First Amendment In Schools

Jessica Drass
March 23, 2016

Can the United States government take away the rights in the first amendment after promising the those very rights applied to all? Student and teachers have seemed to take turns taking one another to court to discuss students freedoms and rights in and out of the classroom. A few of these cases have gone up to the Supreme Court and tried as to be taken into consideration of changing the law. Since these court cases have arised, students rights in the classroom are slowly diminishing to none with the court cases that reached the Supreme Court, the actions of the students against this act, the actions of the teachers for this act, and how the administration's board and the Supreme Court handle these acts. The …show more content…
A group of students taking a stand against the U.S involvement in the Vietnam war, "The group agreed that one way to protest would be to have the students wear black armbands to public schools.School officials learned of this planned protest and quickly enacted a no-armband policy. The school then enforced it's no-armband rule while allowing the wearing of other symbols, including the Iron Cross." (First Amendment Schools." First Amendment Center. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. ) A group that was against the involvement of the U.S in the problems in Vietnam wore armbands as a protest. Students at school wore them and were sued by the school for causing a disturbance with this protest. I believe the school was wrong for choosing to ban the armbands. The wearing of armbands is a peaceful protest and expression which are both First Amendment rights of all people. This went as a trial of unfairness to the Supreme Court, "The case eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned the previous decision and ruled in favor of the students..............As a result, the Court ruled that "undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression." (First Amendment Schools." First Amendment Center. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. ) The U.S Supreme Court took in the trial of the students …show more content…
This would be because many students take their freedoms too far and abuse their rights. An example of this is the Supreme Court case that addressed a young man using sexual references in a speech. “"The speech contained numerous sexual references. In court, Fraser argued that a speech nominating another classmate for a student elective office was entitled to as much protection as the black armbands in Tinker. The high court disagreed, distinguishing his "vulgar" speech during a school-sponsored event from the pure "political" speech in the Tinker decision." (First Amendment Schools." First Amendment Center. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 4 Feb. 2016. ) A student giving a speech about nominating a friend of his to be on the schools committee, referenced many sexual things and exhibited inappropriate behavior and then demanded the court give him the same freedom of expression as shown in the Tinker trial. I believe that the court was right in ruling in the school board's favor because saying inappropriate things to everyone in the school is unkindly and should result in punishment just because it could offend so many people in an environment that is supposed to be safe and friendly. In another case, the school censored a school paper that contained information about teen pregnancy and birth control. "In Hazelwood, the Court ruled that students’

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