Freedom Of Speech Should Be Allowed In Schools Research Paper

Citizens in America are born with a various amount of rights. One of these rights include the freedom of speech and expression. However, school administrators have the ability to restrict a student’s expression. The Supreme Court Cases ‘Bethel School District v. Fraser’ and ‘Frederick V. Morse’ gave schools the right for the administrators to discipline children when they see fit. Students should be able to express themselves in any way without fearing that their school administrators will discipline

Everyone in America should be guaranteed the freedom of speech granted by The Constitution. In 1988, the court ruled in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier that schools \could limit freedom of speech in school if they had “educational concerns” (Jacobs). The problem is that “educational concerns” is too vague and school districts are able to use this as a loophole to get away with removing articles that do not need to be removed. Often, the concern is based on perception and image more than anything else. Angela Riley’s article “20 years later: Teachers reflect on Supreme Court’s Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier ruling” quotes Frank LoMonte, executive director of

Freedom of Expression is a right that all Americans can joy on a daily basis, now imagine if it were a controlled right? That doesn’t make it a right, more so something that we can use when the government says so. In November of 1968, 4 students organized a silent protest against the US policies in Vietnam, which ended with suspension from their local schools. The issue was brought up in court, which led to split consensus. The majority opinion of the Supreme Court was that the expression of speech couldn’t be prohibited unless it was a disruption and harmed the rights of others. The dissent opinion stated that if freedom of speech was without a limit to an extent, who says it could lead to school being a platform for the exercise of free speech instead of education. The argument came to the conclusion of defining the rights and freedom of speech for children in school. I agree with the majority opinion, seeing the freedom of expression shouldn’t be controlled and such.

Schools have very different policy's when it comes to what the 1st amendment says. 2 cases are proof of this, Tinker vs Des Moines is a case where a simple armband protesting the Vietnam war which shouldn’t be an issue gets into the supreme court. This is because schools can enforce things that are a distracting or disruptive to school activity. A similar case to this is Bethel school district vs Fraser is a case where freedom of speech of a student gets taken away from him. This is due to the fact the student was making sexual remarks in a school speech which the principle deemed inappropriate for some students. Both cases directly relate to the first amendment with Tinker vs Des Moines being freedom of expression and Fraser being freedom of speech. Tinkers case is the best

In the well-known case of of Tinker Verses Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court remarked, “it can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” While shedding your thoughts and freedom of speech or expression at “the schoolhouse gate” can be difficult, the district did have the right to not renew the teacher’s contract. I think that it is important to keep my mind what the judge stated in the facts above, “teachers … do not have a right under the First Amendment to express their opinions with their students during the instructional period.” The teacher gave her opinion and an idea of her political view by stating

I concur the first amendment protects students right to express themselves in various distinctive school environment such as during discussions, and interaction with their peers. Moreover, public schools cannot prevent student’s ability to pray and learned about diverse religion in the curriculum.

Students and people in general can speak about their religion and their beliefs, until someone disagrees or has a problem about what you said. Some students are told that they can’t start a Bible club or even talk about Christ in schools, this violates the First Amendment because students can’t talk about Christ or read the Bible. This violates both freedom of speech and religion. “The Freedom Forum Institute” state that, Schools prohibit students from showing their expressions and their speech. “The Freedom Forum Institute” also stated that, “Students can speak, write articles, assemble to form groups and even petition school officials on issues.”

Growing up in public schools, I remember my 2 grade teacher Ms. Rosa will always tell us “Siempre tiene una voz, nunca se dejan que alguien le digan que aser, es nuestro derecho como gente que viven en los Estados Unidos. ” I can safely say that the I learn of the first amendment, through my early school path,I always said what I felt and never feared of being silenced. When I heard about the Tucson Unified school district situation, I felt that it was a straight fuck you to our rights. When a state decides to take action against our own history and tells us what we can or can’t learn is a violation of our first right. The first Amendment should be shown at its maximum in public schools, since limiting what type of books to read is creating a iron wall in our public schools. When I say Iron wall, it reminds me on how the state is trying to create a concentration camp with our education, limiting the things we can learn. Additionally, I feel that teachers should have the right to speak out on what really happen to our ancestors

