More schools are adopting policies banning cell phones, from all-out bans that forbid students from taking their phones out at any time of day to more flexible policies that allow older students to have their phones out during lunch or other breaks.
In some classrooms, students are even instructed to put their phones in what were once calculator pockets, in pouches meant for cell phones that lock or in plastic bins, where students are meant to collect the devices at the end of a class period or the end of the day.
But does Michigan allow educators to go even further than that? Can schools confiscate phones? And can they search their contents? Here’s what we found:
Can schools confiscate students’ phones?
Multiple school districts, including Dearborn Public Schools, allow for a cell phone to be confiscated.
While the National Youth Rights Association argues that protection for citizens of the Fourth Amendment from the search and seizure of personal property should apply to public school students, the organization points out that most schools have policies allowing for items, like phones, to be confiscated and returned to students.
A 1985 U.S. Supreme Court decision found that a school’s need to maintain a learning environment “requires some easing of the restrictions” authorities are subject to in search and seizure laws.
Can schools search students’ phones?
Searching a student’s phone is a separate issue, however, according to Michigan State University’s College of Law. MSU’s resource advises that administrators should have an appropriate “reasonable suspicion” of wrongdoing to search a student’s cellphone. A student acting defiant would not meet the threshold for reasonable suspicion, according to MSU.
Dearborn’s policy lays out how school administrators must conduct the search of a cell phone, though policies differ from district to district:
- The policy advises the school staff member conducting the search to notify their parent or guardian first.
- The person doing the search should document any actions they took after the search, the reason for the search, what areas of the phone were searched and the result of the search.
- The policy also advises staff to have the student operate their phone rather than the school staff member, if possible.
The ACLU argues that administrators must have a reasonable suspicion for searching a student’s phone, and has also helped students take action against searches conducted without such suspicion, such as a case from Mississippi when the contents of a student’s phone were searched without the student’s knowledge.
Contact Lily Altavena: laltavena@freepress.com.
Is it legal?
“Is it Legal?” a recurring feature that publishes every Monday on freep.com that aims to help readers understand laws in Michigan and in their communities.
Do you have a question about what’s legal and what isn’t in Michigan? Email isitlegal@freepress.com and we’ll investigate for you.
What do you think?
Have an opinion about Michigan’s recreational marijuana law? Submit a letter to the editor with “is it legal?” in the subject line atfreep.com/letters, and we may publish it online and in print.
