Originally Posted by AArlington
So is it true that students have no privacy rights while at school? They can all be searched at any time for property missing from a teacher's desk? And during that search (if it is even legal) can be arrested for something else found? Yes, the cops did not press charges, but handcuffing a kid is extreme.
Generally speaking, unfortunately, yes. Schools operate from the legal principle of
in loco parentis (in the place of the parent.) While all rights don't have to be left at the school doors, things the school deems reasonable for the health and safety of that child or for the school-at-large usually get wide latitude in court.