school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

A lawyer called me for help on a legal research project. He wanted something saying that the school could not confiscate his cellular phone.

They have a rule at this school - they see your cell phone, they take it until the end of the day. Second offense, they give it back to the kid's parent after a week. Third offense, they keep it for 30 days. This guy sounds really pissed off so I get the impression that it's his cell phone, or at least his kid's cell phone.

I wanted to tell him, "Dawg, how about having your kid follow the school rules and learn to take the consequences of his behavior?" But I had to hold my tongue. He was all about holding the district accountable for seizing his property without due process, blah blah blah.

so what are the odds that this guy's kid is going to turn into a deuche?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I'm sure the kid already is a douche. Public schools should all get cell phone jammers.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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so what are the odds that this guy's kid is going to turn into a deuche?

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Ask your four-year-old.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

These types of stories make me sick. It's not like it's an unreasonable rule. How the hell can a kid learn anything if he's on a cell phone.

I say 99% chance of being a douche. (I left 1% for variance.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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so what are the odds that this guy's kid is going to turn into a douche?

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~100%

Why couldn't you suggest what you were thinking? Was this in a professional courtesy capacity? Close friend?

I think of the Texas cheerleader thread where one of them told the teacher to "Shut up, I'm talking to my mom" in the middle of class.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I can't imagine how bad it must be in schools now-a-days. I graduated HS in '04 which was the real start of the text messaging revolution. I'd imagine the majority of kids in school send/receive more than 5 each day.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

It's crazy, I'm a college student taking a semester abroad in Hong Kong currently and the cell phone use out here is out of control. Kids take calls during class, and text hundreds of times a day.. Something to look forward to back home?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I think the kid's doucheness, is less to do with not following school rules, and more to do with father who is 'raising' him.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I don't think this along makes him likely to be a douche. Do we even know how old he is? I brought my cell phone to high school because I would often go to work or some friend's house after school and my parents wanted me to be able to call them. Just because you have it at school doesn't mean you're using it during class.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I'm sure the kid already is a douche. ALL schools should all get cell phone jammers.

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If I was a teacher/professor, everytime your cell phone goes off in class you would lose 5% of your grade or have to write a ten page report.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I don't think this along makes him likely to be a douche. Do we even know how old he is? I brought my cell phone to high school because I would often go to work or some friend's house after school and my parents wanted me to be able to call them. Just because you have it at school doesn't mean you're using it during class.

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It wouldn't be confiscated unless the student was using it out in the open. I doubt they get frisked for cell phones before they walk into class.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Just because you have it at school doesn't mean you're using it during class.

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Did you use it during school hours? If you did and its an emergency, then fine, whatever. Given that the dad was really pissed, and a first offense is only "confiscate until day's end," it sounds like this kid was using his cell during school on more than a regular basis.

I agree that the best solution to this "problem" is to use common sense, but it doesn't take a lot of brains to figure out the most likely scenario given OP's description.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I can see them taking the phone from the kid, and it is a reasonble rule, but when the father goes in there and asks for his phone back, refusing to give it to him is way out of line. Suing the school is obviously ridiculous, but I'd be real pissed if some [censored] middle school principle told me he was going to keep my phone for a month because my kid brought it to school.

Also, IMO, leaving a kid with no phone outside of school for a month poses an unnecessary safety risk.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

Golden,

what's the big deal if he uses it at lunch or between classes? There are plenty of legit reasons for that and I did it all the time.


RDH,

I used it during school hours like I said above. I wasn't waving it around in the air and prank calling the principal, but I've heard of plenty of schools making retarded rules and then enforcing them without any common sense. I would like a little more info before I decide the kid is a douche.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

Evan,

"There are plenty of legit reasons for that and I did it all the time."

I'd like to hear some of these and your after-school plans don't qualify in the least. Whether or not its a "big deal" to use a cell during lunch or whatever goes back to the common sense thing, but there's no denying that if they make a "no cells" rule, using it to tell your parents you're going over to Kevin's house after school doesn't really exempt you from following the rule.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

My mom's been a teacher and principal for a long time and you would not BELIEVE some of the stories she tells me about these douchebag kids and their parents.

Sometimes Mommy and Daddy refuse to believe little Timmy can do any wrong and they will get pissed at the school for enforcing any rules, no matter how reasonable.

And I would laugh in this lawyer's face for talking about [censored] due process for confiscation of a cell phone. "See you in court, Mr. Douchebagg."

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Also, IMO, leaving a kid with no phone outside of school for a month poses an unnecessary safety risk.

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Yes, because no one has ever had to go a month without a cell phone. The school has been given no authority to take the kids cell phone. Suspend the kid a day or whatever, but they can't seize property without being given the authority to do so and then they must still give due process.

I hope that guy causes the out of line principal to get canned.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I can see them taking the phone from the kid, and it is a reasonble rule, but when the father goes in there and asks for his phone back, refusing to give it to him is way out of line. Suing the school is obviously ridiculous, but I'd be real pissed if some [censored] middle school principle told me he was going to keep my phone for a month because my kid brought it to school.

