"Can't do it" Pupil has to hand in cell phone - father calls in lawyer
A 15-year-old is caught using his cell phone at a school in Aargau, has to hand it in and is not allowed to collect it himself. The pupil's father defends himself with a lawyer - with unexpected success.
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- A pupil in Aargau has to hand in his cell phone to a teacher because he made a phone call in the school toilet.
- The 15-year-old's father is outraged that only the parents are allowed to pick up the cell phone.
- He calls in a lawyer - and is actually successful.
A pupil makes an unauthorized phone call in the school toilet; a teacher gets wind of it and confiscates his cell phone. So far, so normal. But what happened next at a school in Aargau is rather unusual, because the experience that 15-year-old Damian G. had has far-reaching consequences for the school rules.
It all started with a bit of bad luck from the pupil's point of view, as reported by Blick: According to the report, the boy from Bergdietikon AG took part in a group call with his friends in the school toilet during lessons. Just at that moment, a teacher came in, caught Damian and immediately took the phone away from him.
"That was pure harassment"
When he tried to pick up his cell phone at the administration office of the secondary school in Spreitenbach AG after class, he was told that only a parent was allowed to pick up the device. Damian used a friend's cell phone to call his father - who in turn was outraged: "I couldn't believe it. It was pure harassment," he told Blick. He called the school, but had to drop everything to get his son's cell phone in person.
Damian's father then contacted the school management several times to get the school rules changed - but to no avail. In the end, he decided to call in a lawyer. "What the school has done is not acceptable," Christian Gärtner, a lawyer from Zug, told Blick. The school is allowed to confiscate cell phones, but not just hand them back to the parents.
A lawyer's letter with unexpected consequences
In a letter to the school management, the lawyer argued that the rule of only handing out cell phones to parents was disproportionate - especially in view of the importance of cell phones for young people today. He emphasized that cell phones are not only indispensable for social interactions and as a means of payment, but also as a learning aid and for emergency contacts.
An advocacy letter with unexpected consequences: The school management had reviewed its regulations and felt compelled to adapt them. This means that from the coming school year, pupils will be allowed to collect their confiscated cell phones themselves at the end of lessons. Parents will simply be informed.
The administrative head of the secondary school confirmed the change to "Blick" and explained that the lawyer's points were considered justified after examination by the cantonal legal service. "Small miracles still happen when you don't put up with everything," commented the lawyer on his successful intervention.
