RIGHTS HERE, RIGHTS NOW

Students Should Know Their Civil Liberties

When Lindsay Earls came home from school one day and told her parents the
school wanted to drug-test her since she was on the academic team, no one
around the kitchen table liked the idea.

The ensuing fact-finding mission for the Tecumseh family ended up putting
them on the docket of the Supreme Court for March 2002.

"I felt that in drug testing us, my school was accusing me on the grounds
that I was active in the school of breaking the law," said Earls, now a
freshman at Dartmouth College. "I also felt that the test in general was an
invasion of my privacy."

Earls is an example of a student who wanted to know more about her rights
- -- an interest that will make her a plaintiff in front of the high court of
the land.

Civil liberties are a controversial topic, especially in schools. The line
between students' rights and schools' power is constantly being blurred,
not just in the classroom but in courts and legislatures across the nation.

"Students should be concerned about all attempts to take their rights away,
be it their right to privacy, their right to speak freely or assemble
peacefully," Earls said.

Certainly, students have fewer rights in school than they do walking down
the street.

Martin H. Belsky, dean of the College of Law at the University of Tulsa who
has written about Earls' case, said, "Courts have said students' rights are
unique. When you go into the school doors, you lose some of your rights."

But just because students' rights are limited doesn't mean the school has
absolute power.

"The school has certain rights of a parent and certain rights of a prison,"
Belsky said.

Expression, religion and equality are other student rights that have become
the topic of many legal battles.

In the 1969 Supreme Court case decision Tinker v. Des Moines School
District, Justice Abe Fortas wrote, "In our system, state-operated schools
may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess
absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out
of school are persons under our Constitution."

However, students' civil liberties can be and are infringed on. Belsky
offered some red flags of violation. The first is that no teacher,
administrator or school should impose religious values -- students have the
right to privacy of thought.

"A school cannot impose its ideology on students," Belsky said. "Teachers
are government officials."

The second is an interference with the personal educational process. If
your teacher is preventing you from learning because you are black, Muslim,
female or gay, for example, he or she is violating your right to free,
quality schooling.

The third is the school acting too much like a cop and going too far in the
name of security. For example, Belsky said, the police cannot come in and
do a wholesale locker search even with the blessing of a principal. While
the school administration does have power over students, it cannot abuse
this and must have some respect for students and their civil liberties.

The final warning sign is interference with the democratic process. An
example of this would be a school showing favoritism for certain student
groups over others.

A student's right to privacy is often in the spotlight. It has become the
center of many debates concerning everything from searches to drug testing.

For a school to conduct a search, reasonable grounds must be found "for
suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has
violated ... either the law or rules of the school," as outlined in the
Supreme Court case New Jersey v. T.L.O.

If there is reasonable suspicion, anything can be searched, including book
bags and cars.

Gary Chronister, director of Student Assistance Programs at Broken Arrow
Public Schools, outlined some limitations to searches.

Personal searches of students can only be allowed in extreme circumstances.
In such a case, the person conducting the search must be of the same gender
with one witness present and the search cannot be excessively intrusive.
Strip searches, though, are strictly prohibited.

While searches of private property require some justification, lockers,
desks and any other school property can be searched at any time and without
any reason. Usually, schools are looking for prohibited materials, which
can range from drugs to cell phones.

Many students have no problem with this policy.

"Privacy is important, but not as important as the safety of students,"
said Emily Duncan of Memorial High School. "So if that means rummaging
though their bags and snipping the locks off their locker, then so be it. I
have nothing to hide, therefore, I have no right to complain."

Still, others feel that searches are a violation of civil liberties.

"I don't believe the policy (of random searches) is right," said Jackie
Smith, a freshman at Edison Preparatory School.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Web site advises students that if
they are questioned or searched by a teacher, "Don't explain, don't lie and
don't confess because anything you say could be used against you. Ask to
see your parents or a lawyer."

Cassie Rhea said at East Central, where she is a senior, the faculty is
willing to help and direct students to the person where the problem can be
addressed.

Many students report that they are not aware of their rights in school.

However, all Tulsa Public Schools students this year should have gotten
copies of the student's rights and responsibilities handbook, which
outlines the rights of students and their responsibilities while in school.

That's not enough for some.

"A student is only notified of the rules and regulations of the schools,
not the freedoms within school," said Tess Igarta of Owasso High School.

Kristina Pyles attends Jenks High School. She said students must find out
about civil liberties for themselves.

"The average student has no idea what their rights are," she said.

Tulsa lawyer Lou Bullock has worked on cases locally that involved both
students and school faculty.

"Following Sept. 11, there is a tendency in society to compromise the
rights of the citizen, and schools will be one of the first places to
reflect that," he said.

"If a student's rights are violated, they should not be afraid to stand up
for themselves," Bullock said. "Students shouldn't feel powerless and
they're not."

One way to learn about students' civil liberties is the Internet. The
ACLU's Web site, www.aclu.com, offers resources, updates on new
legislation, information on important issues, and answers the frequently
asked questions about students' rights.

good end quote: Students need to learn the responsibility while in school
so they know how to function in the real world, Belsky said.

"The whole purpose of education is to acculturate you into society," he said.