Cheyenne Haslett reports:
A bill before the legislature’s education committee would allow students’ mobile devices to be searched by school officials, but only under limited circumstances.
Under the proposal, a school employee would be able to take a device – including cellphones, tablets or laptops – from a student if there is reasonable suspicion the student has violated educational policy and the device contains evidence or they believe the student poses “a risk of imminent personal injury” to his or herself or another student. Only a school administrator would be able to conduct the search and the search would be limited to finding evidence.
Once the search is completed, the school official would have to immediately report the search to the principal and parents or guardians would have to be notified within 24 hours. None of the data or information accessed on the device can be shared or transferred.
Read more on the Hartford Courant.
In how many languages can you say, “Hell, NO!” ?
Parents in Connecticut should oppose this bill as a literally unwarranted erosion of their children’s rights and privacy.
If the school believes the student poses a risk of imminent personal injury to themselves, they can keep the child in the school nurse’s office or with an adult under adult supervision until the parents can be reached to discuss/relay the concerns.