Emerging Technology, the ACLU and the Constitution

I'm sitting here watching the news and a story comes on about the ACLU suing on behalf of students who feel their rights of privacy are being invaded since teachers began monitoring text messages. It seems that Monarch High School in Colorado suspended a few students after reading text messages about drugs on their cell phones. The ACLU accused the school of committing felonies under Colorado law. It used to be that students would write notes to each other and occasionally the teacher would intercept the notes and read them aloud. That was only embarrassing. Today teens are text messaging each other and the schools policy on the use of technology doesn't even mention text messaging. The bottom line is there is a thin line between rights to privacy and school safety and that is at issue here. Do schools have the right to monitor text messages. I can see this becoming a major issue that schools will have to address not only in the area of school safety and drugs but also cheating on tests.

Al