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Student rights
Does my school have the right to confiscate my property on the grounds that they don't want me to use it on my time. The item in question is my iPod. I really want it back but they wont return it to me, only my parents. I was using it before school, on my way to class. I can't find anything that says whether they can or can't, but they have laid down policy telling us that we can't even have it on the campus. I'm pretty sure that a public school is a public institution but I really need help from our resident lawyer.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I was escorted out of my first period class just before my teacher showed up. I missed the better part of a class discussion and today was I behind, and had to spend 20 mins looking over my friends notes before I caught up.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I was escorted out of my first period class just before my teacher showed up. I missed the better part of a class discussion and today was I behind, and had to spend 20 mins looking over my friends notes before I caught up.
Comments
Honestly, I think what happened to you, Xenoc, is bull. At least they should've given you a warning or something first.
Anyways, Denial Of Rights!? DOUBLE-U TEE EFF! Getting punished for stuff you do at home, just because your home is within one mile of the school and it's not allowed by them!? HOW THE FUCK DOES THAT GET THROUGH! Who in their fucking mind thought that was a rule that had to be made? If I want to screw myself by listening to my iPod during classes I should be allowed to do so, and only be punished if I don't comply to requests of the teacher to remove the earbuds!
On the other hand, are the rules fair? Let's bypass the obvious discussion over whether children have rights. Take for granted that the parents are the ones responsible. Did the parents decide on these rules? Did they at least agree to them? The school administration is an autocracy. The parents have no say, and the kids have no say. They just enforce whatever rules they want, and infringe upon whatever rights they want. It's the way it is, but is it right? Is the ability of the parents to elect school board members enough representation to validate this kind of authority?
Meanwhile, in the very same school, you have teachers telling students about how wonderful all these freedoms are that were granted by the US constitution, and how wonderful our country is because of it. I honestly think that this blatant hypocrisy is a large cause of rebellious tendencies among the youths. If you preach justice while practicing tyranny, you better expect your subjects to be pissed off. The "do as I say, don't do as I do" attitude is not cool.
Then again, you think about it some more. Maybe the reason we've been able to keep our freedoms for so long is because we raise generation after generation of pissed off kids. We teach them that they are supposed to have freedoms, but we don't let them have them until they are eighteen years old. Then even once we give them their civil liberties, they still don't have economic freedom for at least another few years. Perhaps this bloodthirsty desire to finally get the promised freedom that has been denied so long is what keeps the country going.
I don't approve of such rules fully, but I can definitively see why it's in place. How many people have I seen with their hair covering their earbuds so they can listen to their music rather than instructions? A few of them grew their hair out specifically for those reasons, and then make an complex wiring through their hoodies so it's even less noticable, and then pretend to listen. They miss out on all of the class, struggle, and then fail. It also bothers me as an individual because some of them do the same thing while you're in -groups- with them, and they keep saying, "No, no, I can hear you fine!" Then they go, "what?" at the next sentence you say. Maybe too many people were doing this, or they heard stories that made them scared that they will.
I believe that teachers should be able to set the individual rules, but your school isn't like that. So, keep it in your backpack and listen to it on the way there and on the way back. *shrugs* How long until you're done there?
All you home school peoples argue that parents should be able to raise their children the way they want, and not have to do things the way the govt. wants. What if I'm a parent, and I want my kid to go to public school and listen to educational audiobooks on the iPod I bought them between class? It's my iPod and my child. Can the school tell me what to do?
Back when I was in high school it was not uncommon for students to have a Walkman in their pocket and headphones around their neck during school hours. You just could not use it during class. One exception was my drafting class. My teacher did not care as long as I kept the volume low enough to hear him speak. Most of the time that class was one of getting an assignment and then working on your own until you completed it.
The other exception was my accounting class but that was based on my maintaining a 100% average in the class (both years) and always being several months ahead of everyone else. If my teacher had not been willing to work with me I would have been a very bored and combative student. Instead I was the one guy that got to ignore everything going on in the classroom and work at his own pace.
If you are a top student many teachers and faculty members will look the other way when you break a rule. They will do so for you because of your excellence. If someone turns you in then all bets are off because now they can't say they did not see you.
I used to do crap like that all the time during my Junior/Senior year. We had TI-82 Graphing calculators with tons of games like Tetris, Space Invaders, or Spy Hunter. We would play on them all the time, but if a teacher asked what we were doing, we would say we were doing Math homework or whatever. We got away with it.
Like Andrew said, the system is not perfect. I feel students should be able to bring mp3 players and listen to them in between classes or during classes that teachers allow them to such as Study Hall. However, if you break the rules, you break the rules. Some rules are asinine to where they should be changed and probably will be, as linktothepresent spoke about. I think having educational mp3s/podcasts on mp3 players for students to listen to is a pretty cool idea, but from the original post, Xenoc broke the rules.
It also showed a complete lack of respect and (looking at many similar situations at my school) was probably undeserved. It may seem unfair but the reality of the world is that you pissed off someone and now they have taken their opportunity to hit back. They did so using a stupid rule, but it's only as stupid as you were when you verbally attacked them.
Throughout life you'll see that a lot of people might be annoying, idiotic or not as smart as you, but you have to learn to hold your tongue if they, whether it be your boss or your teacher, are in control.