The rise of social media use among school youth has compelled school districts to implement social media monitoring to prevent active shootings, bullying, harassment, victimization, and suicide in the community. This presents an ethical and legal dilemma, with issues surrounding students' rights to safety, privacy, and free speech in cyberspace.…

For many undocumented youth, the end of high school and transition to adulthood is the first time they grapple with being undocumented. Given the negative social stigma attached to being undocumented, many youth may hesitate to reveal their legal status to a teacher or other school personnel. The purpose of this study was to identify the contexts…

Describes the impact of an Arizona state law that prohibited the release of any information about a student without a parent's signed authorization on school yearbook production. (KS)

Regarding school searches, courts have provided guidelines balancing individual students' rights against the larger school community's rights. Administrators are bound by the Fourth Amendment, which stresses reasonable grounds of suspicion and related circumstances. Strip searches, metal detectors, hidden cameras, and locker searches may meet…

Notes that state legislatures across the country are lowering the ages at which the names of those arrested for, charged with, or found guilty of a crime may be made public. Describes how one newspaper staff in an Iowa high school decided to publish the names of students arrested at a large beer party. (SR)

Every year, a few administrators mishandle school searches and create spectacles similar to the New Castle, Pennsylvania, incident involving six illegally strip-searched students. Principals using "cops-and-robber" techniques to unearth contraband may not realize the potential for infringing on students' constitutional privacy rights.…

Although conceived, passed, and enacted in a somewhat unconventional manner, the Buckley Amendment, intended to open up individual school files for student and parental review, illuminates a new and important trend in the law--granting students the same legal guarantees as other citizens. The amendment's waiver provision is expected to remain a…

The legal rights of college students have changed substantially over the years, particularly during the 20th century. This paper provides a historical sketch of student rights, including a listing of significant events and cases, from the founding of Harvard College in 1636 to the bicentennial of the Constitution and the 50th anniversary of the…

In recent years, public school students have been searched with metal detectors and occasionally sniffed by dogs or strip searched. Their lockers and bookbags have been searched, and their urine has been tested for drugs--all in the name of school safety. This article explores the legal ramifications of such searches and calls for a critical…

The practice of identifying violence-prone students via checklists of personal characteristics and behaviors is accompanied by unanswered questions, recognized weaknesses, and serious implementation implications (for special services, suspensions and expulsions, and student rights). Stereotyping, discrimination, and wrongful identification of…

This publication presents topic headings that may be used as a checklist of state law grounds for challenging a disciplinary action. Topics include: (1) illegality in rule adoption; (2) inadequate notice that conduct is subject to discipline; (3) existence of a protected interest; (4) inadequate notice of hearing; (5) inadequate hearing…

The right to form adult consensual intimate relationships is a fundamental personal freedom. A strong and effective university policy against sexual harassment and the recognition of faculty and students' right to privacy will, within the parameters of constitutional guarantees, serve both the university's and the individual's interest.…

Discusses legal problems of a policy permitting the use of metal detectors to search students suspected of carrying concealed weapons. A wholesale search policy was challenged as a violation of students' rights, so the board adopted a selective search policy based on reasonable suspicion. (TE)

According to the Third National Survey of South African women who attend prenatal clinics, 120,000 more persons are estimated to have become infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) since 1991. This paper compares the teacher-student relationship with that of the confidential doctor-patient relationship, and asks whether a teacher should…

In view of the dramatic increase in the numbers of laws and lawsuits since the 1960s, teachers must become aware of the privacy considerations and potential legal problems that may arise when writing a letter of recommendation or giving a verbal reference. They should become familiar with present common law doctrine and recent legislation…