Whether the administration is searching backpacks, taking phones away or monitoring computers, one thing is clear: student’s basic rights are being increasingly infringed on at school. Instead of violating more of students’ rights, we need to build a system of trust between students and staff to create a safe environment at school.
This year, two policies have been enacted that have significant ramifications for the privacy rights of students: students now have to go through metal detectors before entering school and give up their phones during and between classes. On top of this, students are subject to having their computer activity be monitored through the Lightspeed platform.
While the new metal detectors may establish a sense of security in the short term, the increased risk to students’ privacy being violated will make them more unsafe in the long term. This is because over time, students being stripped of their privacy at school will become the norm—lowering their expectations that they deserve privacy.
According to Privacy Cynicism and its Role in Privacy Decision-Making, a study conducted in 2022, as people lose their privacy, they become more vulnerable. For example, they risk having their data taken and used in ways that can harm them.
A survey of students at McLean showed that 60% agreed that school staff should not be able to search their backpacks, indicating that most students are not comfortable with the current “safety” measures in place.
“[It’s] a violation,” sophomore Annelie Wiklund said. “A lot of people wouldn’t be comfortable with random teachers looking through their backpack.”
If there is a reasonable suspicion that a specific student will cause harm at school, that is a justification to search that student. If there is a specific threat, then that may even be justification to search all students that day. But searching every student every day without any specific suspension is unreasonable.
Searches without a warrant also go against our country’s founding document. The fourth amendment to The U.S. Constitution says “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.”
Although the Supreme Court held in a 1985 ruling that a warrant is not needed to search students at school, the founding fathers did not exclude students from this right to privacy. It does not make sense to apply the fourth amendment to some people and not others, just because they are students.
In addition to increased backpack searches, students have also been banned from using their cell phones during the school day. This new phone policy means students can have their own personal devices taken by school staff.
Having students’ personal items taken away further shows the lack of respect shown to them and their property, highlighting the lack of trust in students.
Another way the school violates students’ privacy is by monitoring their activity on computers. Students are required to only use school-issued computers. The installation known as Lightspeed on these computers ensures that teachers can see everything their students do on their computers, both at school and at home.
“I don’t trust Lightspeed because I feel like my teachers are watching me when I’m at home,” sophomore Nora Bogacki said. “That’s not cool because that violates my privacy when I’m at home.”
These harmful policies fail to address the underlying problems that students face, such as the threat of school shootings, addiction to cell phones and mass cheating.
Instead of making more and more regulations that violate students’ privacy, the solution is quite straightforward: the school needs to build an environment of trust.
According to a 2019 Pew Research Center study, 70% of Americans said that they believe low trust makes it harder for people to solve problems. Although it is important to protect students’ safety, that should not be a tradeoff for privacy rights.
In order to address concerns about students bringing weapons into school, being distracted by their phones during class or going off task on their computers, a system fostering trust between staff and students would help much more than punishing students by taking away their privacy.
