PART 1 OF A TWO-PART SERIES
Jazlyn S.
Student Speech 2021: Students (Still) Say the Darndest Things Part 1: On-Campus Speech By Christian Shafer, Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. What steps can a school district take to prevent students from protesting social or cultural issues at school? Does a school newspaper have to publish every article that students write or that the paper’s advisor approves? What can be done about students who use foul language or make inappropriate comments?
Christian Shafer
8
MAY–JUNE 2021
In 1969, the United States Supreme Court issued its first decision directly addressing the free speech rights of public school students, making its oft quoted statement that students do not “shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate.” Tinker v. Des Moines Indep. Cmty. Sch. Dist. In the five decades following the Tinker decision, the Supreme Court has issued only three additional decisions on student speech. For now, these four cases establish the limits of a school’s ability to prevent student
speech on particular topics, or to discipline students who speak on those topics. In addition to being the first Supreme Court case on the topic, Tinker is also the case that gives school districts the broadest authority to limit student speech or discipline students for the content of their speech. After examining the unique role that public schools play in our society, the Court ruled that schools can prohibit, or impose disciplinary consequences for, student speech if the speech is reasonably likely to cause, or actually caused, a “substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities” or an “invasion of rights of others.” The Tinker case involved a challenge to a school rule prohibiting students from wearing
MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION | JOURNAL
