Hrmm, it's been a while since I've had the good ol' "How my inalienable rights are being trampled by the concept of random locker searches" debate (a favorite AP History/AP Government class passtime), but it might actually be easier for them to search backpacks than lockers. With lockers there were all these hoops to jump through to ensure that it remained "random", whereas I believe if they decided to haul you into the office, they'd search your backback by default.

But again, it's been 10 years, so I may be wrong.

Can they search the mule?

Depends, did they find him in the trunk via a random search, or by illegal profiling?

Illegal profiling of the trunk, I believe. Apparently the trunk looked like the kind of trunk that would have a mule in it.

I attended Senior classes for the first time in 1974 so I've got you beat. Of course, it was in the arms of my recently pregnant mother, but I still claim seniority.

We had this same debate last year in my AP European History class. Since the locker was school property, the school has the right to open the locker and look inside for any reason at all, and it didn't have to be random. However, they could not go inside any of your personal stuff. You could only be procecuted with visible items.

To search a backpack, the school needs to obtain parental permission or the consent of the student, unless they have probable cause (which can only be determined by a police officer...not hard since we have one stationed on campus).

A few years ago when I was in Junior High, they would do random drug dog searches, where they would come into a classroom, tell everyone to leave their bags and jackets, and tell them to wait outside while they swept the room. That stopped a few years ago after it was ruled an invasion of privacy.

The consequence for having drugs (or any other illegal substance..even medicine not approved by the nurse) on campus is expulusion, no questions asked. Everyone expelled in my district is sent to a special school called Opportunity for Learning (OFL) which is, and I'm not kidding here, surrounded by a 8 foot high wall and has x-ray machines and metal detectors at all openings.

We don't really have many drug problems at school itself, but we have BIG issues at all of our dances. When I went to prom last year, I was literally padded down 3 times, had my wallet, cell phone, boutonniere, and keys inspected, and had to ride on a special bus to the site. My girlfriend wasn't allowed to bring any sort of makeup with her or anything.

It's pretty crazy stuff. Sometimes I feel like I'm in prision rather than school.

My niece is starting fifth grade and it middle school. That seems awfully young. She's really disappointed that there is no recess anymore.

One of the middle schools out here starts in 4th grade (stupid overcrowding!).

And don't they get brunch?

Are we/you overlooking the obvious, or is there some rule that I don't know about?

You have a car, right? That's a locker. Even if you don't get to go to it between all classes, you can still go to it at lunchtime (if I understand you correctly).

So you don't carry 7 books around all day. You carry the stuff for the before lunch classes before lunch, then switch out at lunch for the after lunch stuff.

I always carried my math book with me, and for English we had our own paperbacks (by junior year, we were going to B&N and buying our own). History and Psych books stayed at home since the teacher lectured. My Physics and Chem books weren't needed in class. The French books were always pretty small; I had to carry those. So that's two hardbacks and paperback that I was usually carrying with me. And then for a couple years I had dance gear, and for another year I had photography gear, and then senior year I only had 5 classes and left early.

And as far as I remember, the syllabi all said I had to have my stuff with me every day. The syllabi I give my students says they have to have all their class stuff with them every day. In some of my classes that's true; in others it's not.

I don't think so. I think it's classes until noonish and then lunch then more classes until threeish. I really really hate the public school systems.