Cellphone confiscation a step too far

School officials at Framingham High School in Massachusetts are back-peddling on a policy that would allow administrators to confiscate student cellphones during drug searches in order to look for information, The Boston Globe reports.

Although the American Civil Liberties Union has objected to the policy, Framingham High School principal Matt Welch feels that the policy is not too Draconian. He compared the cell phone searches to searching through a student's notebook for identical instances of graffiti found on school property.

Since announcing the policy Welch has received a lot of criticism and even some hate mail. "I've gotten myself in enough trouble on this," said Welch.

Many parents and schoolboard members feel the policy is too drastic. School committee member Phil Dinsky, who heads up a policy subcommittee, said searching cell phones is "a little bit over the top of what I could consider in a school setting." He is not going to bring the subject up again.