Students Absolutely Do Not Have Freedom of Speech in Schools

Students absolutely do not have freedom of speech in schools.

Although the government says that we have “freedom of speech,” it is actually true that we really don’t at all. There are many limitations to what we can say or do, especially in school. “The First Amendment guarantees our right to free expression and free association, which means that the government does not have the right to forbid us from saying what we like and writing what we like;” (ALCU, 4) This quote is hypocritical because we have an extent to what we can actually do. Certain boundaries like “You have the right to express your opinions as long as you do so in a way that doesn't “materially and substantially” district classes or other school activities.” (ALCU 6) Meaning you really can’t express and associate yourself freely, and the government is forbidding you from doing that. Students do not have rights to expressing their opinions and beliefs at school or else they could get suspended or in a big amount of trouble.

Students never had free speech in school and if they did, too many things would be “intimidating” or “uncomfortable” to the administration and staff. Even if they're not on school grounds they still could get in trouble. David Wheeler says “First, schools can punish any speech as long as they can cite “intimidation.” Second, schools can punish students for comments made after school hours, in the privacy of their own home.” (Wheeler, 9) This means you cannot get out of it, school or home, you have to watch what you say.. “They can probably also stop you from using language that they think is “vulgar or indecent,” so watch out for the dirty words, OK?” (ACLU, 6) Also, in “Tinker v. Des Moines,” they “created the law that gave power to school systems. Known as the tinker test, the ruling offered in Tinker v. Des Moines, allowed individual schools to prohibit