My teacher can go through the contents of my cell phone?!

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A while ago, I read an article stating that the Manatee County School Board was considering allowing educators and administrators to search student phones in order to find incriminating text, photo, and video content. First, I am not a lawyer and so please keep that in mind. Second, even if this occurs on school grounds, I don’t think it justifies allowing teachers to do this under the pretense of “suspicion,” even if it is “reasonable suspicion.” Third, maybe if reasonable suspicion of a crime existed, it might be more palatable. Fourth, the parents will have a field day with this. Fifth, such an invasion should only be possible by school law enforcement and possibly the principal, and not just any teacher. Sixth, most state wiretap laws (such as Florida’s) would simply not allow the interception or disclosure of electronic communications (such as a text message between two students). Anyone who “intentionally intercepts” any “electronic communication” has committed a criminal act. Many state wiretapping laws also prohibit unlawful access to stored communications (and I presume a picture or video taken by a cell phone would fall under this). A violation would then open up the school district to a civil cause of action by the student (or his/her family). Thankfully, this potential policy was not approved.

We’ve written a lot on this topic, and we’d encourage you to check out the following. Let us know if you agree with our thoughts!

Why Confiscating Student Cell Phones Might Be a Bad Idea

When Can Educators Search Student Cell Phones?

Teachers, Administrators, and the Search of Student Cell Phones

You Received a “Sext,” Now What? Advice for Teens

Additional Thoughts on Sexting Advice for Teens

Cell Phones at School and Student Expectation of Privacy

Cell Phones in the Classroom

Bring Your Own Device to School

191 Comments

  1. I am a senior in high school, and today, while sitting in english, i was caught texting a friend, and willingly handed over my cell phone because it is against school rules to have it out during school hours. I understand why my teacher took my phone, and that is not what i am upset about. After a minute or two, not even my teacher, but a student teacher who was in the class at the time commented on how she thought it perfectly acceptable to read through a student's texts while holding the confiscated phone, and i was unaware that she had read anything, and then my actual teacher actually decided to add her phone number to my contacts. I in no way was trying to cause trouble, or could have been suspected of doing anything illegal, and did not give any form of permission to either my real teacher or the student teacher to go through my phone, but they did anyay, and i feel my fourth ammendment rights were violated.

    • That kind of happened to me. I was at lunch and my principal saw my phone in my pocket. She took it, then told me she was gunna read my text messages. I remember having a text from a friend that was a little dirty. She took my phone to her house and won't give it back.

    • well, this is why i have a case sensitive and super long phone password. I dont care if they take my phone away because I know I can get it back.. But try something like mine; Som3thingAwful (caps must be typed!)

    • I Found A Good Website For Your Problem. It's Could Youth Law And Yes It Is A NZ Site. http://www.youthlaw.co.nz
      What Might Help You,'If mobile phones are not allowed in school or in classes, or if your teacher decides that something you have is disruptive in the classroom, the school has the power to confiscate it from you (but not by force). They must keep that item safe and give it back to you after a reasonable period (usually the end of the school day).

      While a school might have the power to confiscate your phone if you’re texting in class or if it keeps going off, looking at its contents is quite a different matter. This is a search, and schools do not have automatic powers to search student items which are confiscated. The law generally says that schools cannot look at the contents of your phone without your consent. However, the school might be able to search your phone if it had a lawful reason:

      If the school genuinely suspected something illegal was going on
      If the school was acting to prevent a crime
      If the school was acting to protect public safety
      For a similar good reason
      If the school did not have a lawful reason to look at the contents of your phone, but then did so and found something which concerned them, it would be illegal for the school to use that against you as the school would have obtained that information about you illegally.

      Also My Teacher Last Year Even Though Now I'm A Year 8.
      Me And My Friend Kyla Were Sending This Email Of A Video To A Student, Tom.
      Now Before Getting To The Compose Box The Teachers Mouse Freaked Out And Obviously Clicked On The Email For The Google Hangout Text. Ok So We Click Compose It Takes Us To A New Tab. Now We've Send The Email Now What, "Kyla Caleb, Have You Finished That Email Yet?" "Yeah" Now Obviously She Clicks The Back Button, And It Takes Her To The Instant Messaging (Hangouts) Conversation And Then She Just Reads Through Them And They Do Involve Negative Comments And Stuff About Her, BUT! It's Still Illegal And That's Why It Bugs Me.

    • The same thing happend to me I apperently left my phone in band and student took it to the teacher my teacher turned on the phone a read through all my notifications from a gc and the ppl in the group chat say some innapropriate things at times so when he read it he screen shot it and reported it to the principle I never get in trouble for anything like this so I was devistated 🙁

      • You cannot get in trouble for illegal searches. you can infact get the school in trouble for looking through your phone. just because you are a student doesnt mean you are stripped of your constitutional rights

    • When I was checking to see the time, my gym teacher just took it even though we were waiting for the mother-effing bus to arrive and on that day my grandma had to pick me up but she didn't know when or where, cause she had an old flip phone. And when I had got it at the end of the day my text messages were open for my girlfriend and someone had looked through our conversations of when we were together and "plans" we had done. And at the bottom it said that I had sent a message that said I hated her and I just lost it.

  2. If you are in a private school, the behavior of the student teacher or the actual teacher may be protected. If you are in a public school, based on the facts you've shared, I'd say that your Fourth Amendment rights were violated IF they looked through the contents of your phone. There was no reasonable suspicion that the contents of your cell phone (e.g., the text messages stored therein) would incriminate you of some school policy violation (or other offense), and so they had no right to do so. Why in the world would your actual teacher decide to add her phone number to your Contacts? That is just bizarre.

  3. my music teacher took my phone and i was helping my friend cuz she had her phone out and the teacher took it and then i was helping my friend so she took mine and i am scared to death that she looked in my text messages because i have personal stuff in there

  4. We had a phone go off in a class at my school.. i wasnt in the class but the teacher flipped out and went and got the assistant principal and they had everyone pull out there phone and everyone who had a text message got there phone taken away can they do that?

  5. ok i was in english today and my teacher took a freinds phone because it went off in class wich is perfectly acceptable but then he flipped it out and i told him that that was an invasion of privacy and he could get fired for that of course he didnt listen to a thing i said he kept going through that and when i threatened to tell the authorities about it he told me to look it up in the student handbook and i told him that it wont be in the STUDENT hanbook cause it is a teachers rule?!?!?!?!?!?!?

  6. today my teacher took my phone then started going through my text messages and thats invasion of privasy so imma get tha principle involved and maybe dha copzz:}

  7. A phone went off in a class room one day and it was taken, the student she was texting also had her phone taken away. This lead to teachers looking through her phone. The teacher found some encriminating evidence that involved nude oictures of her and other girls. Adminstrators wennt through the phones and called people in. No one confessed that they themselves did it but people ratted others out. Later many students were caught for makeing out in the hallway, no one was in trouble for nude pictures though. These pictures were sent everywhere to many peoples phones. Soon it all died down and People thought it was all over then one day 2 girls and one boy were suspended, all were under the age of 15. Th e young man was one of MANY that received pictures and sent it to others. They came back AND STILL ACT LIKE FREAKIN" SLUTS! They should of learned but this all happened because a teacher went through a phone.

  8. I think it is absolutley ridiculous for teachers to be allowed to go through someones personal content in their phone (text messages, photos, etc.) I have no problem with getting my phone take up while at school, after all it is against the school rules. So, if i happen to get caught I know the consequences. However,what does make me very mad is no one besides my parents have the right to go through my phone. I willingly gave my phone to them when they asked for itm so therefore what is the reason for going through my texts a reading them allowed to the whole class? pure noisiness. Well, I really think something should be done about this because I do believe this is an invasion of privacy, and a viloation of peoples rights.

