Unreasonable Search

Op-Ed Entry Two
Sheryar Ali
6/13/09
AP Lang Entry Two

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution guards the people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Many times this amendment has been breached in the school environment because there is a struggle between keeping the school setting safe and the privacy of student’s. With evidence and reliable information, schools are allowed to search for items that harm another student or disrupt the school atmosphere such as drugs and weapons. “Unreasonable Search” is an article written about the rash actions a school in Arizona took to strip search a 13 year old honor roll student because she was accused of having ibuprofen pain-relief pills. After having to reveal her chest and pelvic areas, the two female employees realized that the search was inconclusive. The mother then sued the school for searching her daughter without correct evidence. The lower appellate court ruled the search to be unconstitutional, but the case was then taken to a higher court. This article describes the uncalled for actions that the school took even though they could have take other actions such as waiting for the parent to come and resolve the situation with them.

The style of the author can be generally described as very factual and concise. The author uses facts from a specific event to show the irrational actions that a school can take to make sure the school environment is safe. It is clear that the author finds the actions of the school wrong and unjust. The author makes the article easy to read as well because the whole article is written in order from the incident to the after-effects. The author supports his/her opinion by stating the opinion of the school systems and giving examples of other actions the school could have taken to resolve the problem.