Question about power of school!??!?

Question

I was at one of my highschool's away soccer games in another town. At the game two of my friends and I were approached by the man in charge of the fields facilities, for throwing pebbles at the back of a shed/garage facility at the field. The man who saw us called the police and we were taken to the police station in the town. There were no damages to the shed but they still filed a police report. Now, a week and a half after the incident, my school's principal and assistant principal got a hold of the report. They called me and my friends to the office and told us that we were banned from any of the schools athletic events along with 3 detentions. I just wanted to know if the school has the power to do this, with something that hapened out of town and out of school? and do they have the power to tell me that i can't go to a field out of town? (I live in New Jersey)

Answer 1

What you were doing is considered a type of vandilism. The school had every right to report you to the police and to file a charge against you and your friend regardless of whether no damage was done or not. As for your school punishing you for an out of town and out of school incident, I have to agree with them.
You were there as a representative of your school. Regardless of whether you were playing or just attending the game. They are not telling you that you cannot attend other schools functions but that you are not allowed to attend the functions of your school, both out of town or in town. They do have the right to do this as you and your friend were caught doing something you shouldnt have been doing at one of your schools away activities.
You have to stop and think about things from their point of view. Even though it was a minor infraction, you were doing something that could affect the way people look at your school. If you had broken something, caused harm, or damaged property, then the school whose grounds you were on would have looked at your school to correct the problem as well as looking at you, your friend and your parents.
When you attend a school function on another schools grounds you are a representative of your school. People will look at you and your actions as if you represented the entire student body regardless of whether you do or not. It is up to you to obey the rules and regulations of not only your school, but the school that is hosting the event, and obey them as you would if you were on your schools propery. Would you have wanted some kids from another school to be attempting property damage to your schools property? How would you look at that school and its students if one of theirs was caught damaging something that your school owned? Wouldnt you expect the other school to handle the situation so to make an example to ensure that it doesnt happen again or in a more serious way?
Think about that for a little bit and I hope you come up with the correct answers for yourself.

Answer 2

You were at a school sponsored activity. Absolutely they have the power to do this.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, they do. The American school board is the last of the free world dictatorships.

Answer 4

Yes.....you are a minor.