Invasive dorm raids for phones spark student outcry

Students at a school in East China’s Jiangxi Province expressed outrage on social media after finding teachers had rummaged through their dorms for mobile phones while they were in class.

Photos posted on Sina Weibo show overturned bedding and destroyed lockers in the dorms of Chaisang District No. 1 Middle School in the city of Jiujiang on Tuesday.

The phone raids were the result of new policies at the school that went into effect after the weeklong National Day holiday earlier this month, students said.

One student called the move an “invasion of privacy,” media reported.

Notices about changes, which include a ‘no phone rule’ on campus, were sent to parents in September, according to the school’s principal, surnamed Liu.

“Many parents are on board,” claimed Liu, who denied student accusations that teachers had broken into students’ lockers.

“We … only confiscated phones that were immediately visible,” said Liu.

However, according to students’ posts, many families did not sign off on the policy as required in the notice.

Other students said they did not receive the notice until the end of the National Day holiday.

In addition to the phone policy, others include a no smoking and no dating rules, both punishable by expulsion, read an uploaded snapshot of the notice.