Boy Searched At School Without Mother's Knowledge

Clarinda Cox told North Carolina TV station WRAL that the assistant principal at Union Elementary school, Teresa Holmes, ordered her son, Justin, to remove his shoes, jeans and shirt, leaving him in his boxers and a T-shirt.

No one from the school contacted her about the accusations or the search. She said she found out about the incident when her son came home and appeared upset, Cox said.

Holmes acknowledged searching the boy on June 1, but in a statement to WRAL, she said that when $20 fell from a female classmate’s pocket in the cafeteria, “seven or eight” students saw the Justin dive to pick it up.

Holmes said she called a male janitor to witness the search in her office. Justin was made to remove his shoes, socks, jeans and shirt. The items were checked thoroughly before they were returned to him. She also acknowledged running her hands “outside of the waistband of his boxers.”

So, seven or eight kids  saw the entirely wrong thing?  And because she says he has lied in the past, something she can't prove, she decides he deserves to forfeit his privacy?  She told him she had the authority to search him because others said he had the money.  And somehow, she thinks hugging him afterwards makes it even slightly better.

The mother wasn't notified.  Childcare 101 says that you don't do anything without parental knowledge and consent.  The school called her overzealous in her actions.  What she did was criminal.  Because she did it to a minor who doesn't know better only makes it worse.  He was coerced into removing clothing for a search without his mother's permission. There is no way that could be considered the right thing to do.

Sounds to me like seven or eight kids, two teachers, and one very thoughtless assistant principal owe this boy an apology.