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I imagine that we’re preparing students not well at all for the experience, considering that, at best, we’ve spent eleven years of school plus kindergarten to prepare them for a life of following instructions and a workman’s bell before we hit them with that civics course.

Is that the realm of school? How could a school teach that almost-absolute freedom of speech adults have and yet maintain order enough on campus to teach students anything else?

Why should it be the place of high school or elementary education to teach freedom of speech, and why not let them discover it on their own once they graduate?

I’d argue furthermore that we can’t teach them free speech in a controlled environment — that would totally defeat the purpose of that freedom. I say we give them the tools as they head out the door, as most schools do already.

Jim Pfeiffer

Change occurs when people use tools/resources in different ways. In this example, students are using available resources to craft a message.

The original point stands: how well are we preparing our students to do the same thing? In two years, today’s 16 year old will be 18, and out of school, and the legal barriers you describe limiting free speech in high school will vanish.

Cheers,

Bill

http://awaitingtenure.wordpress.com/

The “Bong Hits for Jesus” kid was standing across the street from the school. That these kids are off-campus doesn’t make any difference to my mind. As long as they can be said to represent the school or the campus, they would be found to have limited First Amendment freedoms.

I’m not saying I’d like for the student to lack full First Amendment protection, but I seriously doubt they have it. If he were using school equipment or at school when he puts it together, there’s no case for his protection at all.

As you imply, the Hazelwood verdict wouldn’t apply as the principal would not be the publisher of the content. Unless, of course, the student uses school equipment, in which case prior restraint would be perfectly acceptable.

I doubt that this would see the inside of a court, though. Principals are not about to discourage a student from showing the poor conditions of a school without teachers. If anything, that’ll put pressure on the teachers’ groups to stop the walkout.

Or so the principal might imagine.

Students at school do not have full First Amendment rights. I’m sure FindLaw could cite you a dozen court cases where absolute freedom of speech has been strictly limited, whether it’s the school newspaper or “Bong Hits for Jesus.”

That kid needs a civics course, stat.