drug search at school

[hahaRainbow]

Is this legal? my ds has come home from school (state comp) where (he says) during a science class, a teacher arrived announcing that 'this is a drug free school and now we are going to have the sniffer dogs in'.

Apparently the kids were then lined up while a dog ran up and down sniffing them and another dog sniffed the classroom.

of course I'm not happy about drugs at school but I do wonder about the legalities of this and what IF a kid had been caught.... am I wrong to be worried?

What are you concerned about of course it is legal there has obviously been a tip off I think it was a good thing. When dd1 was in 6th year the head boy was allegedly dealing weed a few people did report their concerns yet he continued to be head boy.

If they'd done this while I was at school I'd have stopped breathing while the dog was near me. I'm genuinely petrified of unknown dogs, even highly trained ones on a lead! I'd still have lined up though - I'd rather have been bitten by a dog than drawn attention to myself!

I still think it's not a terrible idea - the school needs to know if there are issues & this seems like a quick & simple way of checking!

There are a few potential problems- wasting class time, for one. Another is, drug dogs are not 100% reliable. There also might be privacy issues- if the dog did smell drugs, all that person's classmates would know that. If you were going to use sniffer dogs, it might be preferable to take them around the lockers while kids are in class. Then you deal privately with any kid whose locker the dog alerts on. Drug dogs can pick up their handlers' prejudices, and might be more likely to alert falsely on kids dressed a certain way or from some ethnic or racial groups- screening the lockers first helps with that problem, and wastes less class time.

geeky

You are assuming that the drugs are kept in the locker.

Whilst I agree that schools should be drug free, I too would question the legality of the search. It doesn't look like the school followed the documented rules linked to further up. How would it be if the school decided to look for say condoms, would those who say nothing to worry about still be unconcerned? Or today we're bringing sniffer dogs in to search for sweets because we're a healthy eating school? The children are not fodder, they are children and as such are entitled to some rights. I personally do not know what those rights are, but would be very surprised if a search can be sprung on an unsuspecting class in such a manner, and yes, I'd be concerned. Some children with additional needs would be terrified, were they warned or removed first? Some people with necessary drugs may in a panic, my dd has prozac and modafinal on her most of the time, they're prescribed, but she'd be picked up in a search. Neither fair, nor right, and yes, I'd be kicking off it I felt it wasn't conducted properly.

This is brilliant, if it happened at my school where kids even had the brass neck to smoke weed in the playground then a lot of kids lives would have probably been different

If my son came home and told me that this had happened, I'd be sending the teacher responsible a bunch of flowers!

Anyone questioning this needs to remember that the motive is to protect your children from potentially using drugs or being exposed to them, questioning it undermines what the school are trying to do here.

It's not like they are just after your kids weed to get baked at the weekend, they are trying to protect the kids. It happens in airports and prisons for the same reasons.

Neither condoms nor sweets are illegal.

This was done daily at the school my ds1 went to as were checks for concealed weapons. There was a permanent police presence and
even though the school was the roughest I have ever experienced the children felt and were indeed safer than at lots of other schools.
It was a normal state school too, just the worst in an already bad area.

Or that, if the kid has drugs at school, that the smell of them would get onto something that is in the locker.

This happened in my school about 15 years ago.

I remember one boy being worried because he had beef paste sandwiches in his bag.

but geeky it doesn't give the same visual impact of a line up drug sniffer test.

I am aware of the fact that condoms and sweets are not illegal. My point was how far can this go.

Did the children even give consent to the search? I think this is outrageous. Children have the same rights as adults and shouldn't be subjected to A fishing expedition "just in case" the school find something. The guidelines are pretty specific in that there has to be reasonable suspiycion of an individual, not a random search of a group. The "got nothing to hide, got nothing to fear" argument is nonsense and would give Away a lot of our liberties at the behest of authorities. This is not a police state where people can be searched without reasonable suspicion. I would be furious if this were my child, what a dreadful lesson.

Can't see the problem at all. In fact I think it's a good idea.

Sweets and condoms? And prescription meds? The dogs are trained to snuff out illegal substances. The clue's in the word..

Modafinal would be illegal in some circumstances. But again, not the point.

How would it be if the school decided to look for say condoms, would those who say nothing to worry about still be unconcerned? Or today we're bringing sniffer dogs in to search for sweets because we're a healthy eating school?

This is one of the most ludicrous comparisons I've ever heard anyone make.

No one was ever convicted of possessing Class A condoms, or for being a Revels dealer.

So at airports around the world, airside and not, one regularly sees sniffer dogs passing people; adults and children alike. Don't recall having to consent. Ever.

The dogs used to search children would be passive dogs. It is unlikely that anyone other than the handler would know which kids came up as positive.

This is one of the most ludicrous comparisons I've ever heard anyone make.

Do I give a shit? No.

Do I give a shit if one of my children is searched without prior notice and without a nominated responsible adult present. Yes.

Modafinal is a prescribed drug. If the person to whom it has been prescribed is carrying it then it is hardly illegal.

Yo don't have to give consent at customs. I think it is a good idea. Nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide.

Do you give a charmingly phrased shit if one of your little darlings is offered illegal drugs at school?

The whole point of surprise/random searches is, well, that they're random and therefore one does not generally get notice of this.