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First Amendment in Education and Schools

First Amendment In Education and Schools

Xavier Williams

JOMC 393 Communication of Law and Ethics

Gary Guffey

October 8th, 2020

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ABSTRACT

The First Amendment is part of what makes our country so great. The right to freedom of

speech and expression and religion and press. We have the ability to say whatever we want and

however we want. But at times in our history we have seen where we have been limited of our

First Amendment rights. Particularly when it comes to our school system. Students have been

reprimanded for saying or doing things that they have every right to do. Then we have seen that

teachers and school officials have limited what kids can learn in reference to censorship. Nobody

should ever have the chance to tell you what you can and can not say as long as it’s not in

violation of the law.

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To be able to understand what The First Amendment in Education and Schools have to

do with each other and why it’s significant you first need to know what The First Amendment is.

The First Amendment was created in 1791 when citizens felt like they needed more freedom

when it came to free speech. Along with freedom of speech, came freedom of religion and

freedom of the press. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting

an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of

speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the

government for a redress of grievances” (Legal Information Institute First Amendment, n.d.). If

you take a look at history there have been plenty of people who paved the way for the First

Amendment to be instituted.

One of the first that comes to mind is Socrates who was forced to drink poison after

trying to promote freedom of speech back in. The second is when In 1633, Galileo Galilei was

brought before the Inquisition for insisting that the Sun does not revolve around the Earth. His

punishment was a lifetime of house arrest a crime that would have been protected by free speech

a century later (11 Facts about Free Speech, n.d.). The third is one that we talked extensively in

class regarding the trial of John Peter Zenger. Zenger was a publisher for New York Weekly

Journal. His newspaper was sponsored by Lewis Morris and James Alexander, political

opponents of the unpopular colonial governor, William Cosby. He was later put on trial and

eventually went to jail for publishing something that went against William Cosby. Can you

imagine that? Living in a world, as a journalist, where if you published something that went

against the beliefs of a political official that you could spend time behind the bars or even worse

be killed for it. The job of a journalist is to bring to light the issues and the concerns of the world
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for the betterment of the people. Even though Zenger was later acquitted of his charges and

released its still the principle. If a journalist cant go against politicians or say anything negative

about them then a journalist is not fulfilling its job to the people or his or herself. All of these

are perfect examples of exactly what The First Amendment is meant to do which is protect

peoples basic human rights to freedom of speech.

School and education have been around since BC. But established education is said to

have started back in the early 1600’s in Boston during the colonial period. But history tells us

that school has in fact been around for thousands of years. It started with “school” being taught

in homes but as population grew people thought it would be better if one person taught students

everything they needed to know heince why school became a thing. We now know that school

was instituted for learning and the advancement of youth. But has there really been any

significant advancements?

The way school is taught now is different in so many ways to how it was taught when it

began. “Schools in the US have changed a lot over the years. Chalkboards have been updated to

whiteboards and Smart Boards. Notebooks and textbooks have been replaced with laptops and

iPads. Segregation was overturned by the Supreme Court, and students are demanding safe

schools free of gun violence from today's lawmakers.” (How Schools Have Changed in the Last

80 Years, n.d.) Think about how much school has evolved in the past 100 years, and even in the

last 10-15. We are in the midst of a global pandemic and we are still able to have classes via

zoom and blackboard due to technological advances this wouldn’t have been possible 10 years

ago. Of course there are plenty of similarities such as the gathering of students in classrooms and

learning about different subjects but thats about all.

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Another thing that has changed over the course of the years is school policy and what

kids are and aren’t allowed to do or say in school. Just recently our class engaged in a discussion

about a 5th grader in Gainesville, Florida who was almost sent home because he wore a hooters

mask to school. The father of the kid expressed his frustration with the principle after he was told

the mask was demeaning to women and was offensive. According to the school mask fall under

student policy. Whether the father and the son will continue to push back on this issue has

remain to be seen. But their was a similar issue back in 1969 with Tinker versus Des Moines.

Students wore Black Arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War that was going on at the time.

The issue in fact made it all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled in favor of the

students, 7-2. The famous words following the ruling were “Students don't shed their

constitutional rights at the school house gates”. The question is what makes this situation any

different than that one? A kid wasn’t bothering anyone he was just wearing a mask, which is

government required due to the pandemic, with the name of a restaurant that serves chicken

wings. I’m not saying that wearing the mask is justified or right but whats the difference between

the two cases.

Another big topic when it comes to schools is censorship. Censorship is the suppression

of speech, public communication, or other information, on the basis that such material is

considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient." Censorship can be conducted by

governments, private institutions, and other controlling bodies. Censorship happens everyday in

public schools and its almost always obvious. “The American Library Association (ALA), which

tracks and reports censorship incidents, records a problem of significant magnitude, and it

estimates that for each incident reported, there are four or five that go unreported.“(First

Amendment in Schools, n.d.). One situation we talked about dealing with censorshio was when
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the Olympic torch relay passed outside the Douglas High School in Juneau, Alaska, Joseph

Frederick unfurled a sign that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus' '. The principal of the school felt the

banner had a pro-drug message. Under all school policies is a no drug policy. This situation was

handled by protocol but what about other cases?

Censorship is something that doesn’t just affect students it also affects teachers. Teachers

nowadays are limited in the content that they can teach due to parents wanting to limit the

exposure of books that are being taught such as “Huckleberry Finn”. Huckleberry Finn is a book

that has received tremendous criticism due to its racial issues and its interpretation of society

which causes it to be out of most high schools curriculum. When you do things like this it often

forces teachers to teach with no fun and flair and makes classes boring and leaves students un

engaged in class. “When the classroom environment is chilled, honest exchange of views is

replaced by guarded discourse and teachers lose the ability to guide their students effectively.”

Thomas Jefferson once said censorship is like a “tyranny over the mind” and is absolutely

detrimental to anybody it occurs to. So if censorship is a big issue in school what measures are in

place to limit it or get rid of it.

School boards are often in charge of what is taught in schools and in part should be

blamed for the level of censorship that occurs. “The school board’s role is to define an

educational philosophy that serves the needs of all its students and reflects community goals.

Most districts see a role for parents and other community members in this process.” (Law

Cornell, n.d.). Understanding that the school board wants to protect the kids while helping them

become young entrepreneurs and upstanding citizens of society doesn’t excuse the fact that

they’re preventing the students from learning valuable life lessons along the way. When students
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look at school nowadays all they see are teachers preparing them for standardized tests and

telling them what they can and can’t wear and what they can and can’t say.

Everyone is entitled to their freedom of speech. Just because you’re young or old, black

or white, doesn’t change that fact. Being a young black male in this world isn’t easy, especially

right now. It makes me glad that many young black men, especially in the NBA are using their

First Amendment right of freedom of speech to voice their opinions and concerns when it comes

to police brutality. I encourage everyone to express their freedom of speech, thats what makes

our country what it is today and thats what makes it so great.

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Works Cited

● 11 Facts about free speech. (n.d.). Dosomething.Org. Retrieved October 8, 2020, from

https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-free-speech

● First Amendment in schools. (n.d.). National Coalition Against The Censorship.

Retrieved October 8, 2020, from https://ncac.org/resource/first-amendment-in-

schools#howbig

● How schools have changed in the last 80 years. (n.d.). Insider. Retrieved October 8,

2020, from https://www.insider.com/old-school-vintage-classroom-photos-evolution-

2018-5#1942-1

● Legal Information Institute First Amendment. (n.d.). Legal Institution. Retrieved October

8, 2020, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

● Legal Information Institute First Amendment. (n.d.). Legal Institution. Retrieved October

8, 2020, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment