Published: Tuesday, August 31, 2010
ACLU opposes student cell phone search
The Oak Harbor School Board is waiting to vote on allowing student cell phone searches after objections are raised.
OAK HARBOR -- A cell phone is not a backpack.
That's the message the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is relaying to the Oak Harbor School District as its school board considers a controversial policy on cellphone searches.
The proposed policy would allow students' cell phones to be searched by school administrators when they believe they have reasonable cause.
District officials compare the proposal to looking through a locker or backpack -- common in many school districts. The policy is meant to address issues such as cyber-bullying. The policy would extend to messages and images sent outside school hours if the content is shared during the school day.
The district's reasoning doesn't hold up, said Brian Alseth, director of the technology and liberty project for the state ACLU. Unlike a backpack or a locker, a cell phone can carry vast amounts of personal information, including hundreds of e-mails and pictures.
Finding one particular text message isn't always easy, Alseth said.
"If your whole life is there at your fingertips, then the whole life is there to be shared by whomever takes it away and searches it," Alseth said.
Oak Harbor patterned its policy on advice from the Washington State School Directors' Association. The district forwarded the ACLU's objections to the association for review.
Oak Harbor isn't the only district rethinking its approach to cell phones.
The Legislature is requiring schools to update their policies on bullying by August 2011. School officials in Edmonds and Everett said they haven't taken steps to revise their cell phone policies, but could see searches happening, given the right circumstances.
The Oak Harbor school board won't vote on its policy until at least Sept. 13. A vote originally was slated for as early as Monday night.
The delay will give the board more time to weigh the ACLU's objections and other changes.
"We're not in a particular hurry to get it on the books," Assistant Superintendent Lance Gibbon said. "We're going to take time to consider it."
The proposed cell phone policy is, first and foremost, an attempt to protect students, Gibbon said. Parents would be notified of the searches and given a chance to participate.
Some parents may not realize that their child is bullying another, Gibbon said. Other parents may not get involved to stop their child from bullying.
"In these cases, we have an obligation to protect the victim and take action," Gibbon said via e-mail.
The ACLU agrees that bullying can be a problem, but said searches should be left to law enforcement, not school officials.
"We believe students should have the same rights to privacy that everyone else does," Alseth said.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com
That's the message the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is relaying to the Oak Harbor School District as its school board considers a controversial policy on cellphone searches.
The proposed policy would allow students' cell phones to be searched by school administrators when they believe they have reasonable cause.
District officials compare the proposal to looking through a locker or backpack -- common in many school districts. The policy is meant to address issues such as cyber-bullying. The policy would extend to messages and images sent outside school hours if the content is shared during the school day.
The district's reasoning doesn't hold up, said Brian Alseth, director of the technology and liberty project for the state ACLU. Unlike a backpack or a locker, a cell phone can carry vast amounts of personal information, including hundreds of e-mails and pictures.
Finding one particular text message isn't always easy, Alseth said.
"If your whole life is there at your fingertips, then the whole life is there to be shared by whomever takes it away and searches it," Alseth said.
Oak Harbor patterned its policy on advice from the Washington State School Directors' Association. The district forwarded the ACLU's objections to the association for review.
Oak Harbor isn't the only district rethinking its approach to cell phones.
The Legislature is requiring schools to update their policies on bullying by August 2011. School officials in Edmonds and Everett said they haven't taken steps to revise their cell phone policies, but could see searches happening, given the right circumstances.
The Oak Harbor school board won't vote on its policy until at least Sept. 13. A vote originally was slated for as early as Monday night.
The delay will give the board more time to weigh the ACLU's objections and other changes.
"We're not in a particular hurry to get it on the books," Assistant Superintendent Lance Gibbon said. "We're going to take time to consider it."
The proposed cell phone policy is, first and foremost, an attempt to protect students, Gibbon said. Parents would be notified of the searches and given a chance to participate.
Some parents may not realize that their child is bullying another, Gibbon said. Other parents may not get involved to stop their child from bullying.
"In these cases, we have an obligation to protect the victim and take action," Gibbon said via e-mail.
The ACLU agrees that bullying can be a problem, but said searches should be left to law enforcement, not school officials.
"We believe students should have the same rights to privacy that everyone else does," Alseth said.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455; arathbun@heraldnet.com
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