  9. yah this is bull shit bc i just got my phone taken away in class for texting and the teacher went through my phone and read my texts and i got kicked out of school for the rest of the year and i really think it is aginst some kinde of law and they should not be able to do that shit

    • Teachers are not allowed to do that. It is invasion of privacy. THEY don’t pay your bill. They have no right to go through your phone’s; However, they are allowed to confiscate them.

  10. well i got my phone taken away bcuz i was txting a friend bcuz im having this problem with this one grrl and….thats not the point. anyway the principle took our phones and a bunch of other peoples too who got caught tht day. she called me down so she could take my phone and shes there smiling and crooks a finger like shes something from a horror movie. (which no doubt she is.)and she takes me into her office and reads my txts. and it sucked bcuz me and my friend were joking around and she was all like "im comeing to kill you!!!!" and the principle is like "why would she write this?" and i was all quiet and stuff. then she saw this one txt ths other grrl,taylor (nicknamed tailcat…idk y) txted me at lunch saying hi and the principle saw tht and called taylor down aand was like "are you TAILCAT?" and it was soooooooo funny. and then she called all our parents to cum pik up our fones (and my mom was NOT happy)

  11. i had my phone on my desk and it was off. and the teacher came up to it and just took it. i have no problem with her taking it because we aren't allowed to have phones in school. But does she have a right to turn it on 20 minutes later and start looking through my pictures. and keep looking through them even after i asked a number of times for her to please not to. i got expelled for this.

  12. hi my friend was in class and had out her cell phone bcuz someone sent her a txt. the teacher saw her and took her phone, wich is fine, it is, like most schools, a rule not to have your phone out in class. so she gave her her phone, thinking there would be no probelem and she could get it at the end of class. well instead of just stuffing the phone in her desk she fliped it open and went thourgh it!!! pics, txts, contacts, EVERYTHING!!! (i sit right next to her desk so i could see) now she's trying to get my friend in troble for a pic that has nothing wrong with it and by nothing i mean NOTHING!!! she would NEVER have any thing bad on her phone! but thats not what im so mad about. im so angry bcuz there was no reason for her to invade her privacy like that! it acctually kind of scares me bcuz you can learn just about anything about someone by reading the info on their phone, what songs you like (ring tone), who your friends with, all your friends #s, and even where and when you are going to be somewhere. like if you txt "gona walk to kim's at7 you comin?" the person knows that you are going to walk (posibly alone) to your friend's. (not saying that i don't trust my teacher, she was acctually my fav. teacher, but you really never KNOW them!) i just think that it is a violation of our rights and unless they have a warent or permission there is no reason for anyone to look thourgh anyone's phone!!! it's like going into thier home and looking rifeling thourgh all of thier stuff! it's just not right!!!

  13. i was taking pictures with my friends after school and some teacher came up and took my phone and told me that i wasnt allowed to take pictures with my phone only a camara. but it was my first time i stayed after for that specific class and i didnt know that because it was a new rule for me, what i knew was that we could take pictures just dont text.

    then i hear my phone is going to the police officer of the school and shes gonna go through my whole fu@#ing phone! im very mad.

    is that allowed? is she only gonna see the pictures i took with my friends when i was after school?

  14. i left my purse under my desk in one of my classes one time, and when I got called to the deans office, I went in to find my dean looking through my phone. She then yelled at me for having my phone on. Firstly she shouldn't have searched my purse any further than after finding my ID which was in the front pocket in plain sight and second even if she saw my phone she shouldn't have opened it. It's MY purse and MY phone and I think it's perfectly okay to be punished for using phones during class but I was not. I believe I have I right to my own privacy.

  15. I can tell most of you are still in school or do not have kids in school. If your in a public school ran by the county, you have not right to privacy. Your backpack can be searched if the school if they have any reason to believe it needs to. That means any book, notebook, or whatever else is in it. Same with your phone, if it rings in class and it is a text, they have the right to go through it. If the SRO at your school has any reason to believe that something illeagal is going on with you and your phone is takin up, He has the right to go through it for the saftey of the school. To many kids have been killed in schools to worry about your 4th admendment rights. If you don't like it go to a private school. If your worried about having your phone looked through leave it at home, or in your vehicle. I will never know how all the kids in the early 90's and before that ever made it through school without a cell phone, Oh wait they did, so get over it.

    • Thank you. You’re absolutely right. My History teacher told us that, besides jail, there are very few places where your rights are more restricted than at school. I believe that the rule is that in searching your belongings the faculty/staff member needs:

      a) a reasonable suspicion to search your belongings based on suspicion of you violating a school rule or federal/state law. For example, if texting is against school rules, and they see your phone out, although much is left to interpretation, that would probably constitute reasonable suspicion, and they could look through your text messages.

      b) they can only go as far as the suspicion necessitates. If they think you’re texting, and look through your texts, they do NOT have the right to look at anything besides text messages.

      Destroying or damaging your property in any way is absolutely a violation of your rights, however.

  16. I've had my phone taken away a number of times in school. Not because of texting or having it out. I use my phone for music. My phone has a speaker on it and I can listen to music with my friends. I only use it before and after school. Teachers take it because "they think the music is promoting satanism." Everytime I give them my phone I lock it and turn it off. I have an eight digit code to enter to get my phone to turn back on. They tell me to unlock and give it to them all the time. Basically, set up a lock and say no. They can't force you to do anything that you don't want too.

  17. so my freind was getting a cal in the middle of class from his dad becuae he might not see him in a while….so the teacher takes away his phone and talks with the pricable about it…they call over before p.e. and talk to him about it…he saw them pushing the menu buttonand some other button not involved with the thing he was called up for…idc what they say its inavding privacy…itll be hard to stand up to he teachers but however no matter what exuse it is hes invading ''PERSONALL!'' property it doesnt belong to then itd owned and bought by some one other than him so it is a fact invading privacy…ill see what i can do brady!

  18. ok here is the deal im a ex student that has a job in law enforcement if you are caught with your cell phone or any electronic out it can be taken away. if you don't want your phone to be violated set up youe security lock before hand and lock your phone so they can't get in to it. this is should stop all the cry babies out from crying the 4th

    • no offense but that's kind of rude. We are not all cry babies it's just that we don't want people looking at our stuff. You can't trust everybody and what they would do if they looked into your phone

    • Again, They need a warrant, They can NOT take it away, Because there is a law that contradicts the rule that says they can, Rule VS Law, You figure out who win's.

  19. My teacher went through my messages and I told the school guidance counciler. That was almost a month ago and noone has done anything

  20. So ya I lost my phone today, and I gave it up willingly, well the principal got it, as usual. She went through everything in my phone, i feel like its been an Invasion of my Privacy… Load of crap yo. I bet its illegal.

  21. Today, my gym teacher took up my phone, and that was okay. But later at lunch my bestfriend was like why are you texting me, i thought you diddnt have your phone, when in fact i diddnt. The principal was texting people off of my phone, is that illegal? Please contact me at [email protected] and tell me, i really need to know fast.

    • I spent my entire afternoon replying to questions other students have typed, some of which lack decent spelling and grammar and come from the mouth of some students not as honest as me. But, for some reason unknown by me, I feel compelled to reply to you, so I will. Oh, and I’m replying on this website’s Comment area, so the general public can read this. And I hope your principal will.

