This digest presents a brief review of recent Fourth Amendment decisions that affect the rights of students and the parameters of schools' authority to maintain a crime-free environment. Although Federal decisions apply nationwide and do mark the boundaries of permissible state and local action, state and local laws and regulations must always be considered in discussions of student rights. Over several decades, court cases have suggested that the balance between students' rights and school safety procedures is tilting towards the rights of school authorities to isolate and reduce perceived causes of school violence. Case law on searches of students, for example, supports school searches of students and their property when the search is reasonable in its inception and in its scope. In the area of drug testing, the U.S. Supreme Court has also supported educators' efforts to maintain perceived school order and discipline. With respect to students' rights in school, the current direction of Fourth Amendment law reflects society's fear of and disrespect for children and the lack of alternatives to police-type action that are used in the schools. Reliance on educational and preventive policies, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, will help protect the rights of students. (Contains 32 references.) (SLD)