25th Annual Bill of Rights
Art and Essay Contest, 2008-2009

TOPIC:  Should students' rights to free speech and
              expression be limited or denied at school?

2nd Prize, High School
by K.K. from Pacific Grove High School

Limited Freedom

To tap into an overused cliché: a person cannot yell "fire!" in a crowded room, and no arguments backed by the First Amendment can change that fact. Like most rights, freedom of speech is not limitless and all encompassing; it must be approached and executed with reason and rationalization. The amount of freedom that students should be allowed in school in regards to speech and expression is very controversial. When examining the issue, the question that inevitably comes up is now much power school administrators should possess in limiting students' rights. Administrators should be able to limit vulgar, hateful, and inappropriate behavior in schools that could incite conflict and cause discomfort to fellow students.

Speech and expression must be controlled, at least to some extent, in schools. People all have different opinions, points of views, and toleration levels, and an environment where students work and learn together should be cultivated with some degree of sensitivity. The law requires students to attend school and the atmosphere of that school should be as neutral as possible; students should not have to feel uncomfortable or isolated. In a setting as varied and sensitive as a school, freedom of speech cannot be guaranteed due to the potential for conflict and disruption. The priority in school is creating a positive learning environment. In the 1986 case of Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, a boy, Matthew Fraser, delivered a speech full of sexual innuendo nominating a peer for office. The students listening were unable to take the speech seriously and some were even embarrassed and shocked. The following day at least one teacher used up class time discussing the speech. The school suspended Fraser for three days for breaking a school rule prohibiting behavior that interrupted the learning environment, which specifically included a provision about lewd behavior. Fraser and his father brought a case demanding that the suspension went against fir First Amendment rights. In the end the case was overturned, the court declared that the school had the right to punish a student for behavior that broke school rules and interrupted the learning process.

Students represent their schools and for that reason, the school deserves a say in how their students behave. Being a part of a school comes with a certain amount of responsibility and students owe their school respect in the form of appropriate behavior. Schools have the right to monitor the behavior of its students in school, at school events, and at school sponsored events because in all cases the behavior of its students is a reflection of the school itself. In the recent case of Morse v. Frederick 2007, a student at Douglas High School in Alaska, Joseph Frederick, held a banner that declared "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a school-sanctioned event. The school's principal suspended Frederick for ten days for promoting illegal drugs. Frederick sued, citing his first Amendment rights. The final verdict on the case stated that schools have the right to punish students for touting support for drug use in contradiction to anti-drug policies.

There is a fine balance between restricting freedom of speech and oppressing First Amendment rights. Administrators should be able to enforce rules against students acting in vulgar and inappropriate ways, but they should not be able to keep them from expressing opinions and individual ideas. The goal of the school system is not to restrict the ideas of students and feed them answers and opinions, but to allow them to think and express themselves. In the most famous case on freedom of speech in schools, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), a school barred three students from attending until they removed black armbands protesting the war in Vietnam. When brought to court, the ruling declared that the suspension violated the students' freedom of speech, a freedom that could only be limited if it could be proven that their actions would cause a major conflict and interrupt the learning environment. This case set important precedent for future rulings on freedom of speech issues. Administrators, though deserving of the power to limit speech, should have boundaries otherwise they will inevitable go too far.

How far the amendments reach will always be a controversial issue. This is an issue that cannot be defined for all situations but must be looked at individually. People, understandably, do not want their freedoms to be limited to any extent. However, putting a limit on certain rights in certain situations is for the greater good. People cannot do anything they want whenever they want and when they are in a structured learning environment such as school, there parameters are going to be understandable tighter.