Their prerogative

Random locker searches enable schools to protect students

The state Supreme Court overturned a previous state Superior Court decision last week ruling random locker searches unconstitutional.

The decision reflected the former ruling on a case involving Vincent Francis Cass. Cass' locker was one of 2,000 searched in 1994 at an Erie high school. He was subsequently arrested for marijuana-related charges. But the search was ruled unconstitutional.

Four years later, the state Supreme Court ruled that locker searches for drugs and weapons and other illegal paraphernalia was constitutional.

Random locker searches are a first step in ensuring this learning environment. Reducing drugs and weapons in schools would curb distractions caused by them and locker searches seem to be the appropriate method.

Although students may still carry drugs or weapons in their pockets or book bags, any illegal activity eliminated by the searches would be worthwhile. Schools have moral and legal obligations to protect their surrogate children during school time.

It may be a mistake to believe administrators will not target certain students who have long hair, earrings or tattoos -- things that tend to be characterized as suspicious. But for all intensive purposes administrators must be allowed to search their own property and protect their students the best ways they can.

Schools do have a responsibility to inform students about their rights and about the practice of locker searches. School administrators should warn students that their lockers may be searched at any time, and students also should be made aware of the precedent set by the court ruling.

Although some may argue that the ruling invades the privacy of students, it sets a precedent that can only improve administrators' ability to act in loco parentis.