Surprise Inspection

     There are many school rules that I am not aware of and I think my students use my ignorance to their advantage.  One of the rules that our headmaster has decided to be very strict about is cell phones.  I understand that they are disruptive if used in the classroom, but I had no idea that cell phones were banned completely.  Especially since this is a boarding school and I figured students would want to be able to contact their parents.  After all, I had a cell phone at boarding school.  And I can’t think of a school in America where phones are banned completely.  Recently the headmaster told me he was going to be strict about phones because he cares about student safety and many are doing “bad things” with their phones.  I had heard about some Tanzanian students having sugar daddies and often having sex with them for gifts, spending money, etc.  but I did not think that was happening at this school.  He said that the school had a phone students could use to call their parents but the ones who didn’t want to use the school phone were doing bad things.

          

The girls waiting outside while the inspection took place

The Headmaster and a teacher watching a student go through her suitcase as they check for  phones

     As part of the cell phone crack down, we had a surprise inspection.  The teachers went through the dormitories looking for phones, drugs, and other things students weren’t supposed to have.  The students were called in one by one to empty their suitcases, etc. as the others waited outside.  Those who were hiding phones were beaten as punishment.  Everyone on staff has learned that I have a weak stomach for corporal punishment and school beatings, so they let me leave.  I thought about my own experience at boarding school.  I remember rooms of certain individuals being searched if they were suspected of having drugs, but they never invaded the privacy of all students.  Sometimes I wonder if students have any rights.