In May, 2007 a school security officer at Monarch High School in Colorado saw a 16-year-old sophomore smoking in the school parking lot. He took the student to the assistant principal’s office where his cell-phone was taken. His messages were read and some were transcribed and put into his student file. About a dozen other students had their cell-phones confiscated and messages transcribed. In at least one case, the school official posed as the student and sent messages from the phone.
The students and their parents are challenging the actions of the school. They claim that without any suspicion of criminal activity the students’ right to privacy was violated. They further claim that seizing the cell-phones was unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The case was settled in April, 2008. The Boulder Valley School District agreed to limit their searches of text messages and get permission from the student or a parent before checking any messages. If a school administrator believes the text messages pose an imminent threat to public safety, they can check them without permission.
This is a scenario that has yet to reach the courts. However due to the widespread use of cell-phones on and off campus, questions regarding a student’s privacy rights will remain in the forefront of education issues. For further discussion of search and seizure at school see in this section “Can my property be searched and seized?”
For more on this controversy and what Kobe Bryant, David Beckham and Monarch High School have in common see: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17312200/.
On the lighter side, in April, 2007, 13-year-old Morgan Pozgar won the LG National Texting Championship in New York City by texting a 151-character phrase beginning with “supercalifragilisticexpialidoucious?” in 42 seconds. First place included a $25,000.00 prize. In July, 2008, the winner was 20-year-old Nathan Schwartz of Ohio who took home the grand prize of $50,000. 
Morgan Pozgar
