None of the above applies in this case anyway. The boy was questioned by a Dean and had to answer or face the consequences. In our school refusal to answer would receive the same school consequences as an admission of guilt.
It is a school not a court of law. And a private school with the mission of fostering character. Yes the actions were perfectly legal. The rights you cite are limited to criminal cases where the consequences are far different than school discipline.
I was going to give my opinion on this case but I think others have said what I would. Instead I’ll ask some questions.
Should schools treat 19 year old seniors different from 14 year old freshmen? Should they treat 19 year old seniors differently from 17 year old seniors? Where should we draw the line? Cigarettes for 19 year olds? Molly for 14 year olds? Beer for 17 year olds? How can teachers and administrators use their discretion without appearing wish-washy or playing favorites?
Would you want to know if the friend your kid went off to a party with got picked up for drunk driving or smoking pot? At home the most likely scenario is that word would get around town about the party getting busted or the friend getting pulled over and you would have a chance to question your kid about it. With your kid at boarding school you probably won’t hear about such things through the parental grapevine. How far should the school take the in loco parentis relationship?
How would you handle things if your kid’s ride got picked up for driving while stoned and it was obvious to you that the two had been blazing up together? Would you treat that the same or differently than if your kid came home stoned? Would they face discipline from you under either or both scenarios?
Should schools lie on the GC part of the college application where it asks if a kid has ever been expelled or suspended? Should they simply not answer? How would you feel if the application of your kid who had never faced disciplinary action was called into question because colleges couldn’t be sure whether they’d ever faced serious school discipline due to the fact that your school was known not to answer the question forthrightly?
Would you rather schools bust kids using drugs and alcohol or look the other way? If the answer is the latter how about drug dealing? And if that’s not okay with you how should schools ferret out dealers if there’s no consequence to simple use/possession?
If you feel schools are acting unfairly how should they handle the issue of drug and alcohol use at boarding school?
Would you be more or less likely to send your kid to a school with a laxer drug and alcohol policy?
“Do they have the LEGAL option? Just because a school writes it in to a contract or handbook does not make it legal”
“Does the school have the right to act as judge and jury?”
Yes, yes it does. You need to understand contract law and loco in parentis. As far as your NFL example (which I disagree with) in many places there is ‘at will’ employment. Plus, employers can set conditions for employment and dismiss employees for all kinds of things, including tarnishing the company’s image or brand.
“College acceptances have become a holy grail of sorts. A significant percentage of folks who choose boarding schools for their children do so to increase their child’s chances of getting accepted to the very best colleges.”
“if they have spent the child’s life grooming them for the ultimate acceptance”
If this is the primary motivation to sending a child to boarding school, one should think twice. Many of us send out kids for the quality of the education they’ll receive AT boarding school. (go read the thread of parents editing their college students’ papers, in many cases because the kids didn’t get adequate writing instruction in high school.) Selective boarding schools enroll students who would likely perform well in the college process regardless. Many think it isn’t necessarily an advantage in the college process, at least not a big one.
@grandscheme Are you a parent of a boarding school student or prospective student? If so, you might want to think twice given your viewpoints. The rules are stated. If you enroll your child, you and he/she agree to them. Boarding schools have legal counsel who would advise if it wasn’t legal. They’ve been doing this for a very, very long time. Nobody is forcing anyone to attend.
Realistically, this was probably the first time the OP’s son got caught, not the first time he smoked pot.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
Please remember the name of this website. I’ve deleted several posts that have asked variations of “What schools rejected/accepted him?” “What BS?” “What is your profession?”
If any poster wanted to reveal that, s/he would have done so in the first place.
And realistically, I think many more high schoolers experiment with alcohol and/or marijuana at some point. Some do it off campus on weekends, which is risky as in OP’s case. More do it during breaks when they are back home. School has the responsibility to take disciplinary actions and report to wherever as per their policies and local laws, if they have that knowledge. I just don’t think all the schools take catching occasional infractions a high priority, and rightfully so. Not every slip causes a slippery slope.
