Bullying

After watching the two films and talking about the bullying situations, I have gained a new prospective on bullying and the extreme toll it can take on people. In Bullied, the story of Jamie Nabozny and the extreme discrimination that he faced was displayed. Being gay, Jamie was the target of a lot of bullying, physically and verbally. In one instance, Jamie was beat so hard that he had to receive surgery. This is something that I never realized because in our community, it is rare to see someone physically being hurt while being bullied. Jamie constantly talked to the school administration and told them about the bullying that was occurring, but nothing was ever handled with and solved. After running away multiple times, Jamie finally decided that he was going to file a lawsuit against certain individuals, as well as the school district, for neglecting to protect him from the violence. In the case Nabozny v. Podlesny, a landmark decision was made that schools have the right to protect students from physical harm and verbal abuse of comments regarding being gay. Nabozny was able to summon the courage to relive his bullying experiences and face the people who bullied him as well as the administrators, such as Vice Principle Podlesny, who neglected to do anything when he would report the bullying to them. Thankfully, I don't think that there is a big bullying problem here at DHS. Personally, I think that there is probably verbal bullying that occurs for different reasons, but I would be very surprised if someone told me that there was a problem with people being physically bullied. Of course, any form of bullying is unacceptable and should not be tolerated, but I think that we are very fortunate to not have a problem with people being physically harmed due to being bullied. I think that the reason for this lack of physical bullying is being people generally know that they will be punished if it were to occur. DHS has a strict bullying policy, as well as rules that protect students from being harmed, so I can confidently say that if someone were to be physically bullied, I think that the situation would be handled with if it were reported to the proper administration. I definitely think that we are very fortunate to have this type of security and that DHS is different from many other schools. There are many other schools, such as Jamie Nabozny's, in which people are bullied and physically harmed for lifestyle choices or even religion, something that a student doesn't even choose to be associated with. I find this to be absolutely horrible because school is a place that children should be able to feel safe, but in these types of schools, life for people like Jamie Nabozny is hell because he had to live every single day wondering if he was going to be bullied again. In order to protect these students, rules need to be put into place forbidding any type of bullying and offering severe consequences if bullying occurs. I think that setting the bar very high and informing students that bullying is 100% not tolerated and that if it occurs there will be a severe punishment, it will ingrain into that minds of the potential bullies that bullying is unacceptable and if they choose to pick on someone else, they are going to have severe consequences. Also, I think it is up to each individual to have the courage to stand up for themselves. Being bullied can be something that is very embarrassing, especially when others see it happen. Having the courage to stand up, stop the bullying, and report it to the proper authority is not an easy job but is something that needs to be done in order to ensure that each student is receiving the safe haven that they need. In addition, programs such as "Challenge Day" are a good way to organize an entire student body and allow them to share their thoughts and feelings with one another. It is hard to predict what the outcome will be after such an event, but in the case of the episode of If You Really Knew Me, Challenge Day was something that really helped that high school because it allowed the students to reach out to each other and share their feelings about the bullying in their school. Thankfully, I think that the bullying at DHS is much less severe than the bullying that was occurring in that school, so I think that something like Challenge Day wouldn't be as affective at the less-bullied schools like DHS. It is important that people know that bullying is unacceptable and that if it is done, there will be consequences. Protecting every student and giving them a safe haven to learn should be the goal of every single school in the United States.

Students and the Fourth Amendment--Article Responses

I read the article titled "'Sexting' Suit Tests Searches of Student Cell Phones" as well as the response to the article which was titled, "ACLU and PA School Board Association Working On Guidelines For School Administrators On Searching Students' Cell Phones." I found these articles to be very interesting because they seemed to really relate to our school and were interesting because it is something that I think many people fear here at DHS. In this case, a high schooler from Pennsylvania had her cell phone confiscated because she was using it during the school day. Upon receiving her cell phone, the principal began to rummage through the contents of the phone, searching through her pictures, text messages, e-mails, etc. Upon looking through her pictures, the principal of her school found naked pictures that she took of herself that were stored on her cell phone. Upon viewing these images, the high school student was suspended for three days, and she filed a lawsuit against her school for unlawfully searching through her phone. In New Jersey v. T.L.O., it was established that the search of a student by a school official must be “justified at its inception” and is “permissible in its scope when the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the infraction.” Because the photos were not in plain view upon looking at the cell phone and required three steps to acquire them, this high school student argued that the search of her cell phone was illegal and therefore her punishment was unjust. The student won the case and the school had to pay her for all of her legal fees and for their wrongdoing. I found this to be really interesting because it is something that I hear a lot at DHS. When people get their cell phones confiscated and taken to the Dean's Office, many people worry that their phones will be searched. Upon reading this article, it now seems to me that this cannot be done unless there is a justifiable reason, as established in T.L.O. Students are entitled to their privacy and therefore cannot have their things searched unless there is a legitimate reason for it to be done.

Students and the Fourth Amendment-- Personal Opinion

In my personal opinion, I am against drug testing because I wouldn't want for it to happen to me and I wouldn't want to feel as if my privacy was being invaded. Although I feel that I personally wouldn't want for a drug testing policy to be enacted here at DHS, I honestly think that a drug testing policy is constitutional and that it would be reasonable for a drug testing policy to be enacted at DHS. The intent of a random drug testing policy is to be sure that the students of the school are not engaging in illegal behaviors and are being safe. In multiple Supreme Court cases, it has been ruled that random drug tests are legal courses of action to ensure the safety of the students. While this may seem to be like an intrusive and uncomfortable position to be "forced" into, if a student is not doing drugs, they should have nothing to hide and shouldn't be worried about the testing. Those students who do engage in illegal activities may not want to be subjected to the testing, but if they are caught with a substance they can be properly helped and potentially saved from a future drug accident. This one point on the drug policies that I do not agree with is that many of the random drug testing policies are solely directed towards student athletes and people participating in extra-curricular activities, and not towards the rest of the student body. In my opinion, implementing this type of rule is a way to say that the school district is more concerned about the people who are participating in activities outside of the classroom, and don't care as much about the students who don't have these additional activities. I think that this is something that should be changed because every student should be receiving the same amount of care and attention from the school, and therefore, every student should be subjected to the same drug testing. Additionally, if a student is heavily involved in drugs or other illegal substances, there are large chances that they do not participate in athletics or in extra-curricular activities, in an attempt to free more time to do drugs. By neglecting these students and only testing the ones who are participating in other activities, these students are getting away with their illegal behaviors and are not being helped with their problems. Randomly drug testing students is a way to make the community feel more secure and to help save the lives of young high school students who may be simply making a poor decision.