TQ #9 - Principle of least restraint

Children in public schools are often treated as though the Constitution does not apply to them. In the spirit of either protecting or controlling them, limitations are set that would be unacceptable in any other environment.

When I was younger, the middle school I was attending instituted a policy that would enable any student to be searched on the basis of a teacher or staff person's suspicion of drugs. No consideration was given to the Constitutional right of a person in this country to be searched without a warrant. When word of this new policy hit the rumor mill of the student population, a protest was organized; someone pulled the fire alarm; and we ran out side chanting our disagreement. In retrospect, I still think we did the right thing.

From what I see of the implementation of restrictions of technology, the principle of least restraint is ignored in favor of the principle of strictest control. It's one thing to keep pornography out of the schools, but blanket censorship of the internet is a limitation to learning. It's the responsibility of the school to limit the use of censorship as much as possible, in order to foster the intellectual growth of the students.