School is a place where some kids start experimenting with drugs. The problems of drugs in school and on the street may not be that bad as many people think. But drugs have become more and more common in recent years, particularly among the younger students in school. In order to prevent drugs in the school, some people suggest that high school teachers should search students for the drugs in the school. But search is not an automatic right given to anyone, which of course includes teachers. So the question is obvious that whether teachers have the right to search students. According to the U.S. laws, unless there are reasonable grounds, teachers have no right to search students for drugs on school grounds.
Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search, because the Fourth Amendment protects all citizens from unreasonable searches. The fourth Amendment states: 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 (U.S. Constitution: Fourth Amendment). Some people always ask why should we care about searches? After all, if you have nothing to hide why should you care, right? Wrong. The reason is that most people like to have some measure of freedom, and being free means having personal privacy. How free would you feel if you were asked to take all your stuff out of your pockets or to open your backpack to be waiting for a search when you just walked in your school, and no reasons were told to you? Not free at all.
Since there should be some reasonable grounds to perform searches for teachers, how is "reasonable" defined? From the content of the Fourth Amendment, it is interpreted that there should be both a warrant and probable case for searches.