Also, IMO, leaving a kid with no phone outside of school for a month poses an unnecessary safety risk.

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Yes, cell phones save kids lives so much. That's what they're used for, really.

This is a retarded post.

Kids don't need f*cking cell phones, and if they were truly getting them for safety reasons, they would be 20 mins. a month and only allowed to use them in emergencies... not texting their friends across the lunch room 50 times a day.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

Every year my kids and I have to sign a form acknowledging that we have read, understand and agree to follow the school's code of conduct (it includes a rule against cell phone and text message use). If one of my kids gets caught breaking any of the rules then I have no problem with there being consequences.

This guy is typical of many parents who believe that school is just a tax-payer provided baby sitting service. Dad thinks his kid should have free reign to do whatever he desires just like junior does at home.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Also, IMO, leaving a kid with no phone outside of school for a month poses an unnecessary safety risk.

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Yes, because no one has ever had to go a month without a cell phone. The school has been given no authority to take the kids cell phone. Suspend the kid a day or whatever, but they can't seize property without being given the authority to do so and then they must still give due process.

I hope that guy causes the out of line principal to get canned.

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Surely parents send their kids to school with the knowledge that contraband items are liable to be confiscated for a period of time.

As 4_2_it said, you sign a form accepting the consequences for breaking the rules.

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Evan,

"There are plenty of legit reasons for that and I did it all the time."

I'd like to hear some of these and your after-school plans don't qualify in the least. Whether or not its a "big deal" to use a cell during lunch or whatever goes back to the common sense thing, but there's no denying that if they make a "no cells" rule, using it to tell your parents you're going over to Kevin's house after school doesn't really exempt you from following the rule.

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Wtf? I didn't say it made him exempt from any rules. Come on man, there's a big difference between breaking rules being a douche, like this.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Also, IMO, leaving a kid with no phone outside of school for a month poses an unnecessary safety risk.

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Yes, because no one has ever had to go a month without a cell phone. The school has been given no authority to take the kids cell phone. Suspend the kid a day or whatever, but they can't seize property without being given the authority to do so and then they must still give due process.

I hope that guy causes the out of line principal to get canned.

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So if the kid brings smokes, drugs, guns, knives and booze the school can't seize them because it's his personal property?

School grounds are not public grounds where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I told my daughter not to hand it over, it's very annoying to have to go up there to retrieve her phone. This is not a moral stance.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I told my daughter not to hand it over, it's very annoying to have to go up there to retrieve her phone. This is not a moral stance.

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WHy not tell your daughter not to use her phone during school hours intead?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

Wtf possible reason do you need for a phone at school, I don't remember anyone ever having a valid reason for it, it was used to do dumb stuff like turn someones phone on leave it there jacket pocket and ring from another classroom so the teacher yelled at them....

I can't imagine taking or making a call at school, you're only there like 6hrs of the day and if your parents need to contact you they can ring the school and get someone to come find you, like they did for the first 11yrs of my schooling before phones and children became the normal.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I told my daughter not to hand it over, it's very annoying to have to go up there to retrieve her phone. This is not a moral stance.

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WHy not tell your daughter not to use her phone during school hours intead?

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Brilliant

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I told my daughter not to hand it over, it's very annoying to have to go up there to retrieve her phone. This is not a moral stance.

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WHy not tell your daughter not to use her phone during school hours intead?

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Brilliant

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It seems like that would be the easiest solution. Typically I'm against a lot of the BS rules that schools make, but I this sounds pretty reasonable. However, I think that holding the phone for a month is too long.
I'm assuming this is getting in trouble for using the phone. If they get in trouble because a teacher sees them move it from their pocket to their bag, well that's just dumb.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I told my daughter not to hand it over, it's very annoying to have to go up there to retrieve her phone. This is not a moral stance.

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WHy not tell your daughter not to use her phone during school hours intead?

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Brilliant

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I missed a sarcasm level there didn't I?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Wtf possible reason do you need for a phone at school, I don't remember anyone ever having a valid reason for it

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I brought my cell phone to high school because I would often go to work or some friend's house after school

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Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I'm sure the kid already is a douche. ALL schools should all get cell phone jammers.

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If I was a teacher/professor, everytime your cell phone goes off in class you would lose 5% of your grade or have to write a ten page report.

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My college Business 101 teacher had that rule. (10%) No phones ever rang.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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Wtf possible reason do you need for a phone at school, I don't remember anyone ever having a valid reason for it

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I brought my cell phone to high school because I would often go to work or some friend's house after school

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Are you being sarcastic? I wouldn't ever think you were if you hadn't already told me that "telling your parents you're going to Kevin's house doesn't exempt you from the rules." I think my reasons are totally valid.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I am a few years from having to deal with this [censored], but when my kid starts asking for a cell phone, I'll tell him that in an emergency, he can borrow someone else's, since every other 10-year-old will have one by then.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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I am a few years from having to deal with this [censored], but when my kid starts asking for a cell phone, I'll tell him that in an emergency, he can borrow someone else's, since every other 10-year-old will have one by then.

