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Should Student Speech Be Restricted To Freedom Of Speech In Schools

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Heated debates about certain issues such as LGBT rights, the Confederate Flag, and gun control have been circulating in the news for a while now, especially with the newest president in office. Throughout all of these debates students have been trying to weigh in on these issues and now schools have to decide where to draw the fine line on student speech and expression. This is not the first time this issue has been brought up though. Student speech has always been a big debate. Some believe that student speech shouldn’t be restricted because it would be violating the students first amendment right to freedom of speech while, others believe it should be restricted because things students say may cause their peers to be uncomfortable. Student speech should not be restricted unless …show more content…

This means that all citizens of the U.S. have the right to say what they believe in as long as it doesn’t threaten someone else’s right to live and of course this also applies to students. In the article In Virginia High School Parking Lot, New Questions About Confederate Flag by Patrik Jonsson, he talks about the 1996 Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Does Moins Independent Community School District. In the article he says “They’re underscored by a 1969 U.S Supreme Court decision, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, in which the justices held that students “don’t shed their constitutional rights at the school house gates” (Paragraph 7, Line 2). Even when students are in school they are protected by the First Amendment. Schools are not allowed to strip away this basic human right just because the conversations causes discomfort to them. As long as the students do not cause any chaos in school or threaten someone’s safety they should be allowed to say as they please which is what the case settled. Of course, not everyone believes it should be like

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