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Students’ Rights and Responsibilities

Briana Torres-Chavez

College of Southern Nevada

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How would you feel if your expression rights were violated? This is how Bill Foster, a

highschooler from a northeastern school in the United States felt after being suspended for

wearing an earring. This high school has a policy was instituted in this school with the purpose

of stopping students from wearing gang related symbols, such as athletic caps, jewelry, or

earrings. Bill would wear his earring because he believed the ladies loved it, but he was never

involved in any kind of gang related activity. Nevering acknowledging that, the school decided

to suspend him. ​Under ethical and moral values who do you believe is right? Should the school

be allowed to do such a thing and suspend Bill or should Bill be able to freely express his

freedom rights without them being violated?

One court case that defends the school for their acts would be Hazelwood District v.

Kuhlmeier (1988). This court case describes how a high school principal decided to remove two

pages from the school paper because there were articles that talked about pregnancy and birth

control. The court agreed with this action because although student speech doesn’t cause

disruption it can still be restricted if its harm to the students or generally vulgar. This court case

backs up the school because their act was made in a similar way. They decided to suspend Bill

because of his earring that went against a policy that was implemented in that high school. This

was decided by the school because just like in the court case, Bill was using an earring that did

harm other students in a way. You never know who can or can’t be part of a gang, and if wearing

an earring identifies you as a member of a gang, then you shouldn’t be wearing them.

Another court case that defends the school would be Boroff v. Van Wert City Board of

Education (2000). This court case describes how dispute arose when a high school student
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wanted to wear a Marilyn Manson T-shirt. The court ruled that it was okay for the school to

prohibit such acts, because Marilyn Manson was in a band that promoted values that were the

opposite of the schools educational mission. In the same way, the school decided to suspend Bill

Foster because his act of wearing an earring went against what the schools policy affirmed. His

act of wearing an earring viewed him as a member of a gang, in general, he was wearing gang

related symbols. The school made this policy in order to put a stop to any gang related activity

and students violating this policy shows that they can potentially be members of a gang.

One court case that defends Bill Foster and his actions of wearing an earring when he

wasn’t allowed to would be Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969). This

court case is about students being suspended for wearing black armbands when they wanted to

protest about the Vietnam War. The court of Tinker realized that students do have a freedom of

speech as long as no school activities are disrupted. This means that students have their freedom

of speech rights even though the school feels discomfort on the viewpoints, because it actually

doesn’t disrupt school activities. In the same way, Bill wore his earring because he felt that the

ladies loved it, not because he was involved in any gang related activity. He shouldn’t be

suspended for his actions because he has rights of freedom of expression. He didn’t disrupt any

school activities in any way.

Another court case that defends Bill Foster would be Doe v. Brockton School Committee

(2000). This court case ruled in favor of the student’s cross-dressing. This decision was made

because the school showed no disruption. Dressing is an expressive activity and everyone has the

right to dress however they want to. In the same way, all students have the right to freedom of
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expression. Bill Foster has the right to wear an earring if he’d like or not because it’s an

expressive activity that everyone has the right to. Wearing an earring doesn’t determine the kind

of person he is. It doesn’t prove the earring is any kind of gang related symbol because it’s just

an earring that is used because he strongly believes the ladies love it.

The scenario was very straightforward, I knew where I stood since the beginning. I

understand that the school made it a policy to not wear any kind of jewelry because it can be

related to gang activity but there is no assertion at all. We all have the right to exercise our

freedom of speech rights, which means we all have the right to express ourselves however we’d

like to. The school can use other methods or policies that can be more effective in determining if

a student is part of any gang related activities. After analyzing the court cases, the court case

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969) is the one that backs up my beliefs in

this scenario. Students should always have the right to express themselves, of course without

interrupting the school.

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References

Botoff v. Van Wert City Board of Education​ 220 F.3d 465 (6th Cir. 2000), cert. denied,

532 U.S. 920 (2001)

Doe v. Brockton School Committee,​ 2000 WL 33342399 (Mass. App. 2000)

Hazelwood District v. Kuhlmeier 4​ 84 U.S. 261 (1988)

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District ​393 U.S. 503, 506 (1969)