School Policies

A Bronx school employee forced four fourth-grade boys, accused of stealing a teacher's ring, to strip to their underwear and jump up and down, the boys' parents alleged in a federal lawsuit Monday.

This reminds me of when I was in school. At the beginning of either junior high, or high school, students were sent home with the standard forms to sign. In addition to the usual forms, there was a new form the parents were to sign. This one stated that the principal and assistant principal were allowed to physically discipline as well as strip search students. With parents' signature, both of these actions could take place with or without parental presence.

My parents refused to sign the forms. I was sent home with a letter stating that I was no longer allowed to attend without the forms signed. My parents called one of the local news stations to get the message out. A camera crew and a reporter came to our home and interviewed my parents. The story ran that evening. I was back in school the next day - without the forms signed.