      ———————

      Ask yourself this: if you had a really crappy phone, with a pay-as-you-go plan, no data at all, no unlimited texting, no long-distance, etc. will you be spending hours texting and talking on your CELLULAR when you could easily do so on your computer and landline? Probably not. You could access your computer and landline as easily as your cell. The benefit of those two is that there are no additional costs if you spend too much time. However, your cell service provider could charge you a hefty fee (some kid on vacation “accidentally” racked up $22K in data roaming charges in the course of three days.)

      Now, imagine your principal is in this situation. He could be texting off your phone for three reasons:

      (1) He could never text before, not when he had that pay-as-you-go flip-phone. So, he takes advantage of the opportunity to text on YOUR phone. He doesn’t care how many minutes he racks up, because it’s not his money! He needs numbers to text (he can’t text his friends or they’d start texting back and asking questions,) so he goes in your Contacts book and texts the numbers in there.

      (2) He purposely texts on YOUR account to rack up charges and teach you a lesson. If he smartened up, looked more carefully at the text count, and saw you had sent 300 messages in one hour, he’d probably assume quite correctly you have unlimited. Only a retard would text at that rate without unlimited.

      (3) He texts your friends to drain money from THEIR accounts, something YOU wouldn’t do. Then your friends break up with you, etc. causing conflict. Not likely, but possible.

      Point being, if he texts on your phone, he drains money from your account. That’s considered theft, regardless of what those oh-so-wise school policies say. How to prevent the texting? Set a passcode lock on your device. Then he can’t go in it unless he hacks it with software, which is also illegal.

  22. I know, Today, i my phone taken away bcuz my phone only sent a message to my friend that was supposed to get to him at 7:30 at 10:20, right im my third period class. Now, my friend had his phone taken away, and the message happened to be about the teacher that confiscated the phone. so now i'm getting a central bcuz he looked at something he shouldn't have, and they are getting rid of my phone Because of school policy(if your phone has any content that's offensive and concering a teacher or other staff member, the school is entitled to throw away my 300 dollar phone).

  23. I got my phone taken up. I recommend people put a password on their phone. I lock my phone and the teacher can't do shit to make me unlock it. It was BS why it was taken up anyway. I was done with my SS final and texted, I mean why can't I? Anyway yeah, just get a password and you're good to go. Almost all smartphones have this feature and a few standard phones. It doesn't matter, I'm pretty sure you can't get expelled for refusing to give a password. That's like your teacher asking for your facebook or email.

    • Ok if you get your phone taken away due to calls or texts then I would just give it up then have it set up to remotely lock while on iTunes (I believe you can do that)if there is something important in the family,for example a house fire or a parent or relative passes away and your school doesn’t answer their phones and you get a call or text saying that and they take it away then refuse and got down to the principal see in my school my teachers say that if the office is busy and can’t pick up and you are getting a call that is important then say so and they will let you go and my school’s office is “ALWAYS BUSY” now if it is just crap drama then just say I’m sorry and do you mind if I turn it off so it won’t happen again

  24. A teacher took my phone while i was texting my mom outside and he stood there and read through all of my texts and he looked at my pictures. He then started texting other people from my phone who i had been texting earlier. The ACLU had a case on schools going through a students privacy and this is definetely not right and something has to be done about it.

  25. okay today in lunch my friend got caught texting and the dean called her up to the stage and confiscated her phone. 5 minutes later the dean calls my name and asks me for my phone i then gave it to her and she told me that i was texting the girl and they showed me a message that I tryed to send to my phone but it didnt ever get to my phone so then she supposes im teexting her. I dont think my phone should have gotten token away and i dont think that the dean should have been looking through that girls messages in the first place. now i am getting blamed for it all saying i shouldnt be using cell phones during school and i shouldnt have been even trying to send that message to my phone. please reply with what you think !

  26. Teachers and administrators, in most cases, do not have the legal right to search phone messages or texts. The ACLU ( American Civil Liberties Union)has taken several school districts to court over this and have either settled the cases out of court or won. Contact the ACLU for more information. In most cases, state or federal (or both), illegal access to electronic communication laws may have been broken.The school superintendant should be notified of these actions and if he/she condones them, a parent should consider hiring a lawyer.This is just my opinion as a parent. I am NOT a lawyer, so this is not legal advice;just what I would do if it happened to one of my children. If noone decides to step up and do what is necessary to stop actions like this, they will continue. The Supreme Court has said beyond a doubt that "childrens rights don't stop at the schoolhouse door". Good luck.

  27. I personally think that teachers have absolutly NO right to be looking through another students phone. I am lucky that my school does not try to look through the phone. Pro tip: If you don't want the school to be able to look through your phone, it's a good idea to put a password on it. They can't force you to give the password up without a search warrent. Though, I am assuming that whoever would be putting a password would NOT be using there phone for criminal act's.

    It's what I do on my I-pod. Though I don't use it during classes, I will still tell the principle that if she ever took it, then she would need a search warrent for me to reveal my password.

    Please use decent grammer. Your spelling and grammer are a reflection of your intelligence, and some people look pretty ignorent.

  28. my consolur teacher took away my phonr because people were saying that i was making some other people fight. when the teacher took my phone it was onlt me that she asked my phone for, i was going to say why just me all these people wre in volved but i didnt. she told me to go back to my class i said okay walked out then the people that were in there with me told me that the teacher/conslure was looking through my phone….

    Is that even legal!?!?!?!?!?

  29. I think it's stupid that the teachers look through our personal stuff. DO they really need to know about what's going on in our lives? And I know that it's wrong to text in class, and they have every right to take it away. But I also think it's stupid to give it to the office and say that our mom has to get it or something. That's our property, and teachers need to respect our privacy just like we need to respect theirs.

  30. I got my camera taken away in school (a private school) because it was on and accidentally recording the class. My English teacher referred it to the vice-principal and now I am in deep trouble for recording a class without the teacher's consent. Is it legal for a teacher/vice-principal at a private school to go through my personal camera and look at my pictures without MY consent?

  31. i was called down to the office and i was searched(im also only 15 so that was illegal with no parental consent), anyways my principal took my phone and gave it to the vice pricipal and they proceeded to go through it right infront of me. i may have had some illegal transactons in text messages and i was suspended. But i belive that they violated my forth amendment right.

    • In your case, your fourth amendment right was not violated. In the 1985 Supreme Court case New Jersey v. T.L.O., it was ruled that students have a reduced expectation of privacy while at school. Administrators merely need “reasonable suspicion” of illegal activity to conduct a search of a student. When it all comes down to it, you’re the one at fault. At the very least, you should be smart and delete your evidence of “illegal” activity, or better yet don’t do it at all!

  32. today i was using my frends phone to check my myspace any my teacher caught me and started going throught all my status and mood and messages and others private things too can she do that

  33. Cyberbullying is protected by our Constitution. Cyberbullying rules and laws are in the way of our rights in the First Amendment so, they are unconstitutional. As long as it is obscene material, threats, or using copyright information it's legal. Cyberbullying is not just threats and obscene material but also things like teasing. The Fourth Amendment states clearly that people must have a search warrant in order to search your property, so cellphone searching is unconstitutional as well.

