This School Strip Searched Four 12-Year-Old Girls for Laughing

You might not think that a group of 12-year-old girls having fun and laughing together would be cause for alarm, but that wasn't the case at East Middle School in upstate New York.

When school officials saw four 12-year-old African American girls being hyper and "giddy" at school, they assumed that the girls were on drugs — so they decided to be strip search them.

The girls were held for an hour, given sobriety tests and strip searched. One girl refused to remove her clothes and was given detention as a result.

Sign now if you think the employees who stripped 12-year-old girls all because they seemed happy should be fired and an investigation into the abuse should be opened!

First of all, suspecting kids are on drugs because they are hyper is quite a leap. Children are hyper and energetic, especially when they're in groups. Second of all, strip searching someone, especially children, because you think they are on drugs doesn't make sense. There is no medical need to do this, yet the school nurse made them remove almost all their clothes anyway, which only served the purpose of dehuminization. These girls were violated and robbed of their dignity. They were punished for being in a good mood. It's probably not a coincidence that they happen to be four African American girls, either. 

This infographic from BingPlot shows that the school's official policy is that students can be searched but that searching means emptying your pockets, removing your shoes and removing your jacket. Nowhere does the policy state it's OK to strip young girls down to their underwear. The nurse and other employee did the wrong thing and they should not be allowed to work with children anymore as a result. 

The parents have put out a statement about the incident citing how violated the girls felt and how they missed days of school and no longer feel safe there. During those days, the school did nothing to communicate, apologize or make the girls feel safe again. The parents did not consent to these sobriety tests and strip searching, nor were they even notified. They are also raising funds for a legal battle here

Please sign on to support these girls and their parents in seeking justice for this horrible abuse!

Image of how the girls were searched from Twitter.
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