Teacher’s confiscation of student’s cell phone upheld
In the Fall of 2008, Anthony Koch attended Sylvan Hills High School in Arkansas. The school had a policy prohibiting cell phones in classrooms. Anthony violated the rule and his teacher, Nancy Adams, took his phone and turned it over to the principal.
Blyzz(Flickr)
The case went to the Arkansas Supreme Court and in March, 2010, it ruled against Anthony. It stated that Arkansas law allows school districts to “prescribe minimum and maximum penalties, including students’ suspension or dismissal from school.” The school is not limited to these penalties – certainly taking a student’s cell phone for a period of time falls within the statutory limits. As the U.S. Supreme Court has stated, courts hesitate to get involved in micro- managing schools unless a constitutional violation has occurred.
Many middle and high schools across the country have cell phone policies in place. Look for the one that applies to you in your student handbook. It should include penalties for violation and how to get the phone back.
*Koch v. Adams, 2010 Ark 131 (2010).
This post was written by Tom Jacobs. Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including the recently published 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing). When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom can be found hiking, traveling and reading.
Shame of you Arkansas. Shame on you. To violate rights, and uphold the violation in the highest court of a state is a sign of waning constitutional protection, and the slowly growing police state.
Just what are the statutory limits on these penalties, and is there any requirement that they be related to the violation? For instance, would a school be allowed to impound a student’s car or confiscate his home computer for being late to class?
This seems like a very disturbing precedent.
Dear Jesse: Statutory limits on penalties for violations of the law are a state-by-state matter. Your state may not have a specific law regarding confiscation of a student’s property. Because courts prefer to stay away from micro-managing schools, a lot of the rules and policies are set by school districts. Check the school’s Student Handbook for their policy on electronic media devices on campus. Good luck.
[This is information only - not legal advice].
Boo. Hiss. http://askthejudge.info/teachers-confiscation-of-students-cell-phone-upheld/4584/ http://bit.ly/at7TCV
If the phone belongs to the parent and not the student as is probably majority the case, why is that not considered theft. I don’t have a problem with confiscating the cell phone for the day. My daughters fell out of her backpack, she was not using it, and it was confiscated. My daughter is 18, lives in a small town and I live an hour away. We have NO form of communication other than the phone. Would appear the liability for a school district and town if my daughter was stranded in her car and unable to reach help because they took her phone would be HUGE!!! Lets be reasonable instead of trying to push our weight around. I can understand if the child is using it or being disruptive, but just for having it in her backpack? Come on!! Where is reasonableness and common sense?
Thanks, Mr. Threlkeld, for your thoughts on this. Maybe this matter can be resolved through a meeting with school personnel.
To take away a child’s property for more than a week that’s not dangerous is wrong and should be illegal!
Seriously? So what you are all saying is that despite the issue that it is a known rule that cell phones are not allowed in school (for obvious reasons: Cheating on tests, not paying attention in school, etc.) it is okay for your child to do so because it is acceptable for them to break the rules? Maybe if they listened to the rules, such problems would not arise. And if they are old enough to drive, why can they not leave the phone in the glove compartment? It’s like telling your child to ignore the rules and not take responsibility for their own actions. Perhaps the matter should be directed to the CHILD who is in direct violation to the known POLICY, not the teacher who INFORCES the RULES.
Thanks for your comments, Kelly.