  34. okay so one time in class i had my phone in my bag an it was off nd some! txted me nd it started to vibrate. i wasnt even in that class yet it was my next class. well the teacher asked whos fone it was nd then she went over to all the bags an went throu them all really i dont think you can do this but she read throu my friends fone bc he bag was next to mine nd she found out that it wasnt hers and she wwent to mine and read throu all my messages to every1 nd she asked my friend who this one person was and she didnt lik that person and has told me to stay away from him b4 but i didnt. well my mom works at the school so during my class she had her come in nd gave her my fone then my mom went h=an found him an showed him my fone i mean really?!?! but i got my fone bac after school bc i had a game but i mean really do teachers really hav the right to go throu every ones stuff?!?

  35. if it is against the policy then its your fault if they take it.. stop bitching and don't take your phone out.. my wife, who works in class rooms was almost shot because the teacher was not allowed to report photos of guns and a text with intent to kill classmates because it was invasion of privacy.. my wife and baby girl could have been killed.. instead she left the job because the administration at the school said they could do nothing.. so now we lose our liberty because some stupid immature gangbanger wannabes come to class trying to kill each other… if it is against the policy of the school and your break it, its your fault if your phone is confiscated.. when i was in school and you were writing a note and it was against the rules they would take the note and read it and they had that right.. because you took time away from your education that your parents pay for.. think back on all this invasion crap you are complaining about in ten years and you'll remember me and think of your own kids and your own safety.. sadly youth keeps you from thinking of anyone else in the world but yourselves… I understand that there are acceptable circumstances.. but think about it kids

  36. i was in detention and my phone was vibrating and i have a touchscreen phone so i quickly silenced it and was turning it off now there going to take it to the office and keep it for 24 hours this is so stupid

  37. is there anything about taking a picture of a student and teacher just talking. cause a friend of mine put a picture like that on facebook and he was suspended until the end of the school year. They didnt see him take the picture, they saw it on facebook, If they didnt find it on school property how can they punish him . He got his phone taken away at school, at the end of the day the school charged him 25$ to get his phone back.

    • Thats illegal, Tell him that he needs to take them to court, That is theft, And im not quite sure of the law about Selling Stolen property BACK TO THE PERSON they stole it from

  38. I have never taken my fone to school, but seriously whoever wrote those rights thing with public and private schools, PRIVATE SCHOOLS U HAVE NO RIGHTS AND U MUST FOLLOW LAW AND SCHOOL LAW = WORSE THAN PUBLIC!!!! anyway, teachers have no damn right what so ever to search through a phone without permission because, 1. it is search and seizure(constitution is against that), and 2. it violates the 4th admendment. Of course, I go to a private school so I have no rights :'(

    • There is no such thing as school law, The constitution does not apply here But Normal law does, They need a warrant to do anything that involves search/Seizure of your Person/Property/Phone/Camera/Whateverhaveyou. If a teacher has done anything like that then Report It

  39. alan, its one thing to confiscate the phone. Its another to look at all private info about a single person via any source unless you are given permission. Common sense

  40. Well I got my phone away for a day too. And to the one who sayed stop bitchen I'm pretty you wouldn't like it if someone went through your phone. But in parts your true teachers can take your phone but the only way they can read the messages is if they think it could be a threat to someone no way else if they look at it for no reason then that's violation of private property

  41. Well everyone here is acting like these teachers are cops…..they are NOT! Believe it or not they don't actually have the right to confiscate your phone. Your parents are ultimately responsible for what you do under school policies, they can give you a punishment……which is also…..up to your parents to ensure it is enforced. A teacher is just another person…..that your parents, along with the government to an extent have agreed to let teach you things as long as you follow their policies. If any teacher ever does anything like this, get on a land line immediately and call the police claiming everything including theft, invasion of privacy, and if they don't stop looking through your private things when you ask them to, criminal harassment. This applies in private schools as well, except the government is less involved, your parents who pay the school are solely responsible for controlling your actions, not he teacher.

    Further more if the teacher thinks there is some incriminating evidence or something dangerous, they need to contact the police and GET A SEARCH WARRANT! They still can't legally go through or seize your private property!

  42. Most schools have a sign in the school as well as the parking lot addressing searches on school property. You'll be happy when someone searches someone and finds a weapon to hurt others or drugs. You have to take the good with the bad. Who the heck are you talking to during school hour anyway. It's ridiculous how you actually see some of these young people throwing tantrums and wanting to commit suicide over someone taking their phones. Take my phone any day , I could care less. Adults can't drink and smoke on school grounds ,or any other institutional setting, so why do young people think that they don't have to follow rules? That's life.

  43. When things go bad and someone's pictures are distributed around school or someone is being cyberbullied then parents want to blame everything on the big pockets of the school system saying that they should have known. You can't win.

  44. As a parent of two grown children (19 & 21) I urge all of you to seek legal advice. Also get your parents to go into the school and talk about what kind of garbage these teachers and other school officials are doing. You are totally right to be angry and your privacy is being violated! These so called adults have no right to go through your phone no matter what you have done. I do agree with your phone being taken away if you are using it when you should not be. If you or your parents won't do anything about the invasion of privacy, then put a lock code on your phone and nobody can make you unlock it as they have no reason to be going through your phone in the first place (unless it's your parents). Teachers need to smarten up and I have to wonder why they aren't doing their jobs instead of going through kids cell phones????

  45. My son was accused of smelling like marijuana. Make a long stroy short he was searched and went thru his phone finding messages indicating that he is selling marijuana. He has been expelled we see the board tomorrow. Do you think he will be kicked out the district? He is a freshman 1.5 months into the school yr. I am very upset with him as well as the school authorities taking his phone and using personnel messages against him. Is this legal?

  46. Hey , I am an 8th grader and my assistant principal took my phone away because me and my girlfriend were kissing, and he looked through my pictures/messages. Is this Legal?

  47. Just saying, many of the teenagers I see on here use a lot of slang and talk very unsophisticated, if you would like to put up a pheasable arguement do it in a respectable manner, Im in highschool and agree that it violates rights but only when there is not suspicion, however if they get word from another student about something on any electronic device then I believe they do have the right. But all powers can be abused, and this one has too, just set up a lock code and refuse to give it to them, simple as that.

  48. OK so i'm pretty pissed bc a teacher let The principal have my phone with NO proof that i was actualy texting I mean yeah my phone closed but for all HE knows MY PHONE was being looked at for the simple fact that I was looking ate the TIME and now i'm grounded (more then likely) bc this is the second time i've had it taken T.T

  49. Okay I know my phone should be taken away because i was txting but they didnt go through it or anything at least i dont think so. Okay i am in sixth grade and i was txting because someone said i was allowed to txt at "recess" it is not really recess but anyway they took it and said that I can get it at the end of the day in the office so i went and they said only my parents can get it and i told them that my teacher said i can get it. they said my parent has to get i was like okay i guess. And it is hard for me bc nobody can get it back for me bc my mom works from 7 am to 8 pm and my school starts at 8 am. So what do i do????

    • they cannot legally keep it, Threaten Legal Action for theft, And if they were Forceful when they took it (IE:They Had physical contact with any part of your body in a Rough Manner)Then Add on aggravated assault on a minor

  50. My friend was sleeping over at my house this weekend to she needed her phone to contact her mom when she got to my house. But her phone got taken away by her teacher because her friends were using it.

    The teacher sent it down to the office and the office secretary said that she i keeping to phone on the weekend and she will get it on Monday.

