So I had an interesting experience today during my student teaching: I had a student say that a teacher could not go through his phone after it had been confiscated, even just to turn the vibrate off so it wasn't a distraction in class. Now, if he had gone about it in a controlled and mature way, things might not have ended as they had. However, it was obvious that he was challenging our authority, and something had to be done about it. I then realized that I needed to know for myself what is within our rights when it comes to confiscated student materials, and let me tell you, I was intrigued by the results!
Above everything, students (especially this generation) forget that the school is not a democracy, and the "rights" they think they have in life do not apply within a school. Now this has several parts to it. First, the fact that minors don't have all their rights, they are passed to their parents/legal guardians. Second, when the parents/legal guardians are enrolling students into public schools, they are signing over those rights to the school. Third, the school system is very much like a benevolent dictatorship, where there is one leader (be it the principal of the school or the teacher of the classroom) and it is their job to make sure all actions benefit the group as a whole, not necessarily the specific individual. Last, schools follow "in loco parentis" or "in place of a parent", meaning that if a parent has a right to act upon something (such as confiscating a cell phone), so does the school.
So with that being said, it is obvious from the facts that a teacher can take away a cell phone at anytime. Now, a school might have a specific cell phone policy in place which teachers are required to follow. Whatever that policy is, that is what teachers are allowed to do. If it is up to the teacher's discretion, then the teacher follows the above guidelines. The argument "that's my property" is invalid because minors cannot own property, and chances are their parents are paying for the phone, anyway. If the student did buy it and is paying for it, or if the student is 18, the government of a school still supersedes this statement. The only way a teacher would not be able to confiscate a cell phone is if that was the specific school policy.
As far as opening the phone and viewing its content, I'm sure that's where more students feel violated. However, this is within teacher rights as well. If a teacher has probable cause or reasonable suspicion for something on the phone, the teacher can look through the phone. Also, referring back to the school being a benevolent dictatorship, the teacher is well within the rights to go into the phone if it would better serve the class (i.e.: the phone is making noise and needs to be turned off, the phone is being a distraction to other students, the phone might have potential evidence of a school threat, etc). Remember, the 4th amendment (search and seizure) is suspended in a school, so once more the only reason a teacher would not be able to go through a phone is if there was a specific school policy stating just that.
This is just a brief overview of everything that's out there. The bottom line is if students are abusing you as a teacher by being on their phones in class, that teacher can both take away the phone and go through it if necessary. There is no law or protection for the students in this matter. I honestly doubt there ever will be. But, if you have a question about this, I strongly suggest you doing your own research. It's amazing what you'll find out there with the right guidance :D
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