The Student's Right to a Peaceful Freedom of Speech

Over the past few days our Issues class debated over the freedom of speech, and what it means to students in school. Should freedom of speech be executed everywhere or should it be limited in schools? By reading the Tinker vs. Des Moines and Morse vs. Frederick cases, our class was able to receive further insight on the views of freedom of speech in school.

In the Tinker vs. Des Moines case, students were suspended from school for wearing black armbands that symbolized their protest of the Vietnam War. While I don’t believe that all freedom of speech is okay in schools, I do believe that the freedom of symbolic speech is okay anywhere. In their protest, the students used a form of speech called symbolic speech. Symbolic speech is protected by the First Amendment because “no clear or present danger of destruction of life or property or of breach of the peace was inherent in the action”. The students never planned to hurt anyone. They were against the war! I believe that school board was too harsh on the students and should have let them exercise their right to free speech. Students go to school to learn how to become American citizens, and how can they learn if they can’t execute their freedoms? As long as students can exercise their freedom of speech in a peaceful way, schools should give them the power to do so instead of deducting their rights.

Similarly, in the Morse vs. Frederick case, a student was suspended from school for holding up a sign that stated “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” at a school sponsored event. This was not a form of symbolic speech because the sign promoted the use of illegal drugs. Drugs are illegal because they’re dangerous and they can create a “clear or present danger”. I believe the freedom of speech can only be used to a certain extent, and in this case Frederick went too far. The first Amendment gave the right to “peaceably assemble” to keep Americans out of danger. They certainly didn’t want anyone promoting it. While Frederick was exercising his freedom of speech, he took advantage of it to promote something dangerous. Therefore, I believe Frederick had a right to be punished.