If I was to confiscate a phone from a student because they were violating the no cell phone use policy at my school, and saw that there were visible sexually inappropriate messages on it I would have to alert the proper school authorities. According to the Supreme Court ruling in the New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985) case, students are protected by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. The courts also decided that educators need reasonable justification in order to search a student's phone. They defined reasonable grounds for searching student's property as one must believe that the student has violate school's rules or the law. Given that there would be reasonable grounds to believe that the student has violated not only school rules, but also the law in sending sexually inappropriate messages, I would alert the school administration for further investigation and possible disciplinary and/or legal action.

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Your understanding aligns with the principles established in the New Jersey v TLO 1985 case regardin... View the full answer