In this growing world of violence and hate, a school is one of the few safe havens that a child can escape to. But this place of refuge and comfort is under constant siege by barbaric teens that stash drugs and weapons in their school issued lockers.
Even though a school might be one of the safest places for a child, there are still a few serious risks. Drugs, alcohol, firearms, and bombs in lockers make what should be a harmless place quite dangerous. To combat this growing epidemic, schools have introduced random locker searches to prevent accidents before they happen. Some schools take trained police dogs and examine the exterior of each locker, and if the dog smells drugs, they open the lockers and search it. The school can also open a locker if they have evidence that something is wrong with a student. Suicidal kids might have knives, guns, or even bombs in their lockers with the intent on hurting themselves or others, and they must be removed.
Although locker searches are a practical, intelligent way of keeping schools safe, many people have a problem with them. People say that locker searches violate The Fourth Amendment of The Constitution of the United States of America. “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures…” School officials don’t need a warrant or a probable cause, but only a reasonable suspicion. This reasonable suspicion can be anything from a tip from a student, to calls from concerned parents. If a teacher or school official searches a student who is thought to have contraband, but turns out clean, that teacher is restricted from searching students any longer. But if a teacher searches a purse for cigarettes, and finds a bong, or pipe, that teacher can continue the search because it is likely that more contraband will turn up. The use of sniffing dogs, and metal detectors can be used at anytime because they don’t invade the privacy of the students.
There are other ways of cracking down on drugs and weapons in schools other than backpack, and locker searches. Principals can have metal detectors installed in all of the entrances to a school, or to locations that students frequently pass through. There could also be a few security guards who patrol the school. Having metal detectors and security guards would dramatically decrease the crime rate, because knives and guns would be easier caught. To eliminate the drug use of students, there could be a random drug test in the school. The students wouldn’t do drugs if they knew that at any moment they could be tested for drugs, and apprehended by security guards.
Locker searches and backpack searches are a great addition to a schools arsenal in its war on drugs and weapons, but knowing the right times, and using them in a combination with security guards and metal detectors are the key elements to a safe school.
