannabis outside the school grounds last week by
police.

Two local police officers were going to the school to talk to year 11
students about drugs, the law and their rights when they caught the students.

Deputy principal Mike Jackson said the students were taken to his office,
questioned and searched. Each boy was asked to remove his trousers and
underwear - without the presence of the other boys. No cannabis was found.

Police told the school they had the power to search for drugs under the
Misuse of Drugs Act.

Mr McClay said he was opposed to drug use but questioned whether it was
necessary for students to be strip-searched.

But Mr Beckett said police and schools on the North Shore were working
closely to "drive drugs out of the school scene."

School Trustees Association president Chris France said schools were well
aware of the law and were increasingly putting in place clear guidelines
about how they would deal with substance abuse.