    We got it because my mom put up a fight but i this illegal? I need to know fast. PLEASE REPOST

  51. So my phone got taken away today. In my last period class i was texting my friend and i put my phone on my skirt. Then the teacher comes near me looks between my legs and tells me to give her my phone. (EW) Anyways, i gave it to her willingly and she told me to go to the office later and to get it from the principal.UUGGHH so i said ok then my cousin came back to her classroom after school with me and we saw two teacher looking through my phone then they saw me and put my phone down. i was so pissed off!! Who said that they had a right to be looking through my text messages?! is this legal?! its an invasion of my privacy! now im left with no phone and my privacy violated. i dont think this is fair! Is it legal for teachers to look through my texts??!! please reply to me let me know what you think about this.

  52. Who sd you had the right to have a cell phone anyway? You are not even old enough to vote on the future of this country that people are dying for. You should be more concerned about learning the history that gave you the freedom to have the cell phone to begin with. What is wrong with you and where are your parents.

  53. I do think that is very wrong, but you shouldnt have had your phone out texting in the first place if you didnt want teachers going through your text!!!!!!

  54. So i was at lunch today and my phone goes off, someone who hates me shouts out "______ HAS A PHONE MRS. BITCHELL" (nickname now) and then hers go's off and "IT'S HIS" and then i hand over my phone, and she randomly tries to go onto it, well my iphone has a passcode bitch and she flips out and calls me down to her office, and wouldn't give me my phone back, she then procedes to ask me what my passcode is, when I wouldn't tell her she threatened to break it, i go and tell the office lady but she wouldn't believe me, so when i get home i call my dad and tell my mom what happend, and she wouldn't answer my phone or anything, my dad sent her a text saying that he would tell every news station of phone theft if it's not returned, no answer cause of a passcode

  55. i had a teacher take my phone up yesterday at lunch i gave it up but when i saw her making an attempt to look at my content i went up and knocked her clip board from her hands and asked her what the hell she thought she was doing with my phone i grabed it from her hands and told she had no right to be doing that she said that since im a student if i send or recieve txt messages during school she can read them i told her i am 18 i live by myself i pay my own cell bill and told her she has no right to since i am 18 and i am an adult student and i am my own guardian and so im suspended for three days for not letting her have my phone :/ but eh. such as life and i agree with kellie and …

    i say people should only have a cell phone if they pay for it and if there 18

    • Really? You live on your own and cannot even spell or type properly? Apparently you also curse at school staff, so it isn’t surprising they took your phone to search through it, they probably suspected something. Also, people should only have a cell phone if they are 18? That’s silly, a 16 year old out and about needs a phone in case of emergencies, and all of that and all of your statement has no bearing on the main point; you are at school, the teachers have a right to do what they need to in order to protect the other students and continue to have the school run safely. Act like an adult, speak to them like an adult–which does not include grabbing things from people’s hands–and perhaps this sort of thing wouldn’t happen to you.

  56. How does school policies over rule the law??? far as im concern if another individual takes another individuals property is called stealing. what if somone said sorry sir you cant drive right here give me your keys or pay me to give it back, naw ef that i would be having a throw down. taking our property is against our 14th admendment then not only that if you go through my privacy through my phone thats against our 4th admendment. so nobody touches it without my permission.

  57. I'm a teacher and we confiscate any electronic device we see, but if it's off and out of sight, it's allowed.

    I would advise my son, it someone insists he give up his phone, he is to take the battery and/or SIM card out of it, put them in his pocket, and hand the teacher the phone.

    This eliminates all but the most dedicated snoops, assuming they could find a battery or charger that would not cause property damage, and without the SIM, it might not do much anyway.

  58. My daughter was caught texting during math class recently. The teacher took her phone. My daughter turned it off before handing it over to the teacher. Her mother went to get the phone. The principle went to get it from her teacher. He turned the phone on in front of my wife and invaded my childs privacy by reading her text out loud. I did a web search and found a law suit case in PA by the ACLU where the PA school district settled out of court for 33,000 dollars instead of having the case decided by a Federal Judge. I have now contacted the GA ACLU about taking up my child's case. It is against the law for any school official to access stored text messages on a students' confiscated cell phone except under specific conditions. Such as, if the student was committing a crime, or there is reasonable belief a crime is going to be committed. My suggestion is for all students whose privacy has been violated this way, request that their parents file a 4th Ammendment lawsuit against the offender. Try not to settle out of court. Get the legal precedent set in a court of law to stop future students' Civil Rights violations from happening. The Supreme Court has already made it clear that students' civil rights do not stop at the schoolhouse door.

    • I don’t look at student phones, unless they ring/buzz with messages in my possession, and I warn them of that, so they all turn them off. Only other time is if the child claims it is texting with a parent, I tel them that they are to show me the texts, and 95+% of the time they aren’t chatting with a parent. I have a question for the “parent” who would feel that they wouldn’t look through any personal aspect of their child’s. If you went through the phone, room, books, etc without your child’s permission, should she sue you? Teachers are loco parentis. . meaning they have the legal responsibilities of the parent. . and rights, while in charge of the child. Now. . do I think that teachers/admin should go through the phone, nope, not unless there is a just cause (information about cyber bullying, threats, etc. etc) Would you have teachers and staff never check student bags, jackets, etc for contraband, etc. etc. How about metal detectors? isn’t that invading privacy? I love how if something is done that maybe shouldn’t have (don’t know all the details, but like I said, I don’t look at their phones except for specific reasons), the response is in America to SUE the bastards. . . Not like the legal system isn’t over taxed, your child’s phone being taken away and looked at is the pressing and high up on the priority list. .

      • Haha, dude, if you were my teacher i would kill myself. You CANT look through anyone’s phone without reason. A phone “buzzing” is not a reason. People wonder why our generation (teens) are less intelligent then before. Its because the teachers that are supposed to educate the students are too stupid to teach the curriculum and care too much about the teens phones. What if a student came up to you and took your phone and went through all of your stuff? You wouldn’t like it. The teachers these days need to grow up and do their job..teach, in case you didn’t know what i meant, because teachers get confused on their jobs they need to do these days.

        • First of all. The phone, itself, is a distraction to the learning environment. Schools have strict policies, and if a child breaks that policy, he is subject to punishment.

          I took away an iPhone for a child. The child said he was not listening to his music. To check if he was lying to me I slid the bar over to the right to discover he was correct. He was actually looking at pornography.

          • Bullcrap! Even if he was listening to his music and you weren’t sure you are not permitted to look at his messages. That is a violation of the fourth amendment, stating that you can not do a unreasonable search or seizure!!!! unless his committing a crime back off lady because students can suit you for that kinda stuff! And guess what you can’t violate any amendment at all or civil right unless it is a matter of national security, so the schools are pushing the no dress code rule anyways. and do you think being on a phone or wearing a certain clothing is a threat to the whole entire nation?!?! i dont think so!! get your facts straight lady!!

          • In my opinion, they are allowed to look at the student’s phone without just cause and this is not considered breaking the fourth amendment. It should not be illegal, seeing as the teacher and/or administrator is not a legal officer, so why would he/she need a search warrant. The only thing, in my opinion, is that it is immoral and the teacher/admin is overstepping their boundaries as a teacher/admin. It is just a question of ethics if you’re asking me, and the teacher should not be allowed to search it unless they have a reasonable suspicion (information about cyber bullying, child pornography, or any other kind of crime) that a crime is being committed with the use of this cell phone or other electronic device.

