Our school is the place where students spend the vast majority of their time. They have to follow rules and are expected to do the work that is assigned. Though many do do what is expected, they are still being treated as if they don’t have rights. Right now there are some people within the school systems of California who have taken their jobs too far and have violated the rights of their students. In one instance, an administrator looked under the skirts of every girl. In another case, the principal took away the right to attend graduation if the student doesn’t have a life plan for after graduation. 

In the first case, the vice principal, Rita Wilson of Rancho Bernardo High School, looked under the skirts of every girl to make sure that they were not wearing thongs at a school dance. All of this was done in front of the students’ peers and the students who were wearing thongs were forced to return home and change into what Wilson believed to be more appropriate underwear. Afterwards, she was placed on administrative leave and still believes that what she did was done in the best interest of the students. The vice principal even says that this in fact is not an issue of choice of underwear but rather a safety issue. Wilson claims that the reason she did this check was to prevent students from exposing themselves on the dance floor. Many students freak dance and she claims that at the previous school dance, there were some girls who exposed themselves.

There is a certain line that an administrator should not cross and a student’s choice of underwear is on the side that should not be crossed. Nobody has the right to lift up a girl’s skirt in front of all her peers to check her underwear. Not only is it a humiliating experience, it is uncalled for, no matter what the circumstances are. If the vice principal was so concerned about girls exposing themselves, then she should have warned all girls before the dance about their choice of underwear. She could have protected the students in another way, as she claims that she was trying to do, but instead she took the route that might cost her her career. After all, some parents are calling her a child molester.    

In the San Fernando Valley, eight schools are undergoing a dramatic new rule: if a senior doesn’t have a plan for after graduation, then they cannot walk across the stage to get their diploma. This new idea is now being enforced in order to ensure that all students are receiving quality counseling that will help them be successful in their future. Basically, all seniors are required to attend counseling sessions with their counselors in order to make a plan for their future; this has to include attending a college, entering the military or going to a trade school. Going to work directly after graduating doesn’t count as a post graduation plan. If their only plan is to go to work, then they are not allowed to attend their graduation ceremony. This is unfair to some people who have to attend work directly after high school. Some have to help support their families, while others don’t have the money to pay for school. There are also others who just don’t want to go further in their education, go into the military, or attend a trade school. This option should be open to them without the consequence of not being able to attend their graduation ceremony.

This outrageous rule that the school district has come up with not only takes away a right of passage that many students look forward to, but it also is taking away a certain right that students should have. The majority of students work just enough in high school to pass, and many go above the requirements; but no matter how much each individual student does, everybody eventually receives a diploma. Whose right is it to take away something that has been earned just because of a lack of an after graduation plan? Not allowing them to attend a ceremony for something that they have worked for is ridiculous.

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