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AIBU?

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Original poster

drug search at school

394 replies

hahaRainbow · 13/02/2015 17:43

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?

OP posts:
Lambertsimnel · 13/02/2015 20:20

I am honestly beginning to think that the country has gone mad. So we should allow our children to be searched, without our consent "just in case" there are drugs in school. It's all creating an unnecessary climate of fear. I would much rather the police spent their time educating children on the dangers of drugs or catching the adults selling drugs to children not teaching my children to expect a search just for being under 18.

LaurieFairyCake · 13/02/2015 20:21

Eh?

Anyone can expect a search or to be sniffed any time - it's called detecting crime

Detecting crime doesn't require consent

Lambertsimnel · 13/02/2015 20:22

Fatty - I wouldn't object if one child was searched who was under suspicion. It's putting them all under suspicion that I think is wrong.

Nicknacky · 13/02/2015 20:22

It isn't always adults selling drugs to kids though. And kids are fairly well educated these days but that doesn't stop kids being in possession of them or selling them.

A dog walked past them and sniffed. That's all.

Gileswithachainsaw · 13/02/2015 20:23

What do you mean "just in case"

there are. simple.

drugs that could kill your child or mine.

If your child's as innocent as you claim then there's nothing to worry about is there.

OddBoots · 13/02/2015 20:23

The only children who would be searched are those who are under suspicion, the others are only sniffed.

whippy33 · 13/02/2015 20:24

Is it not the rights of other children to be kept safe against drug users and dealers? Is it not the rights of staff to be kept safe in the workplace from drugs? I think that trumps Jonny getting embarrassed if he is found with any drugs....imagine him dealing it to your child if he is not caught; taking some then doing something dangerous, stupid or injures someone; imagine him bullying a child for not fitting in so they take it to 'look cool'; imagine them stealing in the local community to fund this; imagine a child whose addiction goes unnoticed until it is too late. I think these all are more important than a few seconds feeling uncomfortable when a dog sniffs you. Well done that school.

LaurieFairyCake · 13/02/2015 20:24

You've got the wrong end of the stick - searching one child stigmatises - it's the total opposite you want

You want them all to be sniffed as then it's just a random, non judgemental search

QueenInTheNorth · 13/02/2015 20:24

They always did it when I was at school actually.

Charlotte3333 · 13/02/2015 20:26

Great idea I think. Surely you'd want to know if your child was using drugs; this is just another way of giving would-be drug users options to quit rather than getting sucked into it.

Paleodad · 13/02/2015 20:27

No, you can only be searched if there is 'reasonable grounds' for the search.

Perihelion · 13/02/2015 20:31

But an innocent child could be thought to be carrying drugs if they live in a house with indoor weed smoking parents/siblings......if the dogs are any good.

Biscetti · 13/02/2015 20:31

No, you can only be searched if there is 'reasonable grounds' for the search.

Ta-dah! And that's when those pesky dogs with their clever little noses come into their element and there you have 'reasonable grounds' if they sniff out the weed/coke/mdma, whatever the fuck is the current drug of choice.

LaurieFairyCake · 13/02/2015 20:33

They weren't searched though, only sniffed. A search would just reveal no drugs and a referral to SS for having druggie parents (maybe).

Be thankful it's not Saudi, where someone had hash embedded in their trainer (by accident, they'd stepped in it) and went to prison.

m0therofdragons · 13/02/2015 20:34

those dogs are so amazing. Dd would love it and I'm sure all the innocent dc probably thought it was fab rather than an invasion of their civil liberties. It acts as a deterant. If my dc had drugs on them I'd want to know so I could deal with it. No idea how anyone could be so against it.

OddBoots · 13/02/2015 20:35

"But an innocent child could be thought to be carrying drugs if they live in a house with indoor weed smoking parents/siblings......if the dogs are any good." Maybe. Maybe that is what is bothering some posters?

I'm sure there is a procedure in place for such an eventuality anyway.

penny13610 · 13/02/2015 20:35

what IF a kid had been caught.... am I wrong to be worried?
If you take drugs in front of your kids, the dogs will notice. You may be right to be worried.
However, if your kids take drugs and the school has a way of informing you, you will be able to worry in the right way.

penny13610 · 13/02/2015 20:36

oddboots haha cross post

Dawndonnaagain · 13/02/2015 20:39

You have no right to refuse or have an adult present.

If you are below a certain age, or have additional needs, then a responsible adult needs to be present. That is the law.

PilchardPrincess · 13/02/2015 20:42

I would not be at all happy about this. Lining children up and searching them (whether by hand or by nose) is really just not on.

And it's not the same as the dog being around in the airport I've never been told to "line up". That's got really nasty connotations. People being lined up and then singled out, taken away, has really bad overtones.

If they just took the dog into the school and around the place that would be OK by me, the idea of making people line up and then systematically searching them just makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable on quite a visceral level.

They have sniffer dogs at my work they randomly sniff around it's fine. They don;t say right you you you line up against the wall there you will be searched.

Gileswithachainsaw · 13/02/2015 20:42

The teachers are there though. responsible adult sorted.

and any pupils with additional needs will be dealt with accordingly as teachers will be aware of them

Biscetti · 13/02/2015 20:45

It's a school. I'm rather hopeful the teachers are adults. If my DSes (teens, not yet 18) were out and about with their mates, should they require stopping and searching for whatever reason, of course they don't need me there. If they're nicked and taken to a police station then they gave to have an adult present while being questioned etc.

If we are talking about 9/10/11 year olds, then one might ponder wtf they're being stopped for, though I suspect they're likely to be gobby little idiots and deserve a clip round the bloody ear.

Dawndonnaagain · 13/02/2015 20:46

It's a little more complicated than that, Giles. A responsible adult is someone who is trained.
Appropriate Adult network

Lambertsimnel · 13/02/2015 20:46

Of course I want my children to be safe but I also want them to learn and creating an intimidatory environment where students are all potential druggies is not going to help them do that. The school should be focusing more on engaging with the students and encouraging them to speak out, not scaring them shitless because they had a joint the night before. research shows that "Drug testing and running sniffer dogs through schools is at best an expensive waste of time and at worst money spent on harming our own children. This is time and money that could be much better spent. It is schools with a positive, inclusive ethos and which foster positive teacher-student relationships and promote school engagement that have the lowest rates of drug use (and, indeed, early pregnancies). But drug testing only serves to damage relationships between students, teachers and parents, and increase psychological distress." That is where the school should be focusing its efforts.

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2084859/Sniffer-dogs-random-tests-classrooms-NOT-way-protect-schoolchildren-drugs.html#ixzz3Rey56wHq

CrystalHaze · 13/02/2015 20:48

But an innocent child could be thought to be carrying drugs if they live in a house with indoor weed smoking parents/siblings......if the dogs are any good.

In which case the child would be found to have no drugs on them, their home environment would be investigated, and appropriate safeguarding procedures implemented.

I'm failing to see the downside in uncovering, and therefore being able to address, a situation in which a child lives in a house where illegal drugs are taken?