Student Rights in School and the Fourth Amendment - Interactive Tutorial and Quiz

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

When thinking about the Fourth Amendment, we often associate it with how the police must have a search warrant to search your home or property. As it says right in the text of the Amendment, if a search is conducted by the government, it cannot be 'unreasonable' and a warrant must be given by a judge after the authorities have found 'probable cause' to acquire one.

What about when you are going through your day at school and it is announced over the P.A. system that a random locker search is going to happen. Your locker can be opened by the school security guard and searched to make sure you do not have anything illegal in your school locker. Does the Fourth Amendment protect you there? 

Some students when they walk into school have to enter through a metal detector and have their book bags searched before they enter the school campus. Are Fourth Amendment rights there being violated?

In this tutorial and quiz, we'll look at several important cases that connect student rights as well as the Fourth Amendment. 

Continue to the next section to access the interactive tutorial.