STUDENTS LOSE RIGHTS IN RANDOM SEARCHES

WHILE I am not surprised by it in the least, I cannot help but be appalled
by the stunning disregard for students' rights displayed by Superintendent
Mary Frances Callan of the Milpitas Unified School District in her recent
letter to your paper (``Milpitas schools are proud of anti-drug efforts,''
Opinion, March 2).

While I cannot condone the use of hard drugs by anybody, especially my
fellow high school students, I do not believe that the ``use [of] trained
dogs to randomly check for the presence of drugs on our campuses'' is the
solution. Has Superintendent Callan forgotten the Fourth Amendment to the
Constitution? A document which is taught in the very schools she runs, it
states in part, ``The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated.'' I do not see any disclaimer in the Constitution
which reserves these rights for adults. As I understand it, the Fourth
Amendment protects everyone, regardless of age, from ``unreasonable
searches and seizures.'' Those students who are bound by law to attend
school should have the same rights on school property as they would have in
their own homes.

I am not saying that they are free from all searches and seizures; if they
were, for instance, to go to an airport, it would be reasonable to expect
that they be searched, as they would be there of their own free will.
However, if they are required by law to go somewhere, any searches
performed on their persons or property without immediate cause would seem
unreasonable to me.

The issue in this case is not teen drug use, but rather an abuse of power
on the part of the school authorities. Superintendent Callan's attitude is
altogether too common among the teachers and faculty of our public schools,
not to mention in the halls of Congress. Right now they are persecuting the
teenagers; you could be next.

- -- Jordan Tulin, 17

Saratoga High School