Tinker, 393 U.S. at 511. Thus, discomfort, hurt feelings, embarrassment, or disapproval of an unpopular viewpoint do not justify a school’s restriction of silent, passive expressions of student speech. Id. See Emmett, 92 F. Supp. 2d at 1090 (holding that a student cannot be suspended for non-school sponsored website featuring mock obituaries on the basis of fear of disturbance); and Tinker 363 U.S. at 512 (finding that a school cannot restrict students’ free speech to avoid discomfort and unpleasantness of an unpopular viewpoint when the school suspended students for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War); and J.C., 711 F. Supp. 2d at 1107 (finding that a school cannot suspend a student over a YouTube video because of a teenager’s hurt feelings, rather it must be something more than “ordinary personality conflicts”); and Burge, 92 F. Supp. 3d at 1060 (holding that a teacher’s upset or angry feelings about a student’s comments on Facebook, such as “she should be shot,” was insufficient for a substantial disruption). Any words spoken in class, the lunchroom, or on campus that deviate from the majority can cause a disturbance, but the Constitution asserts it is imperative that students’ take the risk of voicing unpopular opinions.

America’s Founding Fathers gave Americans certain rights when they established this great nation. These rights include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as well as other constitutional rights like freedom of religion, protection against self-incrimination, and the right to bear arms in defense. One of the most important of the freedoms bestowed upon American citizens by their inspired founding fathers is the freedom of speech. Americans have the right to speak their minds without the worry of punishment by the government. An example of this is the Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District case in the years 1968-1969. In this Supreme Court case, the Tinker family was fighting for their right to symbolic speech at school. Another case regarding Freedom of Speech at a school is Hazelwood School District V. Kuhlmeier. This case is also concerning the right to free speech at school. Free speech in school greatly affects many people. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, “In fall 2016, about 50.4 million students will attend public elementary and secondary schools… In fall 2016, some 20.5 million students are expected to attend American colleges and universities” (A-Z). This means that these laws and related issues will affect about 70 million people.

The subject of student rights has caused a lot of confusion and anger for decades now. There are two different sides that everyone seems to fall into. Some people want the constitutional rights of students to be fully protected within the school. The other side believes that, as a public institution, schools should regulate what is said or done by students to protect everyone involved. This is where it gets confusing, because it is hard to draw the line between what is allowed or not. The three most interesting topics that I chose to cover are a student’s right to free speech, religion within the school and student privacy.

The first amendment states that no law should be made when it comes to religion, or free exercise. Although, some people take granted of freedom of speech. There should be a limit imposed when it comes to free speech. Without limits, the world would be a chaos. Also, freedom and speech could easily turn into hate speech at anytime.

Freedom of speech is more than just words, it is posters, petitions, rallies, protests, and more. This lets opinions be shared and spread to make a difference in the world. The problem is that in schools there is a limit on the amount of freedom of speech students can have. How are students supposed to feel like they have a voice when they are being told that they can only speak of certain topics? By what means could student be educated on their rights like the First Amendment if they cannot have full access to that right at all times? Students are brought together by freedom of speech, schools should not be stopping that. It is essential that freedom of speech in schools should not be limited because it gives students a voice, it educates them on their rights, and it brings students together.

Freedom of speech should have limits because it increases education time. For example, students can lose up to 38 days a year due to disruptions in class and about 1 hour per day (Al. com).Students report to school to get and education and learn for the future. They do not show up to school to talk to everyone the entire day. Because of talking, students lose class time and they do not get much done. If freedom of speech is limited students will be able to learn more Also if a student is wearing something that is very distracting, this will disrupt the class. For example, the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District case, was about students wearing armbands to support the Vietnam War. The appearance of the armband distracted students from their work. The school was able to discipline the students wearing the bands .(“Tinker v. Des Moines…”). Students must be able to concentrate in class and be able to learn.If a student is wearing something distracting, other students may lose class time.People may argue that students just want to voice their opinions but that my still distract students. EVeryone was distracted when the students were wearing the black armbands. This proves that students will get distracted and lose learning time. Limiting student’s freedom of speech will not just increase education time,it will prepare them for the future.

The U.S. Constitution contains the first ten amendments—the Bill of Rights—which guarantee personal freedom from any external or government control. Skimming the first section of the Bill of Rights we see: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble….” Thus, free speech is a vital foundation of our constitutional democratic republic with its protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in our Declaration of Independence. We’ll discuss why censorship of speech and thought completely undermine ideals of liberal education in a free society.