Law Case Study 2

You are the faculty advisor for the student-run newspaper at your high school. The end-of-the-year issue of the paper includes articles on drug addiction and drug treatment programs. The authors of the articles put a semester's worth of work into them. The articles are well researched and factually accurate. They include interviews and advice from doctors, nurses, and counselors. The articles also include anonymous interviews with other students at the school who are taking drugs now or who have taken drugs in the past.

Just before the newspaper is distributed throughout the school, your principal reviews it. She does not like the articles on drug addiction, especially the interviews. She threatens to forbid distribution of the newspaper unless these articles are removed.

1.What legal issues or laws should you consider?

2.As the advisor what should you do?

3.Describe the teacher's and/or student's rights and/or responsibilities.

4.Describe a legal course of action for their classroom.

5.Identify ways the situation could be avoided in the future.

Law Case Study 4

Sandi's parents have been divorced since she was five years old. She is now seven. She lives with her mother and visits her father every other weekend. He brings her to school on Monday mornings following his weekend visitations. Last year, Sandi was diagnosed with diabetes. She is required to stick to a very strict diet. You noticed that on Mondays following her weekend visits with her father, Sandi is hungry, tired, and unable to concentrate and has even passed out at her desk. Upon talking to Sandi, you learn that when she is with her father, he feeds her all kinds of food, like candy and soda pop, which is not on her diabetic diet.

1.What is the teacher's responsibility and legal course of action in this situation?

2.What are the consequences to the teacher for not acting appropriately?

3.Identify the applicable law(s).

4.Identify ways the situation could be avoided in the future.

Law Case Study 5

You have just completed a summer course on using poetry in the classroom. You are really excited about what you have learned and want to incorporate it into your classes. You decide that instead of using your usual textbooks, you will download poems off of the Internet, copy poems from various books and magazines, and put them into a packet for your students to read and study. Your colleagues see the packet and ask if they can make copies as well. You all decide to make this a regular unit and use the packet every year.

1.What law(s) do you need to consider when doing this?

2.What guidelines do you need to follow?

3.Describe the teacher's responsibilities.

4.Identify ways the situation could be avoided in the future.

Law Case Study 8

Recently students at your elementary school have been caught with forbidden weapons (knives, brass knuckles, and numchucks) on school property. The school has a zero tolerance policy and expels any student found with an item that could be used as a weapon and is not appropriate to have in school. To address this problem, faculty decide to conduct a surprise backpack and desk check where every student will be required to dump the contents of their desk and backpack on the floor in the presence of the teacher who will do the inspection.

1.What laws should you consult to conduct this search legally?

2.Describe the student's rights.

3.Describe the teacher's course of action for his/her classroom.

4.Identify ways the situation could be avoided in the future.