Hazelwood vs. Kuhlmeier, An essay.

The court decided that the facts do not simply support the conclusion that the School District could have forecasted a substantial disruption of or material interference with the school as a result of J.S.'s, the perpetrator, profile. Under Tinker, therefore, the School District violated J.S.’s First Amendment free speech rights when they suspended her for creating the profile.

Censorship cases often bring about debates over students’ first amendment rights. Students’ first amendment rights are important to preserve so that students can not be excluded from meaningful works or literature. It is understandable for the government to design educational plans as a way to get its voice into classrooms, but “the truth-promoting function of the First Amendment provides no reason, however, to question the right of students to explore a variety of ideas and perspectives, and to form and express ideas of their own” (Brown, 1994, p. 30). Schools already place a restriction on religious material or material addressing current political controversy (Brown, 1994).

Des Moines is an important case for free speech in the United States. It affirms that students don’t lose their rights when they go to school. However, it also affirmed that schools can limit speech that “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969). However, the Court has ruled that there are times that the school can limit speech. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in Bethel v. Fraser that students can be disciplined for using vulgar and offensive language in school (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p. 25). This case differed from Tinker v. Des Moines because that case was about political speech or expression. Another example of where school can limit the First Amendment is school sponsored newspapers. This was affirmed by the Court in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988). That decision stated that schools can reasonably limit the content of school-sponsored newspapers (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p.

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

Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier was a lost fight for the First Amendment rights in schools. When a couple of school journalists’ articles were blocked by the principal of Hazelwood East High School, the students decided that they needed to take their case to the courts. One of the articles was a story about

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

Facts: In May of 1983, proof pages for the school newspaper was given to Principal Robert E. Reynolds. Upon review, Reynolds discovered that the paper, the Spectrum, included two articles that he deemed inappropriate for the school paper. One of the articles was about a girl who blamed her father for her parent’s divorce and the other was about school life as a pregnant teenager. Student Cathy Kuhlmeir, along with two other former Hazelwood East students, brought suit in the District Court (Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, n.d.).

Some schools want to censor school clubs and don’t give students their rights that are specifically stated in the First Amendment. In 1984, United States congress passed the Equal Access act, which forbids schools from discriminating against all clubs or religious viewpoints. This is why schools should not monitor school clubs. When schools keep their clubs unmonitored, it is violating the first amendment. “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion.” Therefore, if a school doesn’t let the student council, or whoever creates clubs, create a club that they don’t want, it is violating the first amendment. Not allowing certain school clubs violates more of the first amendment. “Or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” A redress is a remedy or set right. So if they did not let a certain club be created,

The students of this country are expected to follow the rules and regulations that their schools impose, and whether or not they are fair is constantly challenged. In a perfect world, everyone would be content under the same guidelines, regardless of how restrictive they may be. However, this is not a perfect world and finding a universal agreement among everyone is virtually impossible. Throughout history, those who have disagreed with actions made by authoritative figures have found a way to protest said actions. From the Cambodian protests in Kent State to the Tiananmen Square protests, students have been very vocal about what they are against and refuse to be censored by their schools or their government. Attempting to do so, however, could lead to retribution from authorities. Censoring students and their voices affects the students by almost trying to instill fear and demoting contest from them can result in various scenarios, both good and bad.

Censorship in schools may have pros and cons, but most feel that there are mostly

School authorities face a great complexities and invetible challenges when deciding to make or not to make censorship decisions in school. Schools have to take matters into hand has they have to consider age, acceptance from parents, and appropriateness in the school enviroment. Throughout the years censorship has been an important matter to both schools and parents as it continues to be a topic of debate and protests.

Censorship in schools should not be allowed. If parents want their children to have a firm

Censorship has been a debatable subject since the beginning of media. With many supporters, and non-supporters the topic of censorship is one of the most heavily debated topics of all time. In the past there have been many debates about censorship, one of the most dramatic example being the burning of books by the nazis during World War Two. Today however, in 2017 the debate of censorship has moved into the schools. Censorship should not be allowed in schools so that students can have one hundred percent of information accessible to them so that they can work to their full potential.

Students and teachers are both being restricted in what the can and cannot do in regards to religion in schools.

Censorship is a concept that only belongs in communist countries, dystopian novels, and nightmares. The United States of America was founded out of the oppression of King George III as a nation of freedom. Would the Founding Fathers approve of campus censorship? Ben Franklin said, “Freedom of speech is a principal pillar of a free government: When this support is taken away, the constitution of a free society is dissolved.” When censorship begins to interfere with an American’s daily life, especially his education, something is clearly amiss. The freedom of speech, promised by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, is an essential characteristic of American society, and is vital to both liberal education and a free society.