          • Hello lululacey56,

            I am a middle schooler who is rather quite interested in civil law. What you did right there when you took away the students IPhone, you violated the students 4th amendment. You weren’t allowed to slide over the bar to open the IPhone. The 1985 Supreme Court case New Jersey v. T.L.O. doesn’t apply to this situation because it requires a “reasonable situation” in order for it to be put in place. Accusing a student of listening to music isn’t a reasonable search or seizure of his private property. you violated his 4th amendment right as well as his 9th amendment right. bravo

      • Still Invasion of privacy, On or off, In your Possession(Which is theft BTW), Its there property, Not yours and you need a warrant to look through it

  59. you guys are dumb when ever a teachers asks to take ur phone away just take the battery out they cant stop your from doing that because why would they need the battery in the phone anyway

  60. A teacher asked me to give her my iphone 4 but i refused so she got my head of year to get it of me i handed it over and he asked for the password i said no he said again i said no he walked out and said come to my office after school so i did i went in and he was banging it against his desk and i said do you mind he said nothing and then said if i have to confiscate it again it will be for the rest of the year he carnt do that a whole 2 month all for looking at a text on the lock screen

    • Your comment makes no sense when read. Try slowing down and leaving more comprehensible replies. I would recommend ending your sentences with periods going forward.

      • i understood that post clearly. ?s teacher asked to hand over their iphone 4 and ? refused, then got the head of year to confiscate the iphone 4 and ? refused to give out the lock code of said iphone then when ? went to the office after school he found the head of year smashing the iphone against his desk then ? asked ” do u mind? ” head said nothing, then told ? that if hes gotta confiscate the iphone again it will be for a whole year and he cant do that for a whole 2 months all for looking at a txt pm on a LOCKED SCREEN. clear enough for u?

  61. today my freind got his phone taken away from the principal, which is perfectley fine. But then he comes back and he show the teacher of the contents in his phone. Some of it was innapropriate so got in trouble. Being the idot that i am i said " Oh shit Ethan is done". so then we were both suspended for 2 days. i dont think this is fair because he invaded the privacy of my freinds phone and i got suspended for saying shit. What really pisses me off is that the same day two students got into a fight and he let them off with a warning. I feel that the consiquences for my actions was too much. My dad got really mad at me. What is your opinoins?

  62. every time i get a call home or suspened my mom takes all my stuff away she go so exstrem wit it but the worst part is i just got suspened and now all my stuff iz tookin i feel like i really fucked up this time because is only two days away lol im not gettin shit but i got suspened ova suin so stupid

  63. I have an app on my phone called prey its an anti theft program my teacher took my phone and i went in to the library later and set it to stolen and turned on a lod alarm along with it displaying a message on the screen that the police wer coming my teacher has not taken my phone since

  64. is it illegal for a teacher to keep you phone in their office for the whole weekend and two school days without turning it in to the principal?

    • Many kids with the new Android phones do have locks But, they are easily bypassed and I know how to do so. Being 17 I went to a school for troubled students and every morning I had to turn in my phone to a staff member who then would put it in a locker with a locked room only a handful of staff members had access to. From what I understand under New York law it is an invasion of privacy to search through any electronics that have been turned in by a student. My school didn’t care apparently. Staff members would go through my phone by bypassing the lock code or pattern. I proved this by every morning sending myself 2 Text Messages and leaving them unread. I’d turn my phone off hand it in. When I’d get it back in the afternoon the text messages would have been read and sometimes the phone was on…….. school administrators and staff members will always deny that they even touched the phones so no one believed me or the 75 other students that claimed their privacy was invaded…….. Simple solution to all kids and tell your kids if you get caught with your phone and have it taken away by a staff member BE SURE TO REMOVE THE BATTERY OF THE PHONE BEFORE HANDING IT OVER!!! There is no rules against that

    • My principal forced me to unlock my phone. He went through my texts and contacts and asked who the people were. We called the ACLU on him and they told him that was an illegal search, and if he did it again, they would have to take him to court, or something along those lines.

  65. schools have no respect for privacy they dont have to the moment you step on school grounds you practically have no rights at all. thats just the way public schools are cant handle it get home schooled dont want your phone taken away put it up. im a 14 yr old teenaged girl for crying out loud i can at least wait til i leave school to get on my phone i mean ypu have all your friends at school with why text them i think my generation is just to over run with technology

    • You have the same rights you do outside as well as inside school, But more people want to violate and take those rights away inside school.

  66. You stupid little high school idiots. Bottom line, do not use your phone at school, or even bring it to school and this will not be an issue. And yes, legally you have very little rights in a public school, so therefore a teacher can legally read your text. Just like a teacher can read a note written on paper being passed to another student.

    • Dear god, people don’t get mad get even. I blared my iPod stolen alarm and the teacher freaked out, it was even more funny when I taught my friend how to make HIS IPHONE call 911 for police when his phone was stolen XD IT WAS HILLARIOUS!

    • You have the same rights you do outside as well as inside school, But more people want to violate and take those rights away inside school, Teachers have no right to do anything to you or do anything with your property, They have the same rights as a stranger you see in the street's, They cannot do anything with your property, They cannot take it, Search it, ECT without a warrent

  67. Android 2.3.7 user

    HOW CAN I PREVENT MY TEACHER FROM TAKING MY PHONE AWAY?

    If you don’t want your phone to be confiscated in class, don’t text, record, game, or use the phone in any other way. Understand the rules and regulations of your school district and look through the Code of Conduct – most likely there’s a section in there regarding cell phone usage. For example, the VSB Code of Conduct says something along the lines of, “The Vancouver School Board reserves the right to search any student’s property or locker, provided the student is suspected of owning or selling drugs or alcohol.” Also: “Cell phones must be turned off during class.”

    Your Code of Conduct might be different. But I will use the VSB Code as an example. Put your phone on Silent mode while in class. Since I’m using Android, you CANNOT just check the Silent Mode option. You must go into Volume, drag all the sliders to the left, then go into Vibrate, then select Never, then deselect all the additional check marks in the Sound main menu. (It’s a good idea to still check Silent Mode after this.)

    Let’s talk about the “reserves the right… drugs or alcohol.” This specified property includes anything you bring to school – that includes your cell phone. It’s not hard to avoid drugs and alcohol. Don’t make friends with the shady guys in school. Never possess cigarettes, alcohol (unless your teacher permits it for cleaning,) or drugs. Don’t ever bring weapons to school, this includes toy guns. If the school doesn’t suspect you of doing anything wrong, they aren’t going to search your phone – not that they could if they wanted to.

    HOW TO AVOID YOUR PHONE BEING SEARCHED AFTER CONFISCATION?

    First off, put a lock on your phone. For Android, this can be a pattern drawn on a 9*9 grid, a 4-digit PIN, or an alphanumeric password. I don’t use the password because it takes too long to type, but for ALL my devices, I use either a pattern or a PIN. (PIN is more secure. Try doing 9C4+9C5+9C6+9C7+9C8+9C9 on a calculator, and you’ll see a number just slightly less than 1000. This number represents the total possible combinations. You can, however, make 10000 distinct PINs.)

    But what if you’re texting or doing something on a certain app, and your teacher grabs the phone out of your hand before you can press the lock button? That’s why I recommend App Lock (aka eLock). I’m not sure if this is available for iOS devices. Let’s say you’re using the Text Messaging app. Your teacher will only be able to view the Messaging app – no other apps you choose to have locked because App Lock will ask for a PIN. (When your teacher makes the mistake of quitting Messaging, he won’t be able to go back in.) If you choose the option Short Exit permitted, and let’s say you’ve used Facebook and now using Messaging, your teacher can look at the Facebook app – but only if you used it x minutes before the Messaging app. X is for the number of minutes you specified in the Short Exit option. I recommend 3 minutes for Short Exit.

