Did anyone else see the article about the 13 year old girl strip searched because school officials thought she possessed Ibuprofen?
I think what is more disturbing is that it has gone to the Supreme Court as to whether or not children should be allowed to be strip searched because of allegations of having drugs. If it is ruled that school officials DO have the authority to authorize these searches (which, in this case, was entirely founded on the statement of another student) I see a huge potential for abuse. This can open the door for lots of victimization under the guise of 'searching for drugs' or because of bullies making false allegations in order to humiliate their peers.
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They strip searched her for an over-the-counter drug? Seriously? I know most schools have a policy against students carrying around even aspirin, but nearly everyone gets sneaky because sorting it out with the office is too much of a headache when you already have a headache. Whenever I was on my period I had ibuprofen or midol in my locker.
It might be understandable if they thought she had an actual controlled substance (coke, weed, or something that's actually illegal) but this is ridiculous.
I don't think it would be any more acceptable no matter what the drug was.
Maybe if it was a knife or a gun I could see, but for drugs? What utter BS!
I could understand it if it were a weapon, or maybe hard drugs -- I don't think weed is worthy of a strip search -- and only if they had really strong evidence.
Thank you for posting this. It is absolutely outrageous that a school would strip search any student for anything - especially without a parent present. What do you think - would they have strip searched a boy? Did they strip search the kid who was found with it? Fuck this really pissed me off.
I'm not justifying their actions, but technically schools are allowed to search a student's belongings due to in loco parentis--the idea that schools are responsible for children while they are in school. So technically things like locker searches are totally legal if administrators or someone suspects that a student might possess drugs or a weapon. I don't know if this applies to strip searches, since this could be abuse, as UhOhitzSaro mentioned.
However, strip searching a thirteen year old for IBUPROFEN????? ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? It's ibu-fricking-profen!! What if she has cramps that make her dizzy they hurt so much? What if she gets headaches on a regular basis? She might need that during the day!! Going to the office is a hassle since you miss class time and have to deal with waiting and shit like that.
This is absolutely disgusting. They had no right to strip search her. None. If they suspected anything, they could have asked her to turn her ibuprofen in or something. I personally find that strip searching is a HUGE violation to her rights as a student, (you know, to feel safe, another part of in loco parentis: protecting students), and as a human being.
Fuck it all, they shouldn't have touched her AT ALL. They should have called her parents, or, if she was suspected of having something really dangerous, the cops. Idiots, idiots, idiots. I wonder what the Supreme Court will make of this.
I haven't been able to stop thinking about this. I've decided I'm going to send an e-mail to all my friends with children to tell them about this. I am going to suggest that they teach their children that if confronted with this situation to stand up and say very loudly and clearly "I will not take off my clothes for you and want my parents called."
True. But vagina does have a common usage referring to the whole of the female genitalia, just as penis refers to a specific part of the male genitalia but also has a common usage referring to the whole. For example, I automatically thought of the inclusion of bedroom furniture the scrotum in Velvet Acid Christ's question about drawing a penis on her or his car.