Danielle Shumate
8th grade English
Mrs. King
April 26, 2016
School Officials Looking through Lockers and Backpacks for Weapons and Drugs Debate Paper.
What if a person were at school and they saw a school official looking through their locker and backpack and that school official told them that they were looking for a weapon or drugs? Do they think that this is fair? A lot of teens could have these things and this could have affects on what happens to them. Well some people think that school officials should look through backpacks and lockers for weapons and drugs, because it could harm school and the students future.
One reason why school officials should look through lockers and backpacks for weapons and drugs is, because it could harm
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the school and students. The threats that happen are the worst. According to Ken Trump, it causes fear and stress to the students and teachers. One thing that might cause stress for teachers is worrying when it’s going to happen, or if it doesn’t happen and all, along with the students. This fear in students cause lots of problems like education and the attendance dropping. For example, at Frontier High School, there was a threat and the attendance dropped while students left early or if they weren't there at all, according to Jessica Harrington from 23 ABC News. This example shows us how threats and the weapons can harm all the students in their education and attendance record. However, this last piece of evidence is about how drugs can harm the school and the students. Death is one thing that can happen because of prescription drugs. According to the article, Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse Facts and Statistics, more teens die from overdosing on prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined. This means that a lot of teens die from this and they should be refrained from trying to do it at school or giving it to someone maybe killing them. Another reason why it’s good to have school officials look through backpacks and lockers for weapons and drugs, is that the weapons and drugs, especially is that it could harm that student’s future. For instance, an article called “You Are Caught With Drugs,” said that if people are caught with drugs it could harm your future by not getting the job you want. This can hurt you future financially and mentally. This could make you upset on your choices that you have done in the past and your salary will not be what you wanted. Another piece of evidence that supports my reason is that you could have a police record that could wreck your future. If you kill someone or if you even have a gun on property it could affect your police record and your job and college choices. Statistics from Guns in Schools Policy Summary say that there were 11,920 gun incidents on college campuses. Even though that this is on college campuses, this could harm everything that you have worked for. One thing that this could harm you in your future is that you could not go into college or be in a college you don’t want to be in. For example, in Arapahoe Community College they say that you could be expelled from that college, along with having a trial from Littleton Municipal Court or Arapahoe County District Court for criminal prosecution. All of this for bringing drugs and weapons on school property is not worth it. You should have the right to keep you future dreams, but you have to refrain from doing things like this even if you want to. It may seem that looking through lockers and backpacks for weapons and drugs is invading personal items. However, if you have a weapon and drugs, and they don’t look through your stuff for it, you could get into trouble by the police and by your parents causing you to be embarrassed. For example, Debate.org has opinions and one person said that it might be embarrassing, but they staff and would know about it and they look for saftey reasons. This is the main reason why they look through your personal things. Safety is important in schools, because its suppose to be a learning safe area, not a non safe zone. Another thing that would be important is that it could affect your social group and social status. For instance, Jorgensen stated that seeing pictures of drugs and other things on the web could affect how their peer group sees that situation and might do it. This statement really means something. This could affect how your social status at school and in the outside world thinks about you. Now let's say you are in college and you bring a weapon to school and someone found out. You could get suspended for one year or expelled in that college according to the article What would you do if you were at school and you saw a school official looking through your locker and backpack and they told you that they were looking for a weapon or drugs? Do you think that this is fair? A lot of teens could have these things and this could have affects on what happens to them. Well I think that school officials should look through backpacks and lockers for weapons and drugs, because it could harm school and the students future. One reason why school officials should look through lockers and backpacks for weapons and drugs is, because it could harm the school and students. The threats that happen are the worst. According to Ken Trump, it causes fear and stress to the students and teachers. One thing that might cause stress for teachers is worrying when it’s going to happen, or if it doesn’t happen and all, along with the students. This fear in students cause lots of problems like education and the attendance dropping. For example, at Frontier High School, there was a threat and the attendance dropped while students left early or if they weren't there at all, according to Jessica Harrington from 23 ABC News. This example shows us how threats and the weapons can harm all the students in their education and attendance record. However, this last piece of evidence is about how drugs can harm the school and the students. Death is one thing that can happen because of prescription drugs. According to the article, Teen Drug and Alcohol Abuse Facts and Statistics, more teens die from overdosing on prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined. This means that a lot of teens die from this and they should be refrained from trying to do it at school or giving it to someone maybe killing them. Another reason why it’s good to have school officials look through backpacks and lockers for weapons and drugs, is that the weapons and drugs, especially is that it could harm that student’s future. For instance, an article called You Are Caught With Drugs said that if you are caught with drugs it could harm your future by not getting the job you want. This can hurt you future financially and mentally. This could make you upset on your choices that you have done in the past and your salary will not be what you wanted. Another piece of evidence that supports my reason is that you could have a police record that could wreck your future. If you kill someone or if you even have a gun on property it could affect your police record and your job and college choices. Statistics from Guns in Schools Policy Summary say that there were 11,920 gun incidents on college campuses. Even though that this is on college campuses, this could harm everything that you have worked for. One thing that this could harm you in your future is that you could not go into college or be in a college you don’t want to be in. For example, in Arapahoe Community College they say that people could be expelled from that college, along with having a trial. All of this for bringing drugs and weapons on school property is not worth it. People should have the right to keep their future dreams, but they have to refrain from doing things like this even if they want to. It may seem that looking through lockers and backpacks for weapons and drugs is invading personal items.
