The Importance Of First Amendment Rights In Schools

“Congress shall make no law... prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech...”. This is what our first amendment speaks about. The freedom of speech and expression. Schools have been violating this law in the place of school dress codes. There should not be a dress code in school because it violates the first amendment, they do not support creativity and they are expensive.

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.

A very popular constitutional issue in America is the First Amendment. The First Amendment is meant to protect, but in today’s society it is being questioned that the argument is being overly used. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference (Esmaili). Freedom of religion created the separation of church and state. It prohibits the government from interfering with a person's practice of their religion. The right to freedom of speech allows individuals to express themselves without government interference or regulation. The right of freedom of expression gives the right to assemble and gather for peaceful and lawful purposes. It was adopted into the Bill of Rights in 1791. The Court later interpreted the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as protecting the rights in the First Amendment from interference by state governments. Putting this is layman’s term, you can pretty much say what you want without being penalized.

Cases that involve the First Amendment in school systems have always been around but the issue of finding a balance with these freedoms is

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

Looking at the surface of the issue, schools that put limits on students' speech violates their first amendment rights. In the case K.K. v. Berkeley County Schools, The United States Court of Appeals ruled that limiting the students' online speech out of school dictated it was not a concern of the school, therefore schools should have no power to limit the students' first amendment right of freedom of speech, unlike harassment and bullying during the school day which is a school related concern. ("K.K. contends

Although the First Amendment is not that vague, schools have struggled to define what its limits are for the past 40 years. One may argue that a student’s Freedom of Speech should not be limited because of our First Amendment rights, the fact that so many schools struggle to define their limits and that they all have different limits, also, limiting a student’s Freedom of Speech brings totalitarianism to schools.

The functionality and success of the American democracy is dictated by the fundamental rights outlined in the Constitution. These rights have been utilized by American citizens on numerous occasions throughout the centuries when advocating for these critical rights. However, questions started to arise when high school students started exercising these rights in their high schools, specifically their right to free speech and expression. The right of high school students to freedom of speech became an issue when their speech began to disrupt the school day and, as a result, teachers began to restrict it. Tinker vs. Des Moines, the landmark case advocating for students’ right to free speech, as well as Bethel vs. Fraser, the case ruling that students don’t have the same first amendment rights as adults, have been instrumental in dictating the outcome of future court cases regarding the right to freedom of speech of high school students. The exchange of information and exposure to new and different ideas is critical to students’ education and should be protected. However, if the freedom of speech infringes upon the need to maintain a safe learning environment, should it be protected? In my opinion, interpretations of Tinker have proved to be too restrictive on the First Amendment rights of students. The right to freedom of speech is a core right of the American

In the case that was know as The Pentagon Papers Case. The plaintiff; USA argued that “prior restraint was necessary to protect national security.” The defendant; NYT said that it wouldn’t hurt the people to know what was going on in a war that their own country was fighting in. The Pentagon Papers was a secret Department of Defense study of U.S. political and military involvement in Vietnam from 1945-1967. On June 30, 1971 the supreme court came to their decision. They voted 6 to 3 in favor of the New York Times. In writing for the

In recent years the First amendment or the freedom of speech freedom of religion and freedom of the press has been challenged to the Supreme court. The first amendment was ratified December 15, 1791. In recent cases dating back to the year 2000 there has been a variety of cases that have challenged this with school related cases to go to the supreme court. All of the cases which deal with schools allegedly breaking a group or a students first amendment rights. And so in the text below it has specific details and cases on which support the idea of which is how the first amendment affects people in school.

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 in school as well as out of school are persons under our constitution. Students do not give up the freedom of speech when they go to school. Justice Fortas said this means schools can interfere with free speech only when it is necessary to prevent actual disruptions. The evidence showed that the students had not caused any disruptions. Instead, they had made a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War. The schools stopped them because other students might not like a protest, but the freedom of speech protects the right to say things other people might not like to

I tended to favor a loose interpretation of the laws for this case. Even though everyone is to allow to express their opinions, the restrictions were necessary. These restrictions were created to avoid mayhem within the student body which can lead to even more serious trouble.I honestly think the school was in no wrong because the school was doing like any other school would do by protecting their student’s rights. The school was just simply representing the interest of the majority. Newspaper are a way the students could have used to express their feelings

Firstly, freedom of speech should not be limited because it give students a voice. For example, there was a case in that ended in 1969 called the Tinker v. Des Moines case. “In 1965, when Mary Beth Tinker was 13 years old, she wore a black armband to her junior high school to protest the Vietnam War.” (Wheeler). This showed her spreading her opinion and using her voice that freedom of speech in school gave her. If schools had no limit to freedom of speech, students would be allowed to spread their opinions freely just like Mary did. The Tinker v. Des Moines ended up becoming one of the largest and most important cases in history for freedom of speech in schools. Also, a third grade

Academic freedom has been at the forefront of debate when dealing with Free Speech on public colleges campuses. Through a series of cases, the Supreme Court has ruled on numerous cases recognizing student and faculty rights to academic freedom (354 U.S. 234). In a series of cases the Court has acknowledge Tinker as applying to both public schools as well as public colleges, as well as defining academic freedom and a recognizing student and faculty rights to free expression of ideas, teachings, and other writing pertaining to scholarship and ideals (385 U.S. 589) (408 U.S. 169). Though broad, the Court has laid the ground work to student free speech rights pertaining to the First Amendment.