We’ve all felt like it before, that coming to school every morning is like a prison, but what kid hasn’t? To us being locked away in this building from eight until three everyday seems like the worst possible thing, even if we are here to get an education. But, is this more than just a feeling? There have been reports about multiple different schools about how some of their rules may be seen as more than just a little strict, some even bordering on the side of illegal.

One incident that comes to mind is one public school in Chicago that banned the kids from bringing their own lunches from home, forcing these kids to buy the lunches that were provided for them. This was so that they could monitor what the kids are eating to assure that they are “being healthy”, or at least that’s what the school is saying.

Another one that really stood out to me was in Virginia, where Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced that school officials were allowed to search cell phones and laptops that the public school students on if there was “reasonal grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up evidence that the student has violated or is violating either the law of the rules of the school.” While this rule does make sense, most students were outraged, feeling as though their rights to privacy were being violated without just cause.

There are many more stories, the list goes on and on, of ways that the U.S. public school system is starting to resemble that of life in the U.S. prisons. Many school would argue against this, but with articles out there like the ones stated above, it seems more and more that we are leading into that direction. In our school the biggest worry seems to be fighting the dress code, which doesn’t seem as bad when compared what is happening in these other schools all across the country.