Feeling Unprotected By School Security

My mom always told my sister and me to never let anyone search or question us without her knowing or being there. I would have felt a lot better knowing she was contacted before I was pulled out of class for an incident that didn’t even involve me. A school security guard had just removed me from my classroom and taken me to the office. The guard and a school counselor said they were going to have to search my bag. The whole thing was a case of mistaken identity, and I didn’t have anything in my bag that violated school policy. But that’s not the point.I felt violated. Like the school had more control over me and my personal belongings than I did. The Oakland Unified School District recently passed a new policy saying school police officers must tell students that they have the right for a parent to be present before and during an interrogation. This spring, I transferred out of my high school because of what happened. I hope the new policy means that no kid ever feels that uncomfortable or unprotected on school grounds again.