Know your rights, they may not be what you think they are

People tend to have a “I bought it, it’s mine” mentality, and while that is true in most cases, phones on school property are an exception.

Since the dawn of the cell phone age at MV, students have been prohibited from using them; in fact, the student handbook explicitly states that “Cellular phones are strictly prohibited from being used during regular school hours and are not permitted to be visible during regular school hours. Cellular phones will be confiscated immediately.” However, over the last few years, the administration has loosened the reigns on cellphone usage; that is, until now.

On Wednesday April 19, a handful of immature high schoolers decided to Airdrop inappropriate pictures to the student body, resulting in not only a violation of the privacy of those in the pictures, but the banning of cell phones on campus.

One thing about this entire situation that baffles me, other than the fact that anyone over the age of five thought it would be acceptable to distribute nude pictures of minors, is the fact that said people are unaware of the legal repercussions and the actions school administration and law enforcement can take.

I can’t count the number of times I have heard something along the lines of “They can’t go through my phone, its MY phone” or “Do they have a warrant?” The truth is, yes, they can go through your phone and no, they do not have a warrant because the school does not need one do not need one.

Policy 5771 is a MVCSC school board policy called “Search & Seizure” that grants teachers and administrators the right to search through a student’s’ possessions including cell phones and backpacks if they have probable cause of illegal activity or suspect the contents will violate school rules. When students bring in their property to school, it is eligible to be searched. Once a student enters the public school, the do not have the same protections from searches that they do in their own home.

The second aspect of this situation that throws me for a loop is the fact that students seem to ignore the fact that what they’re doing is actually illegal.

The possession of child pornography is a Class D felony and yes, nudes photos of persons under the age of 16 are child pornography. Child exploitation which is a Class C felony, prohibits any person or student to exhibit, or photograph any incident including sexual intercourse, uncovered genitals intended to satisfy or arouse the sexual desires of any person, or any fondling or touching of a child by another person or vise versa intended to arouse or satisfy the sexual desires of the child or other person by a child under the age of 18. In short, the possession of nude photographs is a felony, even if the possessor is a minor. The distribution of nude photos is sexual harassment and sexual harassment can lead to being labeled as a sex offender.

Being a registered sex offender hinders things like college acceptance and job opportunities, but sure, keep sending “U up?” snapchats and see where that gets you.

“I think it is vital to understand what your rights are here in school and outside of school when dealing with law enforcement,” said MVHS psychology teacher Mrs. Ruble. “Thinking about decisions is so important and in the case of those nudes, those photos are forever. It’s so important to know what your rights are and not just listen to the media or Facebook or Twitter. If you don’t know your rights, you’re asking for them to be violated.”

Not only is it illegal to distribute nudes, it is also absolutely disgusting. It is disgusting that someone would exploit another person’s body and spread it like wildfire. It is disgusting that children, yes, we are children, would spread explicit photos of another human being. It is childish and sickening and frankly, those who spread and saved those photos should face legal repercussions. Phones should be searched and students should be punished because not only is it unfair that those of us who had the decency not to disseminate other people’s bodies are being punished, it is also unfair that those students are getting away with committing a crime while the victims of said crime receive nothing but embarrassment.