However, if a person has a weapon and drugs, and school officials don’t look through your stuff for it, they could get away with it or get into trouble by the police and by their parents later causing them to be embarrassed. For example, Debate.org has opinions and one person said that it might be embarrassing, but they staff and would know about it and they look for saftey reasons. This is the main reason why they look through your personal things. Safety is important in schools, because its suppose to be a learning safe area, not a non-safe zone. Another thing that would be important is that it could affect a persons social group and social status. For instance, Jorgensen stated that seeing pictures of drugs and other things on the web could affect how their peer group sees that situation and might do it. This statement really means something. This could affect how your social status at school and in the outside world thinks about you. Now let's say you are in college and you bring a weapon to school and someone found out. You could get suspended for one year or expelled in that college according to the article “School Discipline - Suspension and Expulsion”. This could harm everything that you have done in the course of your life and it’s not worth it.
So do you think that school officials should look through lockers and backpacks for drugs and weapons? Weapons and drugs can harm the schools and that students future, and it’s not worth it. If this argument is followed, we could have a safer learning environment, and there would be less teens in jail. Also, there would be a lot of teens making good
choices. Works Cited "Firearms and Drug Policy." Firearms and Weapons, Alcohol and Drug Policies at Arapahoe Community College, near Denver. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Guns in Schools Policy Summary." Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence RSS. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Just Think Twice." You Are Caught With Drugs. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "More Teens Using Drugs at School, Study Shows." NewsTimes. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Parents and Students Worry about Going to School after Threat at Frontier High School." 23ABC News. 08 Mar. 2016. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Should Schools Check Students Backpacks or Lockers?" The Premier Online Debate Website. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Students & Schools : School Discipline - Suspension and Expulsion." School Discipline. Web. 18 Apr. 2016. "Teen Drug Abuse Facts | Teenage Alcohol Statistics." Teen Drug Rehabs.
Students who bring guns will have a harder time concealing them, and most likely will not bring them. Although dress codes promote safety, there are some negative effects of it. Dress codes don’t prepare kids for the jobs of the future. “Some employers—some dotcom companies, for example—care less about how their employees dress and more about their work.” (Wilder 4).
For instance, if a student had harmful things in their locker, it’d be easier to find and confiscate them. This would prevent a potential dangerous situation, and the student would face proper consequences. Whilst I agree that locker searches could definitely potentially keep schools safer, I still believe that there are better ways to enforce safety than going through a student’s possessions, which could be mentally damaging. Mental health is equally as important as physical health, so damaging one to fix the other is still creating
...e they fear physical harm (uiuc.edu 2011). About 40 students are hurt or killed by firearms and 260 teachers are physically assaulted in your Public School's. I don't think its a step to far to stop this, by searching someone's locker.
In light of recent acts of violence in the nation’s schools, school safety and security have become a hot topic. However, the issue of school safety goes beyond student violence. It includes property damage, theft, and anything else that concerns the overall well being of schools. While it is important to create a safe environment in schools it is also necessary to make sure students feel comfortable in this atmosphere. The security can not be so overbearing that it becomes a negative tactic that gets in the way of the students main objective, learning. Barely noticeable cameras, ID cards, and security guards without uniforms can help generate this safe, but comfortable learning environment. On the other hand metal detectors and mini police forces may be a little too reminiscent of George Orwell’s novel, 1984, or even modern prisons. School security should not be overbearing or obtrusive where it gets in the way of a comfortable environment that is conducive to learning in the nation’s schools.
Which can be having armed officers walk though halls, making sure the school is safe from any harm that could potentially happen.
Administrators saw three students at the Union Colony Charter School in Greeley, Colorado, playing with a water gun. According to the school's interpretation of the state's zero tolerance weapons law, which mandates suspension of stu...