    Lock at LEAST these apps (if you have them): App Manager, Browser, Calendar (so your teacher won’t be able to see the locations of your upcoming events,) Contacts if you want, Downloads if you download stuff frequently, Email apps, Facebook, File Manager, Instagram, Media playing apps including Gallery and Music, Messaging, Note Pad, Settings, Twitter, and Voice Recorder. Lock up these features: Install/uninstall apps and Force Close eLock. It seems like a lot but you’ll get used to it after a while. Plus, you probably aren’t using all of the apps I mentioned. ALWAYS lock any social media apps and file managers.

    HOW CAN I AVOID GETTING IN TROUBLE AFTER I’M FORCED TO GIVE UP MY LOCK?

    Remember that your phone can be lost. What you’ll be afraid of is not being able to get back your hardware – it’s that you won’t be able to get back your DATA! Even worse, that sensitive data could easily fall into the wrong hands.

    That’s why I say, “Don’t use your phone to do anything illegal.” This includes storing pornography, making illegal transactions, and chatting about weapons, drugs, or alcohol. Back up your data on your phone once every three days. This is as simple as connecting the phone to your computer and copying the files to your hard drive. (This trick only works for Android users; iPhone tends to hide some of its files from Windows File Explorer.) If the file is something you don’t want others to see, and you can live without it dwelling on your phone, delete it from the phone after copying it to your computer. But what if you’ve got data on that phone which isn’t illegal, but needs to stay on the phone, is still private, and would potentially humiliate you if you gave it up?

    Keep in mind, you can’t get in trouble for unethical content if the teacher can’t prove it exists.

    Two apps are the answer. Choose one that you think would give you the best features: Keepsafe Vault Pro or Hide Pictures & Text Messages. (Make sure you actually read their descriptions in Google Play.) Keepsafe Vault Pro allows you store all the pictures of your choosing into a special vault. What if someone forces you to give up the Keepsafe PIN (it’s actually a good idea to also hide Keepsafe under App Lock)? Use Fake Vault. By typing in a second PIN, you open up a second vault which contains pictures you decide are okay to reveal. Your teacher won’t know you have a real Keepsafe – nor is there any way to quickly prove it. They can’t force you to give up a PIN that might not exist. Hide Pictures & Text Messages can store more types of data, but does not seem to have the Fake Vault feature.

    SO WHAT IF MY TEACHER TAKES AWAY MY PHONE AND TAKES IT HOME?

    Use AndroidLost. It comes with a ton of features for remote-controlling your phone. You can start alarms, intercept SMS, pop-up on-screen messages, wipe the SD card, and more. When you use another phone to SMS the start alarm command many times in the night, your teacher will get frustrated. WARNING: Only do this if the teacher taking/searching your phone was completely outrageous, as you will get in big trouble. This will only work if the phone is on. After 3 days or so, the battery will die and AndroidLost will work no more.

    UNDERSTANDING MORE

    First off: When your teacher asks you for your phone, you aren’t voluntarily giving him your phone. He’s threatening you with serious consequences should you disobey. This could range from a detention to an expulsion.

    When your teacher asks you for your phone, and your phone does not have a case, take off the cover and remove the battery and SIM card. This will obviously not work if the teacher violently grabs the phone out of your hand. Learn to keep your finger on the lock button, so you can lock the entire phone in time. Even if the teacher manages to get past your unlock screen, App Lock will ask for a PIN again, since App Lock asks you to verify again upon screen lock.

    Once you remove the battery and SIM card, the phone is pretty much useless. The teacher won’t be able to operate it without getting an additional battery and charger, and those cost money.

    If you’re called into the office to give up your locks, quickly phone your parents with the office phone. (If you and your parents speak another language, use the foreign language so no one understands what you’re going to say.) You should have backed up your data in case of situations like this. You will tell your parents to get their phone and quickly text the AndroidLost command to your phone to remote wipe the data. (You still have a backup copy of the data on your PC anyway.) Try to stall the teacher/principal for at least a minute by saying you need to go to the bathroom or something like that.

    • Disregard what I said about the PINs and patterns. Patterns are actually 9P4+9P5+9P6+9P7+9P8+9P9=985824.

      That’s actually 100 times more distinct patterns than there are PINs.

  68. It’s illegal for school to steal personal property, plain illegal, I once got my iPod taken away and when I went to get it at the end of the day the vice principle had delegated my kick the buddy app because it was “inappropriate” to torture a doll in a app! I had invested 20 dollars worth of gold in that app to! My parents are in the processs of seeing the school, I later found out that he plugged it in to acces my aps and to bypass my pass code! Well I was mad!

  69. First of all, i would not give my phone to a teacher PERIOD. If they ask for it, i’d just apologise for the distraction and put it in my pocket. They cant leagally make you give it to them since they are not a law enforcement officer with a search warrent. If they touch you if you, that is assault and i would pull my phone out and dial 911 in the middle of class and there is nothing the teacher can do about it. School polocies are not the law people! So dont let them make you think you have to give your phone to them.

    • See your a smart one, if they demand it say no it’s the law you can’t. Plain and simple. If they try to take it from you by force and vilonce call the police and shout SHE/HE US TRYING TO STEAL MY PHONE AND ASSULTING ME HELP ME!!!!! Done problem solved. 😀

  70. Teachers shouldn’t be looking at phones, but students shouldn’t have their phone out during class time in the first place. I’m not trying to say that when a student breaks the rules the teacher should be able to look through the phone, but what I’m saying is that students need to begin to respect their teachers by keeping their phones in their backpacks/lockers during school hours. You’re not there to text your friends all day, you’re there to learn. And whether you are learning anything or not, please do not disrupt the learning environment for others by using your phone during school hours.

  71. I am a high school science teacher. Students cheat by using their phones. They take pictures of tests, HW etc. Cheating is against school policies. Using phones in class is against school policies.
    Teachers are given enough responsibilities without having to deal with the phone issue. Students, put up your phones in class. Parents, discipline your children

    • I know this comment was posted ELEVEN months ago, however, you sir probably do not understand the phrase ‘Violation of Civil Rights’. This basically means that these teachers whether the students were cheating or not these teachers had NO right to go through those students phones.

    • Teachers abuse their power. A security lady took my phone away and made me turn on my phone and made me put in my password and went through my photos. Your right on how teachers can check for cheating they have a right for that. But she checked my phone because a lady reported me taking videos. and when i handed them my phone it was OFF. And said my photos were inappropriate, excuse me i don't care these are my photos she's not my mother. Technically it's my moms phone because SHE pays the bills.

  72. Guys. I know ur young but almost all cell phones have the ability to be locked. Put a password on ur phone and disable passive text messaging so ur incoming messages don’t display while the phone is locked. Share the password only with your folks. This way your information is intact and safe. Some cellphones will encrypt your data so they can’t extract it by other means. They cannot demand your password and your personal info is safe.

  73. Ok to the stupid people saying stop crying about rights and having your fourth amendment right are you dumb? People should not be dismissing what rights everyone has as a citizen on the United States. This is why our government is taking over and turning freaken communist. Don’t let anyone take away your rights no matter how small the situation.

  74. Everyone commenting here about getting their phone’s taken away and being searched should fight for their rights. I’ve personally studied the exceptions, bylaws and base of the IV Amendment, which clearly states “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” -from http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment
    Practically stating, unless there is hard evidence towards some suspicion of involvement with criminal activity, your teacher, administrators, police, or even government officials are NOT allowed to search your phone, and is considered a criminal offense if this amendment is violated.

  75. That’s right coming from a mom! Do not remove your password and do not speak to authories at school until you parent is there! My daughter is going through this now!

