the new education teachers of opposite sex can search pupils

[Deliainthemaking]

www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23917943-teachers-granted-search-powers-by-bill-to-restore-order-in-schools.do

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-12287022

it chilled me some of the regulations are very abolute power to the teacher ..and not in a good way. The opposite sex teacher can search students is horrific.
to balance it out though the mobile phone rules I agree with something needed doing.
Discuss your views.

Teachers are resisting this though. We don't want these powers.

What is the problem with the search by teachers of oppposite sex? Search means emptying pockets, bags etc, not a strip search.

As a teacher, I want to teach. I am not a policeman, jailer, social worker or counsellor. Actually, I function as all of these sometimes, but I am neither willing nor trained in those jobs.

Presumably, what this act does is hand more responsibility for the raising of children on to schools. Powers to punish children for stuff they've done when they're not even at school?

Discuss your views

Are you some sort of dictator?

On the basis that the vast majority of teachers are sane and normal, I can't see why this would cause problems.

If a teacher wants to bully / assault / whatever a child then they will find a way to do so with or without these powers.

I am not convinced that this type of discipline is the right way forward though? Mind you my children aren't at school yet and i have no idea what is going on in schools past what I read in the papers (and of course they only report more extreme things).

Not sure I'd want this tbh ........ asking a pupil to turn out their pockets if you think they have something they shouldn't might be OK but don't really like the thought of searching as such.

TBH I think it is a good thing if eg a group of children are all giggling over a mobile phone, that the teacher can get it off them and see what it is and respond as appropriate.

I don't see this as too bad, just redressing the balance a bit in favour of the authority of teachers.

They're not necessarily going to have to use the powers, just saying 'turn out your pockets or I'll do it for you' might be enough to get them to do it themselves.

I was a bit worried about where it said they can search children suspected of carrying hard core porn

Naive of me I know, children are always interested in what happens when you do 'It', it just seems sad when you say it involves hard core porn.

'The granting of the power to schools to impose a detention without giving 24-hours' notice'
don't agree with that one. Gove needs to look at why these kids aren't behaving rather than trying to come up with new and more extreme ways of punishing them.

Porn was what I was thinking of in my giggling over a phone example zigzag. I'm sure that loads of schoolchildren have porn in their phones. Rather than lugging around copies of "razzle" or something

Do primary schools give out detentions? If so I think that parents need notice if they are the ones doing the fetching IYSWIM.

LOL how does discuss imply dictatorship
anyway its more a go at the idiot who made this and whilst I was at school (2001-2006) searching also consisted oif patting down etc so my worry comes in there.

I don't agree with deleting what they want its to much power, i do agree with confiscation on the condition the parents are contacted and told the phone is safe. many children are young carers (i was one maybe why it strikes a cord) for more than one person.a week without a phone needs to handled carefully.

It's search, not strip search, so the sex of the teacher is not necessarily relevant. If pupils are bringing in porn, drugs (legal high or otherwise) or are using mobile phones inappropriately, then I hole teachers would act (I know teachers are there to teach, but keeping order is a function too). Phones can already be confiscated, eg if they go off in classrooms, can't they? If this helps them deal with eg text bullying in the playground, then I think it is a good thing.

Having these powers does not mean that all teachers will necessarily be dragooned into exercising them in specific ways. I'm happy to trust governors, heads and teachers to make the right arrangements for their particular school communities (and for parents to call them to account if it seems any have got it wrong).

Sardine, it might be that coming across a 'dirty mag' is in a whole differnt league than serious adult porn, for one a mag would be pretty tame in comparison to some of the things you could come across on the net.

Like when we found a set of playing cards with nekked women on them in a big book cupboard as youngsters, we were at them, but mostly just interested in whose they were because our dad would never have stuff like that

The OP though, I think the old line that some children know their rights and are as cheeky as fuck with teachers is true in some instances.

That's not the child or teachers fault, but the teacher has to have more power than children.

As a parent I want them to have more, and for the children to know that as an absolute.

Porn - even hard core porn is being shown in schools though. And it is being used to bully other children.

It should be made clear that it will not be tolerated. And that phones may be searched for porn, nasty texts etc.

Why on earth should it matter what sex the teacher is if they are searching bags or pockets? and Kids do not NEED to have phones in school. Society has managed perfectly well up until the last few years without mobile phones.

as a teacher I would prefer that phones were just banned from school full stop. Before all the ususal comments are made e.g. "many children are young carers", "need to know child is safe" etc. Schools have phones which can be used to pass on an important message and I managed to go to school which required 2 different bus journeys there and back without one and I am still living and breathing!

In a secondary school they cause more disruption than anything else; especially when a parent calls a child to ask them what they want for their evening meal during my lesson (it has happened!)

I do think (although I have no evidence! my children are tiny!) that porn is more accessible now and children do show each other stuff on their phones? And that if that is going on the damn right the teacher should be able to get hold of the phone, delete the dodgy content and give them all a good bollocking and a lecture on gender issues

teachers are being asked to search bags etc - not bodies - would you be happy that the kid at the side of yours was bullying, disrupting lessons, etc
or are you quite happy to put your darling children in this situation imo opinion the upper hand has to be passed back to the teachers.

Phones are now mini laptops and cameras, not just phones. You can surf the net, play all day on twitter or facebook, and pay no attention to your lessons. It isnt just porn that is the problem, it is online bullying, taking photos to use to bully people or invade their privacy. They should be banned in schools completely.

I used to be a secondary teacher. believe me when I tell you that the thought of searching some adolescent foul-mouthed asbo horror for knives, weed etc does not give me a sexual thrill.

squeaktoy - exactly; I have even had to tell my own niece off as she will often comment "in maths and bored"....

I'm not really into banning stuff but I don't think phones should be allowed in schools either.

There's just no need for them, the amount of trouble they cause, like squeaky says, is endless.

Not sure how you'd enforce it though, they're so bloody small they can be carried in in anything, bags/pockets in coats/shoved down your kegs etc.

I think they need to bring back what Sardine says, for the teacher to be able to give them a damn good old fashioned bollocking

The thing is (in my son's school anyway) they operate a strict E-Policy for the staff. When they come to school, they have to lock their phones in the staff locker and are not allowed to use them during working hours.

This is mainly because of the cameras on them. The school has its own digital cameras, but everything uploaded onto the school computers/sent from school computers are trackable.

If the teachers have to adhere to this policy then so should children. There are some sickening videos on the internet of children being beaten up in fights etc...and their peers videoing it on their mobiles.

Absolute power, what a load of rubbish. Power to search someone's bag? Even with these 'rights', I don't know a teacher who would be willing to use them. If a child refuses to hand their phone over, do you think I'm going to go through their pockets if they're unwilling? I don't think so.

I also find the implication that teachers are just waiting for the opportunity to pat down the nearest teenager very disturbing.