Student rights at school: can they really do that?

Usually, yes. Most states now have a law or statewide policy limiting phones during the school day, and schools without one can set their own rule. If you break the rule, confiscating the phone is generally allowed. How long they keep it, and whether a parent has to pick it up, comes from your district’s policy, so check the handbook. Here’s how students negotiate better phone rules.

Taking your phone isn’t the same as looking through it. Under New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), public school staff need reasonable suspicion that a search will turn up evidence you broke a law or a school rule, and the search can’t go further than that suspicion. Phones get extra weight: police generally need a warrant to search one (Riley v. California, 2014), and California’s CalECPA covers public schools too, so they generally need a warrant, your consent or an emergency. You can calmly say “I don’t consent to a search.”

Yes, if they have reasonable suspicion you broke a rule, like a teacher seeing you with a vape. A random hunch isn’t enough, but lockers belong to the school and many handbooks say they can be checked anytime. Strip searches are almost always off-limits: in Safford v. Redding (2009), the Supreme Court said a school went too far strip-searching a 13-year-old over ibuprofen. You can say you don’t consent, but don’t physically resist.

Much less than for things you do at school. In Mahanoy v. B.L. (2021), the Supreme Court sided with a cheerleader punished for a profane Snapchat she posted off campus, outside school hours. Schools can still act on off-campus threats, bullying and harassment. At school, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) lets them limit speech that would substantially disrupt school, and Morse v. Frederick (2007) lets them ban messages promoting illegal drugs. Already in trouble over a post? Here’s how to push back on a punishment.

You can speak out at school as long as you don’t substantially disrupt it. A walkout means missing class, so your school can give you the same consequence as any other cut class, but it can’t punish you more harshly because of your message. Here’s how to plan a walkout that doesn’t backfire.

Usually, yes, if you broke a written dress code. But clothing that carries a message, like the armbands in Tinker, is protected unless it’s vulgar, promotes drugs or would substantially disrupt school. Dress codes also can’t single out girls, students of color or LGBTQ students, and many states have CROWN Act laws against discrimination based on natural hair. A dress code is just a policy, and students can change it.

A teacher can usually ask you to wait a few minutes. No federal law gives every student the right to leave class whenever they want, but a teacher can’t ignore a real emergency, and if you have a medical condition, a 504 plan can guarantee you access. The full answer, plus what to do in the moment: can a teacher deny you the bathroom?

On a school Chromebook, or while you’re logged into your school account, assume yes, even at home. On your own phone using school WiFi, the school can usually see which sites you visit but not what you type into them. Here’s what school monitoring software can actually see.

Not at a public school. In Goss v. Lopez (1975), the Supreme Court said students facing suspension must be told what they’re accused of and get a chance to tell their side, usually before they’re sent home. Longer suspensions and expulsions come with more steps, set by state law. Here’s what to say when you’re in trouble at school.

No. In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943), the Supreme Court ruled that public schools can’t force students to say the Pledge or salute the flag, or punish them for sitting it out.

It depends on your state. Look yours up: how many days you can miss school before truancy.