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Obvious solution is to get him one of these:

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/3...hbbc300lq8.jpg

He won't be getting that out in class to text his mates any time soon..

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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So if the kid brings smokes, drugs, guns, knives and booze the school can't seize them because it's his personal property?


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That's an absurd analogy. The school can take the phone, give the kid detention, suspend him, whatever. But when the parent, who paid for the phone and pays the bill, asks for it back, refusing to hand it over is well beyond the school's authority. Schools can determine what students can and can't do while they're in school (and, apparently, according to news reports I've seen over the last few years, the recent trend is for schools to try to regulate student conduct outside of school), but the school has no business interfering with what a child's parent chooses to do outside of school (including how they make use of their property).


And regarding the safety issue, I never said it was major risk, or puts the kid in grave danger or anything, I just said it was unnecessary risk.

If you're kid was going to the park/mall/movies/whatever, wouldn't you feel better if they had a phone with them?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

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So if the kid brings smokes, drugs, guns, knives and booze the school can't seize them because it's his personal property?


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That's an absurd analogy.

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No, it's not, it's taking property without 'due process' just like the cell phone. Should the school have to have a judicial hearing before confiscating personal property?

That is the absurd notion.

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The school can take the phone, give the kid detention, suspend him, whatever. But when the parent, who paid for the phone and pays the bill, asks for it back, refusing to hand it over is well beyond the school's authority.

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Not if the school has made a rule that the phone is being confiscated for 30 days. You're just wrong.

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And regarding the safety issue, I never said it was major risk, or puts the kid in grave danger or anything, I just said it was unnecessary risk.

If you're kid was going to the park/mall/movies/whatever, wouldn't you feel better if they had a phone with them?

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Yes, but that has zero, zip, zilch, NADA to do with why this kid lost his cell phone.

The 'cell phones are for safety/emergencies' argument is nothing but a red herring... that is not what these kids are using cell phones for and has nothing to do with why they want to have them in school.

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

I graduated high school in '99 and we all got by just fine without cell phones. I tend to agree with the consensus that kids don't need cell phones, especially throughout the entire day. Why not teach kids to put down the electronics and go talk to their friends the old fashioned way, instead of texting hundreds of times times a day.

You need to be 16 to drive (or 17 or 18 in some places), why do 12 year olds need cell phones (sans emergency use)?

Re: school confiscates cell phone, lawyer dad is mad?
 

3 unrelated thoughts on this

1) There really is no valid reason a kid should have a cell phone at school. Yes, I too find cell phones incredibly convenient, but I can think of no practical reason a HS student would need to make calls on a regular enough basis that the phone in the office wouldn't be sufficient.

2) I have noticed that kids that age have no concept of what merits an "important" call. One of my co-workers has a daughter who suffers from this. My co-worker will get 200 calls a day from her child over the most insignificant stuff. Giving kids like that a cell phone only makes things worse.

3) There are clearly exceptions to this rule, but people with lawyers for parents tend to suck at life in general.

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I have noticed that kids that age and women of every age have no concept of what merits an "important" call.

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So if the kid brings smokes, drugs, guns, knives and booze the school can't seize them because it's his personal property?

School grounds are not public grounds where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

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The school doesn't seize them because they have not been granted any authority or power to do so. That's why schools will have uniformed police officers assigned to them. That way someone with the training and authority is there to handle the situation correctly and within the law.

You are correct that school grounds are considered to be public grounds so courts have upheld the school's/police right to search things like lockers with drug dogs. However, anything that you have in your possession such as a bag or pockets does have a reasonable expectation of privacy. That's why the drug dogs can only search the lockers, otherwise wouldn't it just be better to have all the students line up in the halls to have the dogs search them? Thank you Fourth Amendment!

I'm not against the kid getting punished for being disruptive with his cell phone, or being a douche bag. However I don't believe that the school seizing the phone is the correct, or lawful, thing for them to do. Give the kid a detention or suspend him, or use some other form of punishment that is within their authority, but they do not need to be trying to extend their power beyond what has been granted to them by our government, certainly not past what is allowed by the Fourth Amendment. Your constitutional rights do not disappear when you step through the doors of a public school and the school has no authority to seize personal property. Especially without due process.

Unless the phones are taken on sight, instead of when they are disruptive while learning is taking place, not during the time between classes, at lunch, or before and after school, no one is going to argue that he didn't do something disruptive and deserves reprimand. My issue is that the school has overstepped its bounds and is doing something illegal with the seizure of property and should not be allowed to continue to do so. They are wrong because of the punishment, not because they attempted to punish the kid.

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Not if the school has made a rule that the phone is being confiscated for 30 days. You're just wrong.


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Some middle school's rule book has no more binding authority on a student's parent than the U.S. Coast Guard Academy's Honor Code has on me. So unless the town/county/state passed a LAW that allows the school to refuse to return the phone to the parent for a month, they have no right to hold it.