The First Amendment protects citizen’s rights to free speech. The First Amendment is “applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, restricts governmental interference with citizens’ free expression rights” (McCarthy, Cambron-McCabe, & Eckes, 2014, p. 93). However, students’ right to free speech in the educational setting can be limited if “the expression is likely to disrupt the educational process or collide with the rights of others” (McCarthy et al., 2014, p. 98).
The Supreme Court applies the First Amendment in many cases regarding free speech. Through these various cases, the Supreme Court has established four legal principles to guide student expression rights in public educational facilities (McCarthy et al., 2014, p. 95). The first decision on student expression rights heard by the Supreme Court was in 1969, in the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. The Tinker (1969) case determined that students could not be suspended for quietly petitioning the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school. Through this case, the Tinker Standard was established which states a student “may express opinions on controversial issues in the classroom…so long as the exercise of such rights does not “materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate …show more content…
Since it is a political year with immense variation of political views and students on opposing sides of the political spectrum, the school can anticipate the likelihood that the presence of the “Hill Yeah” t-shirt could substantially disrupt the educational process and collide with the rights of others. As stated within Hazelwood (1988), “limitations on speech…unconstitutional outside the schoolhouse are not necessarily unconstitutional within.” Schools must protect the educational rights of students and limit behaviors that can substantially impede the learning
The Supreme Court applies the First Amendment in many cases regarding free speech. Through these various cases, the Supreme Court has established four legal principles to guide student expression rights in public educational facilities (McCarthy et al., 2014, p. 95). The first decision on student expression rights heard by the Supreme Court was in 1969, in the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. The Tinker (1969) case determined that students could not be suspended for quietly petitioning the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school. Through this case, the Tinker Standard was established which states a student “may express opinions on controversial issues in the classroom…so long as the exercise of such rights does not “materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate …show more content…
Since it is a political year with immense variation of political views and students on opposing sides of the political spectrum, the school can anticipate the likelihood that the presence of the “Hill Yeah” t-shirt could substantially disrupt the educational process and collide with the rights of others. As stated within Hazelwood (1988), “limitations on speech…unconstitutional outside the schoolhouse are not necessarily unconstitutional within.” Schools must protect the educational rights of students and limit behaviors that can substantially impede the learning