@doschicos I am a BS parent, at one of the stricter schools. I don’t condone breaking the law and I do believe in accountability. I just also believe in the equal rights of EVERY person in our country, and the right to be treated fairly and equally, not subject to random whims of one institution versus another. We don’t give up those rights because our children want to have a BS experience. and in the OPs story, we are talking about a child who volunteered information that others would not. He had the right to be advised that doing so would result in irreparable consequences which would not apply to the next guy.
But it looks like you have given up those rights if you are at one of the stricter schools, correct? Have you always felt this way since you, obviously, made the decision to sign the contract and have your child there or are you rethinking your position in light of this post?
If we were to find ourselves in a position where our child’s rights were infringed upon, I would fight in a court of law. If we signed agreement to terms which can be construed as a violation of student’s legal civil rights, we would do what was necessary. If a contract has terms which are not legal or which can be argued, we would do so. Even if the school only sought to dismiss our child, but not to share the punishment with the world (ie notifying colleges), we would still seek to make sure she was held accountable under due process.
You would lose that suit. Always. And you should have consulted an attorney if you truly didn’t understand what you signed. End of my free legal advice.
You seem to not understand civil rights vs. Criminal rights vs. Governmental action vs. Contract law. You might want to withdraw your child asap as you clearly do not have any idea what legal ramifications arise from the contract you signed.
I disagree. Terms of a contract have to be legal.
These are legal. Just ask any attorney.
Live by the sword of boarding school, die by the sword of boarding school.
The contracts are legal. You, the parent of the child, agreed to the terms. Pull out your copy of the contract to refresh youself as to the terms.
You are exercising your right to free association. That free association comes at the cost of tuition, and agreeing to abide by the school’s rules for behavior.
Private school parents have lost in court over similar cases. I understand this is a hypothetical case for you, a “what if.” But. If you were to sue the school for such a reason, the case would not be settled before your child turned 18. The chances would be very good that Googling the child’s name would turn up court documents describing the complaint in detail, forever. You can amuse yourself by searching for such cases online. They will show up. Such searches will not only show up to college admissions officials, but to any employer, forever.
ANYWAY.
Bright side: kid got accepted to places. Great! I think most colleges, especially the top ones, are self-aware enough to know that the vast majority of their students have smoked, or regularly smoke, pot.
Seriously, I feel for the kid, this really isn’t a big deal. But yeah, sounds like the school was within their (crazy, irrational) rights.
With regard to the far more serious potential to get whacked with a plagiarism accusation without actually doing anything wrong:
In high school: run your papers through a service online before submitting. Make sure there is NOTHING they can say you plagiarized. I’ve had my fair share of crazy high school teachers (was never accused of plagiarism, but I wouldn’t put it past some of my former teachers to frame students they didn’t like – yes, seriously), and you should be proactive on this.
In college: befriend your advisor or someone else with standing and make sure they’re on your side. A crazy professor accused almost his entire class of copying a coding project last semester. Honors advisor stood up for the kids (it was a very small, straightforward project: almost impossible to do in a way that would’ve been unique to every single student, there HAD to be common parts between them all) and tl;dr the faculty member got put on whatever the faculty equivalent of probation is. Someone else is teaching the class now.
I can’t imagine a teacher at my kids’ former BS intentionally trying to snare a student with a trumped up plagiarism charge.
To be charged with plagiarism, you actually have to plagiarize. It might have been “unintended” but the best defense against that happening is to educate yourself (and listen to your teachers when they educate you!) about the rules of proper citation. It can be challenging at times but if you are ever in doubt, use the resources available to you and your best resource is your teachers. When in doubt, ask!
“To be charged with plagiarism, you actually have to plagiarize.”
If only. I’ve seen teachers freak out about some kid’s essay containing a phrase like “and also it is” that, unsurprisingly, directly matches like 26000 different sites that also have that phrase.
Critical thinking is not alive and well in many schools. Boarding schools are different, I imagine, but I’m speaking in general.