Equal Rights for Students
A young girl in Iowa who gets suspended for defending her beliefs in the schoolroom, a young man at Kansas University who gets kicked out of school for standing up for what he believes is right, and the students all throughout America who do not get to experience the freedoms that their ancestors fought so hard for. The First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution grants all Americans freedom of speech and expression. Nowhere in the constitution does it say that students are an exception. The question is, when should school administrators restrict the free speech of students? The answer is never. The students are the future leaders of our nation and they deserve, need, and can handle equal rights.
Students need equal speech rights. We live in a democracy, and when the students graduate from school they will live in it. To prepare them for democracy we must let them live in a democracy. Adam Bunting, a CVU administrator, said, “If we want them to be successful in a democracy, we need to let them live, as much as possible, in a democracy.” Bunting is trying to prepare students for life outside of school, that is his job, and he knows that the best way to do that is to give them a taste of democracy. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled that a school can restrict a student’s speech if it interferes with the school’s educational mission. A school’s educational mission is to prepare its students for life outside of school. It is to prepare students to be successful in life going forward. When the students graduate from school the world they live in will be a world of democracy. We must prepare them to live in a democracy by making school as much of a democratic environment as the rest of the U.S.
Students deserve equal speech rights. I interviewed an attorney named Sean Toohey who deals a lot with school free speech cases. When asked if he thought students deserved equal speech rights, he answered, “They are a part of the American people.” Not giving students equal speech rights can be compared to not giving black Americans equal liberties. Neither is fair nor morally right, and like the Civil Rights Movement, we must come together and fight for what is right. In the case of Tinker v. Des Moines, the Supreme Court ruled that, “Students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” The court knows and believes that students deserve the same rights as all other Americans. If this is so, why are they being stripped from every student upon entering the schoolhouse gate? It is because the schools and courts believe that students will abuse their free speech, they do not think that students can handle free speech.
Students can handle equal speech rights. Students are active members of society. Students do volunteer work, have jobs, and some can even vote. If they have proved that they can handle all of these things, why do people think that they cannot handle freedom of speech? When panelist Barbara Crippen was asked what substantial disruption is, she replied that it “must be more than one girl’s bad day.” Restrictions on free speech are in place not for the protection of the students, but for the educational mission of the school. Students are in school to learn, they want to learn. They can handle freedom of speech, and they will not abuse it to disrupt the school’s educational mission. In the case of Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, the Supreme Court ruled that, “Public School curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student expression or newspapers established as forums for student expression.” The court believes that controversial topics addressed in school newspapers will cause a disruption in schools. Debates and arguments in schools are what make schools great. Voicing opinions and making your voice heard are what make you an individual. Students handle free speech all the time outside of school, why can they not handle it in school?
Student’s rights across the nation are being restricted and abused every day. This is wrong and must change. A student without voice is a student unvested and uninterested in school. Taking away student free speech does not protect a school’s educational mission, it weakens it. A student’s voice is what makes them an individual, our right to voice our opinions is what makes this nation so great. Students are the future leaders of our nation and they need, deserve, and can handle equal speech rights.
Free speech in schools is a topic that I never have thought much about before reading your blog. I feel like I have a better understanding of what it is after looking at your blog however. I like how you pointed out that the purpose of school is to prepare students for the real world, which is a democracy in this country, so they should know what it is like to be a member of our society by having the same rights as them- in this case free speech. It seems important to let them get a taste of what adult life is going to be like while they are still in school so they can learn how to best handle situations that might present themselves in the real world. I think that students obviously should not have all the same rights as adults, mainly because my trial search topic was juvenile life imprisonment so I learned a lot about whether or not children should get the same punishments as adults. I think that if we give them a chance to show us that they can handle acting in a responsible way with what they say than they will learn how to become a positive member of society. Good work!
ReplyDeleteFrom reading your blog i notice your strong beliefs in students being able to speak their opinion through their voice in schools. I never really knew that this was such an issue in schools. You mention so many things that students do in everyday life, such as getting jobs, volunteer work to help their community, and even in some cases vote! I think you’ve used this information you’ve researched and composed a very compelling argument why students should be able to speak their minds and what they believe in, in school.
ReplyDeleteWell done Hansel!
I think that students can handle free speech and that it will help prepare people for the real world. People may be taken off guard if they hear something later in life that is not usually said and they won’t know how to react. Students will also learn what is acceptable and what can be discussed, instead of saying things that will hurt someone without knowing. I think that some schools are much stricter then others and that the students at strict school won’t know what to expect. Because America has freedom of speech and it may come as a shock if they hear something that isn’t usually said in their school but is perfectly acceptable in society. I like how you said that students have many responsibilities but aren’t treated like they are responsible. And that there is nothing said in the constitution about students not having freedom of speech.
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