Ideally schools in the United States are considered by both parents and students alike to be “safe-havens” where parents can trust their children to learn and remain safe during the day and where students can feel safe in a well-maintained learning environment. However within this fully regulated government service, there are often debates over proper classroom environments, teaching tactics, and privacy issues. Today the main privacy issue in public schools is where to draw the line between keeping the school safe and maintaining the privacy of the students (Boomer par. 19). Searches and seizures in schools are not recent issues; however they are becoming more public now than in recent years.
On the CDC Media Relations web page, the 1997 statistics show that 8.3% of high school students carry a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) to school and 7.4% of high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property throughout the year. In the report, it also included that nationwide, 4% of students had missed 1 or more days of school during the 30 days preceding the survey because they had felt unsafe at school or when traveling to or from school. These statistics show that students are afraid of going to school, they don’t feel safe and something should be done to change that. There should be no reason why students need to bring weapons to school in order to feel safe.... ... middle of paper ... ...
The schools had also brought in school officers to have on school grounding during school hours. They feel that they need these type of secured to have their children protected. Parents feel a little say knowing that there is a police in school patrolling. In several school they have started to do searches to make sure no one is bring anything dangerous that could harm a person. This is super important to makes sure no weapons are on school grounds. Schools have also put on their policy that if any weapon is found on the person’s possession there could be serious
Yes, I do know that even with school searches people bring all types of things on to school campus no matter if they get caught or not. I feel as if the students do have the right to refuse if they are searched or not because the fact of them being a minor and the fact that as a kid we get into places where we don't always know the right answer or way to go so we agree to things we might not understand. I also feel that if law enforcement has to have probable cause the school bored should have probable cause as well. " school officials.... are not required to advise students that they have a right to refuse consent to search .... or rise discipline." (Ellenberger 32) Some schools have all different policy's and rules to telling students their rights to refusing anything because they are dealing with more minors then with legal adults. Secondly, many parents get concerned about their children being in schools that don't have searches. " Parents and students fear that they will be in class with other students who are under the influence." (Robison) The parents and students feel that having school searches will help eliminate the drug and alcohol use in or during school hours. Lastly, most school bored are just looking for a safe environment for their students and staff to come to for eight
School searches are used to keep drugs, weapons and alcohol out of school where they don’t belong. School searches can solve a drug problem in a school but it in effect the relationship between the teachers and students would dwindle. They could also make a nonexistent drug problem go up. in an article Kate Ehlenberger said "a teachers report of a student smoking in the bathroom justified a search of the students purse" (Ehlenberger 1). kids will find anywhere they can to light up even if its in school. Drug searches are a gray area in school districts because they don’t want parents knowing that there could be a potential drug problem at their kids' school. there is a strong debate on whether searches are justified or not.
The issue of whether or not teachers should be allowed to carry concealed weapons on school campus has been a national debate for years now. Will weapons prevent mass shootings in schools? The topic became serious in 2012 when Sandy Hook Elementary School was targeted, and twenty-six innocent people were killed. Since the shooting, there has been a lot of public discussion about how to keep students safe and prevent these mass shootings. The number one concern for a parent is the safety of their children. Shootings like Sandy Hook, Columbine, and Stoneman Douglas have left parents, administrators, and educators feeling like they should be more involved in finding solutions for their children’s safety. With children’s lives on the line, the
There are many debates about weapons being brought to school and what we must do to protect our children. As Americans, we have our constitutional right to own, buy, and use a weapon. But, it is our responsibility to do the mature thing with a weapon, just as our ancestors did.
In the United States high schools dealing with student’s privacy are becoming more of a huge problem and more students are feeling that schools are validating their privacy rights. In recent discussions of teen privacy in school, is whether if schools go overboard sometimes and feel they can search the student’s because they are using school property or are on school property. Some people feel that students do need more privacy from their schools because they need their privacy just like everyone else, and with this more reasonability they will have to get them ready when they leave school. On the other hand, some think that by giving more privacy to the student’s more poor decisions would come out of it than strong ones. Students that have
...ey to getting a good job, but high school students can’t get their education if they are caught up in doing drugs. Over thirty percent of dropouts in the United States are because of drugs. The thirty percent of drug addict dropouts may never find a job. Thats why it is important for high school drug testing to be enforced among all students. High school drug testing would allow early notice of drug use and allow the school to steer the student into the right path towards success. The drug tests will give students confidence and another reason to say “No” when being peer pressured into trying drugs. Many would argue that drug testings invade their privacy, but with drug usage being at an all time high who can we count on? High schools are made to prepare students for their future, and in order to make the students successful we must allow high school drug testings.