  76. That happened to me I was using it as a mirror in class I held it up too high and my teacher saw it . Luckily it has a pass code but if u get it out in class my teacher will put it on sims . But I did great word so he gave it back to me and didn’t put it on sims by the ways sims is on your record for ur jobs from bobert

  77. U can turn on the camera restriction on your phone while at school by going to settings clicking general and going to restrictions and sliding the green bar till it turns grey to get the camera back again u do the same thing just slide the other way till the bar goes green. Ps u wont find the camera app on your apps page either until u take the restriction off so it might look like it was deleted but it wasnt and all your pictures will b intact after im not sure but i think u can do the same thing with the photo app

  78. ima just saying, if you have the iPhone or most phones these dayz, you can have it passcode protected. Those teachers have to right to go through you cell phone. i honestly think a lot of teachers abuse their authority with student’s personal things. heck all my personal info and data is in that phone. just buzz of teachers!!!!

  79. The police officer at my school took away my phone. I wasn’t using it, it was just in my pencil bag. I have no idea why she took it away. A bunch of other girls in my class got theirs take away too, and none of us where using them. I don’t know what to say to her or how to ask for it back because I’ve never had it taken away before! What do I do???

  80. So my boyfriends phone got confiscated and the dean looked through all his stuff , and found pics of me. I heard about this from my friend while it was happening so I texted my bf hey. The dean texted back impersonations my bf and asking if I had a about personal stuff, like ‘ have I ever asked you to dress like a porn star?’ . Of course I knew it want my bf .!! It’s a private boarding school but isn’t that against the law??

  81. this happened to me…
    some one reported me for calling them a slut over the internet so they took my phone and its passwerd and went through it!
    im not sure its legal…

  82. In school i had my phone on my front pocket and it was hurting me so i took it out, but my ponytail was getting lose so i fixed it and put my phone in my back pocket a lady that works there during lunch saw it and kept telling me to give her my phone. I gave it to another security lady. She said to meet her after school. I went to her office after school. and she gave me my phone but she said turn it on. I did and then she told me the lady said i was taking videos. She asked did you take any videos, and she said," was your phone on." i said no. she said unlock your phone. and then she went through my photos. There were no videos but she saw some of my pictures and said that they were inappropriate and she kept asking me questions about my photos like where were they taken at. Some were during P.E but they allow us to use our phones, and she said did they know i was taking pictures. i said yes because my friends were doing poses and i was shouting,"1,2,3." so they must have known because EVERYBODY in school uses their phones during classes, and lunch. and their photos are really inappropriate. then she said on monday i'm going to call you to look at them again. This is not my phone because my mom pays the bill, so technically its hers.

  83. today i got my phone took and i didnt really think i should have because of four reasons……..for 1 we were in the gym and school hasnt even started and i wasnt playing on it in any type of way i was letting a friend text her mom real quick……and were just going to name this teacher ms.petty…..ok for 2 ms. petty started yelling at me like a physco im sitting here like are you kidding me i dont say anything or hand over my phone yet……..ms.petty is yelling at me saying go to the office right now she should suspend me and have me go to jjc…… when i didnt do anything so i end up giving her my phone and yes im mad because number 3 ms.petty only took my phone instead of my friends monique when monique wouldnt give ms.petty her phone and didnt even get in trouble…….now number 4 ms.petty goes out of the gym and stops on the side on the door and looks at my phone THEN goes to the office……NOW IS THIS RIGHT????????????

  84. OK so my cousin lives in Oklahoma and and this really rude girl told on him (for something he DIDNT do), and he got his phone taken away in class. And while he was sitting in his desk, in the classroom, his teacher got on his phone and started looking at his texts, twitter, facebook, phone calls, emails and just EVERYTHING. Well, there was nothing to hide, but inside the phone, she found a picture of him and his girlfriend and their dog during the summertime on vacation in the pool. She was in a long swimsuit(not a bikini), and him in swimshorts. There was nothing wrong with the picture, but the teacher is trying to expel him for the 'inapropriate' pic that he has on his phone. This has been going on for two months

    • OK so i forgot to add this in…..the teacher, after looking through, she took my cousins cell phone, got onto his texts, and she IMPERSONATED him and then proceeded to text his girlfriend saying she was a slut(becuase of the 'inapropriate' pic). I was so mad, and his girlfriend was so mad that i had to call and tell her the whole story.

  85. I'm 14 and I've been looking through this site for a while now. My iPod Touch was confiscated yesterday because I got a notification. Naturally my teacher asked who's "phone" it was, but as I was turning around to tell her, she just told me to give it to her. Now I have to get my mom to go to the school and I have to pay $15 to get my iPod back. I don't understand why I have to pay the school. Our rules state that every student is to be given a warning, but she gave no one in that class a warning prior. Then she's supposed to hold it until the end of class. I naturally keep my iPod on because it's the only way I can contact my family, and I walk home by myself. So for about 30 minutes I'm disconnected from the world. I always turn it on around 7th period because the day's about to end and I need to see if my mom would've messaged me something important. She's also done this with another student, but the case was very different. Their phone actually went off. Someone had called them and the teacher took up their phone. The teachers are supposed to give EACH student a warning, and by that I mean the first time it happens to the student, they have to turn it off and will get it back at the end of class. If it happens again after that, they're supposed to take our electronic and give it back to us at the end of the day. The 3rd time it happens, we have to give it to the office, a guardian has to pick it up, and they have to pay a $15 fine. She skipped to the 3rd rule without a warning, and I feel like I shouldn't have to spend my money because she made a mistake. My mom is angry because she feels like $15 is an absurd amount to pay, and that we shouldn't have to pay at all. I mean, why should we? Just take the electronic and give us detention, DAEP, or ISS. It's that simple, this is obviously just a way for schools to raise money easily.

  86. Ok I'm 16 and my mom had texted me, She told me that My brother had broke his leg, So she was going to be late coming home. Knowing my mother, I have to text her beck immediately, or she spams my phone. I start to text her back and the teacher walks up takes my phone and goes through my Texts but not only that he takes a picture of them with his phone! Like um, Am I going to court?! I'm thinking of calling him out on it to the school board, But then I am like, who is going to believe an teenager. Any way he would not give it back so when he went to lunch I stayed behind and picked it off his desk( and took a picture of his still unlocked phone with the pictures of my texts.)

  87. I was sitting in class working on a essay then my ringtone goes off in the middle of class and i'm in 7th grade. So the ringtone goes off then the teacher comes and takes it then started looking threw my phone and she said "u lost your device of a week" and she haves no right to take away my phone just because of a ringtone

  88. I had my phone confiscated by my principal and vice principal, they changed my snap chat password, looked through my texts and took pictures of them, and they changed all my social media passwords. i am at a private school but i dont think it gives them the right to do this. i am now suspended until further notice because i used bad language on my phone… if anyone cares to read the rule-book it says nothing about this.

    • I don't know what you agreed to when you agree to come to their school, or what sort of discipline handbook they make you sign, etc., but this seems like an overstepping of their rights and a clear invasion of privacy. Did they have reasonable suspicion that you violated policy? I can't imagine that their policy prohibits bad language. Teens curse all the time.

  89. As someone who has worked in IT support, for almost 30 years, I can tell you that there are ways to protect your phone from seizures like this. If you wanted to go above and beyond that, there are methods that you can employ which will make the offending person’s life extremely difficult. I will not go into the details, on this forum, because talking about such things in an open forum is inappropriate.

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