When I was in 8th or 9th grade, I got my first--and last--bikini. It wasn't an "itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka dot bikini." It was a conservative but lovely navy blue with orange stripes. Very cool. I wore it to a friend's house, where we were going to do some sun bathing and then go to the beach. Imagine my horror when her brother ran up, pulled the bottoms down on my beautiful bikini, and gawked at me. In front of several other people! Gross!! Repulsive!!! Totally humiliating!!!! I went home in tears, he apologized (protesting that he hadn't done anything wrong), and I never wore another bikini again.
Skip forward 25 years. I still recall this incident vividly. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. If someone who was there brings it up and laughs about it, I do the same and try to get the subject changed quickly. (And yes, it has come up in conversation a few times, as my family loves to torture me. It just goes to show that the memories and the embarrassment can linger beyond the "momentary".)
I know the incident changed something about me, about the way I viewed myself. And that self was someone who could be laughed at, made to feel unprotected...insecure...insignificant. It also reinforced my feeling that my mom just didn't care about me. After all, it must have been my fault because I was wearing a bikini.
I know, I wasn't in school, I wasn't strip searched, I wasn't in a private room with only another adult or two of the same sex to observe the proceedings. I acknowledge that my situation is very different. But it gave me a sense of how horrible it is to feel singled out and vulnerable. In the case of school strip searches, I am concerned that the wrong people might be protected. The argument is that schools need to be able to protect children in cases of drugs or weapons. But many schools have a zero-tolerance policy in place that makes it wrong to have iPods, cell phones, aspirin... What's to prevent them from strip searching teens they feel have violated the rules and have a cell phone in their bra or a nano in their underwear?
IMO, anyone forced to remove clothing or show their private parts--parts that normally are required to remain covered on school grounds--on vague suspicions of wrong-doing are victims. They are being sacrificed on the assumption that a minor or temporary embarrassment is better than giving up on zero-tolerance school policies. With this attitude, is anyone factoring in the extreme emotionalism that many teens experience? Many teens have a lack of perspective, a strong but often skewed sense of justice, and a desire to fit in at all costs.
Now the case is being reviewed by the Supreme Court of our nation. And the questions they asked didn't look so good for the girl involved in the case. As far as I could tell from my reading, they weren't viewing this as illegal search and seizure, but as the school needing control. ("What if it were weapons? Illegal drugs?") In other words, a kind of shrug. Or worse, an attitude similar to my mother's 25 years before--that if they need to be strip searched, they must have caused it by being with the wrong people or in the wrong place.
I disagree with this attitude. Yes, there are drugs in school. Yes, there have been shootings. But treating all teens with suspicion and a contempt for their Constitutional rights and their right to maintain their personal space will not make the situation better.
What a 45-90 year old Supreme Court Justice (hey, I'm guessing at the ages here but it was hilarious to note one judge surprised that kids sniff markers to try to get high) may view as temporary embarrassment for the safety and well-being of others, I view as a basic violation of their rights as US citizens. They should have right of refusal, the right to seek advise from an adult they know and trust, the right to be heard and their word accepted (you know, innocent until proven guilty).
To me, there has to be perspective and there has to be cause. 1. Why would you accept the word of one student over another? (As in, student A says student B did something, but student B denies it.) Who do you believe? 2. What right does the school have to strip search a minor without parental involvement or consent? I was amazed to read that this vice Principal was ordering a child strip searched without first contacting her parents! There is no guarantee that a parent will stand up for their child, but a parent still should know of such unusual circumstances in their child's schoolday. 3. Someone should have the right to say "no way!" to a strip search! They may have to suffer consequences, (I'm not sure if this is comparable, but what happens if you refuse a breathalizer test when stopped by an officer?) but it should be their right. 4. Shouldn't there be some kind of procedure in place? Reputable schools should have rules and definitions in place--ones that everyone has available to them--before instituting any policy such as school strip searches.
I understand the concerns of the Court and the schools. Who can forget Columbine and other school shootings? Drugs and alcohol are pervasive and destructive--and sometimes deadly. I get that. These concerns, while unfortunately very real, are perhaps best handled by professionals rather than the school. For instance, if there is concern about drugs or weapons, perhaps the school policy should be to turn the situation over to the police and to let them handle it. Some might view this as an overreaction. But who would you rather have handling a gun situation? A Police Officer, or the Principal? (I have to admit I am inserting my former H.S. Principal here and realizing that Boyd would probably have dealt with it just fine. Think of a cross between Dirty Harry and Mr. Rogers.) But for arguments' sake, I do question where the role of the Public School should end in situations such as this. I do not think they should have to police the students beyond some of the normal or "innocent" problems you see in school (cheating, "borrowing", truancy, tardiness, etc). So that leaves them not handling guns, drugs or student clothing.
Ultimately, for me, this is just one more reason to be grateful that I can homeschool my children. The "socialization with peers" (and all that seems to go along with it) aspects of the public school system just don't seem worth it.
