Bullying

Bully is a huge problem throughout the United States. Not only because it is prevalent in every school but because it have gotten much worse in the 21^st century. Kids can’t just go home from schools to escape bullying; it follows them wherever they go. Since kids carry a cell phone with them at all times and if they aren’t on the phone they are on the computer it makes it almost impossible for kids to escape from this bully. With bullying taken to the next level it makes kids result to new methods of coping with this harassment including suicide and running away.

            The 15 year old girl Phoebe Prince who committed suicide after being picked on by many older girls for dating one of their boyfriends. She was harassed to the point that she decided to end her own life. Since her suicide her parents have established a scholarship fund with all the donations that were sent to the family. They want to be able to provide other kids with the chance to have a better future. There has also been an increased awareness, as a result of Phoebe and others recent suicides, as to what schools can do to prevent this epidemic from continuing.

            I think that bullying will be at any high school in America, but the extent to which bulling exists will be different with each school. I believe that bullying is not as much of a problem in Deerfield as it is at other schools, or even the middle school. I think that our administration is very strict with the majority of their policies and, as a student, knowing that anything that crosses even the smallest line will get you in trouble definitely limits bullying.  If even one wrong thing gets posted on Facebook, there is anonymous tip, or one punch is thrown, kids are immediately taken to the dean.  It is true in most schools throughout the country that cliques are quite common. Deerfield does have cliques but I don’t think they are a problem. While most people have their core group of friends they are not confined to those limits.

            I think that Challenge Day is a good potential solution to break stereotypes. Having an assembly that is more interactive and is different than “7 Reasons to Leave a Party” would help our society way more than the usual “don’t do drugs” assemblies our school is accustomed to.   Our school does have Snowball which I think is a lot like Challenge Day. I am one of the Teen Directors and the idea of it is to get to know people outside of your comfort zone that you normally wouldn’t interact with. Simply being able to see other people that aren’t necessarily like you as people too prevents bullying. Instead of picking on someone who is different then you, you are able to see that they are a person just like you and they deserve the same respect. Snowball is a program our school district has that isn’t utilized by the students. It has a bad reputation of being a “rehab program” which it most certainly is not. Although I don’t see bullying at our school as being a problem and program that takes kids out of their comfort zone and allows them to interact with new people only decreases bullying.  

Students and the Fourth Ammendment

While I am against drug testing in schools its affects are positive, but event thought it accomplishes what it is supposed to well that does not outweigh the reality that students rights as citizens are being taken away. All people in America, regardless of age, sex, or race are entitled to the same rights that they are innocent until proven guilty. By allowing drug testing it is showing the future citizens of our country that the rights provided to them are not always followed. There are many statistics on how drug testing has benefited schools, drug used dropped from 20% to 5.3%, participation in extracurricular activities increases, and student do better in their school work. And while this evidence is very convincing it is the right of parents to make sure they are keeping track of their children and that they are not using drugs. Schools should not be spending taxpayer’s money on drug test for students but rather parents should be buying drug test for their own children. Schools can’t continue to base searches on “reasonableness” and drug tests on guilty till proven innocent. These are rules that simply go against students’ rights as citizens of the United States and teach kids nothing about the rights they are provided and entitled to.

In the case where a student, N.N.’s cell phone was taken away in school and later searched where explicit pictures were found and she was given a 3 day suspension her rights were violated. I agree even more that drug testing should not be allowed in schools. Students need to be guaranteed the same basic rights that any other citizen of the United States is given.  There was no reason for the school to search her phone because there was neither probable cause nor “reasonableness” provided to schools in the case of searching students. Kids get their cell phones taken away every day in schools but that does not give administrators the right to invade their privacy. Schools are institutions of the government set up to provide students with an education and when schools cross the line and start to take away freedoms, that do not cause a disruption to the education, it becomes illegal.