An incident involving a 15-year-old girl at a Quebec City high school has raised serious questions about school authority, and has made headlines across the nation.
School officials suspected the girl of selling drugs, and had conducted searches previously apparently without success. The situation came to a head this week when her cell phone was confiscated showing a text message she said was a joke to a friend about selling him marijuana.
The school then searched her locker in vain and she was questioned. However, school officials then moved her to a closed room and told to remove her clothing. She says requests to call her mother were refused.
Then while a female teacher held up a blanket to mask the student, the principal searched the girl’s clothing, including her underwear. No drugs were found
Many were shocked to hear of the incident which was also raised in the Quebec provincial legislature. Politicians said they were surprised that school officials wouldn’t have called in the police if a serious breach of rules or laws was suspected.
However, Quebec education minister Yves Bolduc defended the action saying the school was within its rights and the laws. Responding to a story in the widely circulated Journal de Montreal newspaper he told legislators
“It’s a question of security. These interventions have to be conducted carefully and respect certain particular conditions,” adding, “And even if it’s not mentioned in the guidelines, it has to be done very respectfully.”
One politician, Jean-François Roberge, who represents the provincial riding of Chambly for the Coalition Avenir Québec is reported to have said, “I have a little girl and I’m asking myself if, when I send her to school, she’ll be strip searched ‘respectfully,’ ”
The local school board said in a statemen on Tuesday, that while the situation was “exceptional”, it was within the rules, but would still carry out a review of the situation to see if changes of rules are needed.
A 1998 Supreme Court of Canada ruling in a similar case stated that school officials have a unique responsibility to protect students and that searches of property can be justified without a warrant.
Still, the judges laid out a number of conditions dictating whether the search of a student could be considered reasonable. Among those was the age and gender of the student. However, in that case a strip search was not involved.
The 15-year-old girl’s mother said the strip search was “excessive” and is now considering civil legal action.
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