Legally, Does My Child Have Rights?

[TheeBadOne]

When you send your kids to school, you are giving the school the same parental control over your kids that you have. In effect, they are the parent for your kid until you take custody of them back at the end of the day. Most here seem to understand about the locker issue (school can search any time/reason). The school can search students if they have reasonable suspicion (a much lower threshold than the probable cause one Police usually operate under). Now, because school admin isn't trained how to do a search, they can request professional assistance, in the form of a Police Officer (and in this case, it sounds like the School Resource Officer). The school can ask for this professional aid just the same as they can call an ambulance for your kid if they break an ankle. They don't have the expertise/training to deal with it, so they request assistance professionally.
In closing, this is not "speculation" or my personal opinion on how things should be, but rather how it actually is.
So much of what is posted on the net is the summation of a persons emotional bias. That's not a good direction to follow, especially if one is seeking legal advice.

All the best

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Fabs, the labor thing might have worked back in the day but not now. I hear young ones talking about things like if they have to mow the grass, they just mow flowers etc then they don't get asked to do it again. How about a sloppy paint job. They never get asked to paint again. Now that one I know because after even paying a nephew to paint I ended up painting everything he had to cut into. If I recall, the chain gang along roads got canned because if someone got hurt they could sue? True? Not? Heck, PDOT don't even work on the roads. In Pa anyhow. Would be a good idea ya have there though. The slap on the wrist and sent home to mommy don't seem to help.

[Andy L]

I employ the same thing, almost, I was raised with. Get busted in school, get it twice at home. Only then, they, I never did actually, got spanked at school, and I would have twice at home. My kids know if they screw up, they got it coming. I was actually a good kid in school. Never did anything to get into trouble until my junior and senior years. And then, wrong as it may have been, I didnt get in trouble either. I was a very good basketball player and in the little 1A school I went to, if you could play basketball, you got away with murder. I pushed that a little toward the end.

Also, my dad was abusive, to a degree. I wouldnt throw rocks, use cattle prods or sorting sticks on my kids. Just a good belt works well. I dont think dad did it to be abusive, he just had no patience whatsoever and a quick temper. It was usually related to ranch work and frustration and I was just the recipient. However, we dont get along, never have. Enough about that.

This is interesting. Thanks for all the replys. Im going to be seeing the atty next week and will see what he has to say. Im more interested in if things were done correctly than anything. I honestly dont think they were, but we will see. Like I said, the atty is for my knowlege before I go talk to the principal, resource officer and coach. That way they dont BS me and I dont say something totally wrong.

One thing I have noticed here is a split in opinions, which is not bad, but interesting. Seems to be a pretty easy to see split between an atty, two cops and skeeter (maybe cop at one time?), and just regular guys. Seems the law enforcement related want justice at any cost and others want things done with rights being observed. Right or wrong. Kinda funny since Im in the field. May have been different if it werent my kid? Dont think so, but no way to prove that.

[Andy L]

One other thing. It was suggested that a kid wouldnt tell you he did something wrong, even if he had. Im not sure thats exactly correct. Especially about stealing. That is one of the cardinal sins in my house. My son knows that alot can be worked with but stealing will not be tolerated. I dont think he could be made to steal. He knows that not only will I not back him by any means but he will have hell to pay for a long, long time for that.

Honestly, the little dab of trouble he has had in school has been fighting. He comes by the lack of tolerence for ignorance and inability to be pushed around, honestly. I dont tolerate it either, even though I work with the scum of the earth on a daily basis. He actually recently got into trouble for whipping the class bully. He came to me about this kid three times, twice with red marks on him from the kid hitting him. I told him to walk away and tell the teacher. Appearantly it did no good. The last time I told him to finish it if the kid ever did it again, but make sure your in the right. Well, he finished it alright, busted him up pretty good. Both the teacher and coach, who witnessed it, said my son didnt start it. But they had to punish him for fighting. (See, they cant defend your kids, but your kids cant defend themselves either appearantly) Even though they both said he had it coming. Anyway, my kid got one day after school detention and had to sit out one basketball game. The other kid got two days out of school suspension.

I feel bad for the other kid really. When they were small, he used to come to our house and I took the boys to a St Louis Cardinal baseball game once. Now hes a little jerk. I have bonded both his parents for meth on more than one occaision and they are split now. My son says he brags at school about smoking pot with his dad. I do feel bad for the kid.

[fabsroman]

That really sucks about your son beating the snot out of the bully and getting detention for it. With two adult witnesses saying that my son was merely defending himself, I would have been up in arms about them not stopping the fight and I would be even more infuriated that something like this would be on my son's record and that my son would have to spend any time in detention. That is utterly crazy.

In real life, not school life, a person has the right to defend themselves. Can you imagine having to spend time in jail because somebody came up to you, hit you, and you hit him back, and all the witnesses are saying that the other guy started it.

As fired up as you are about this searching of your son, I think I would have been more fired up and retained an attorney over the detention for fighting issue when my child was clearly in the right.

By the way, I feel bad for the kid too. I really hate when parents are bad parents. Like I say, you need a license to drive a car, you need a license to carry a gun, you have to go through a background check to buy a gun, yet anybody can have kids. Just amazing.

[Andy L]

Yeah, that will be talked about in the meeting as well. However, I was assured by the principal that nothing would be on his permanent record. I guess I didnt make it clear, the coach witnessed it. He said that my son was in the right, but fighting was not tolerated. It happened right after school, as the bus was getting ready to leave for a ball game. I wondered why my son didnt play that night and coach came and talked to me about it right after the game. So he already served that penalty even before the principal was notified. And, they are working with him pretty easy on the detention as well. Girls practice right after school and the boys practice is from 415 to 630. He stays after school and does his homework anyway before practice, so it wont be anything out of the normal except he will have to go to the detention room one day instead of sitting in the commons area between school and practice.

Basically, hes not in any real trouble and though were gonna discuss it further, as long as its not on his record, its not a real big problem.

I made it clear that this kid is not to touch him ever again. If he does, my son has green light to give him a reminder.....

[Skinny Shooter]

Originally posted by Andy L
I guess I didnt make it clear, the coach witnessed it. He said that my son was in the right, but fighting was not tolerated. It happened right after school, as the bus was getting ready to leave for a ball game.

Isn't this part of the problem with a zero-tolerance policy?
You have to get your butt kicked because the school is all PC and nothing gets done about the real issue anyways.
This is way off-topic but I've had some brushes recently with local kids and their lack of respect for others. Just continues my idea that all students should serve one or two years in the armed services right out of high school. But the ACLU would be all up in arms over it though.
That hot topic is for another thread.

[Andy L]

Skinny, thats not a bad idea, IMO. The old deal in the 60s and 70s of jail or Army wasnt all bad. I know we had alot of soldiers that didnt want to be there and surely not as efficient as a all volunteer Army that you have to qualify to get in. But on the other hand, I know of several that are my dads age that probably would have spent lots of time in prison on the road they were travelling that ended up doing well for themselves.

Not a bad idea at all.

[huntingvet]

So how'd the meeting with the principal go?