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Does the First Amendment apply on campus? Students do not surrender their First Amendment right to freedom of expression when they step onto their school campus. The statement has been oft-echoed by court justices and school officials alike whenever questions about student free speech spill onto the public radar screen. But defining exactly how and how much students can express themselves on and off school campuses remains an undeniable and well-fought-over gray area. Over the years the U.S. Supreme Court has vacillated on the issue, sometimes bolstering, other times clamping down on students’ right to free speech on school campuses. The most recent decision in late June came down decidedly in favor of school authorities’ ability to censor student expression not only on campus, but in a new precedent-setting twist, off campus as well. The lawsuit was initiated by Joseph Frederick, a high school senior, who had stood across the street from his school holding up a giant paper sign that read, “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” as the Olympic torch relay moved through Juneau, Alaska. Frederick would later allege that Principal Deborah Morse had violated his First Amendment right when she confiscated the sign and suspended him for 10 days. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court would not agree, issuing a 5-4 decision supporting schools’ discretion to limit messages that appear to advocate illegal drug use. Meanwhile, local officials and students can only wonder how this latest decree will influence the climate on area school campuses since, at least within Orange County, school administrators have largely had carte blanche when it comes to defining what students can and can’t say. Student voices Some high school students say they don’t mind and even appreciate parameters on dress and speech citing how they keep gang symbols in check, and nix potentially offensive sexual or racial content on clothing and in publications. But others argue that too often school officials unnecessarily hamper student expression in the name of maintaining a “safe environment.” For example, Alan Priester, who graduated in June from La Quinta High School in Westminster, recalled how the oomph was essentially sucked out of an anti-drug film he and other students created for “Red Ribbon Week” (an anti-drug event) when the vice principal insisted that all the shots portraying drug use be cut out. Priester, 18, said one eliminated segment had shown a youth becoming progressively more disorganized, disheveled and pale over time because of smoking marijuana. “The whole point of the movie had been to show the negative effects of drugs,” says Priester. “Basically we were told they couldn’t allow this on the off chance that some parents might complain.” Priester believes school officials apply the same just-in-case and overly cautious logic when it comes to screening words students can and can’t use when on the school’s Internet. He discovered “death” was one of the forbidden words when he went to do a Google search for “Death Star” for an assigned art collage. Though he doesn’t think his education was seriously hampered in this instance, he still questioned why this word would be filtered. “I understand you don’t want people looking up obscene material, but how is death obscene? Death is a fact of life,” says Priester, who plans to study bioengineering at UC San Diego this fall. “What if you were writing a research paper on the Holocaust and you looked up death camp? Well, you couldn’t.” Schools speak out From a school administrator’s point of view, it’s crucial to take steps to safeguard students, and not just their physical well-being but psychological safety as well. “We want to make sure the campus is safe. That means nothing that could incite violence or hatred toward a group,” says Robert Nye, the principal of Dana Hills High School in Dana Point. “The progression of events at high school campuses across the country has led to this point of safety and security we’re at today. Nine times out of 10, kids understand the climate we’re in is one of high awareness of safety and security.” Several parents interviewed for this story said they unconditionally support any and all rules fashioned by their child’s school administrators, and they trust that those same leaders will defend students’ freedom of speech. Maryam Rashtchi, whose daughter Roya attends the private Sage Hill School in Newport Beach, pointed out that the campus allows for radical hair-dos, like Mohawks. Though she personally wishes the campus wasn’t inhabited by even one “weird hair-do,” she ultimately trusts the administration’s judgment. “I don’t like the fact that they can do their hair any way they want, but I don’t mention it. It’s a school philosophy to allow it, and maybe it’s a good philosophy,” says Rashtchi. But just as she doesn’t question whether school protocol is too liberal, Rashtchi says she wouldn’t think to criticize school officials for being too strict. “I agree with the school. If it’s a school program, kids have to abide by the rules.” However, some school leaders, like Charles Salter, principal of Aliso Niguel High School in Aliso Viejo, say that a hands-off approach and principal-knows-best mentality from parents is, in the long run, counterproductive. He reflected on his decision in early 2007 to ban school dances because after many warnings, dozens of students still would not refrain from freak dancing. Salter says he stopped the dances because freaking had become so sexually explicit he believed students who did not find the dance “cool” could potentially view it as a form of sexual harassment. And if that were the case, he added, school administrators could potentially be held liable. But Salter says if more parents were taking the time to have the tough discussions with their teenagers at home about what is and isn’t sexually appropriate behavior and clothing, less rules and bans would be necessary in the first place. “It shouldn’t be the first time kids are hearing that certain things are inappropriate,” says Salter. “One of the problems I see a lot is there are many parents who don’t want to have those difficult conversations with their children. They don’t want to talk to their daughters about their clothing, so they let them get out of the car without saying anything. So then at school we’re the mean villain. “Many parents who do not hold their kids accountable, make the administration’s job 10 times harder.” Julissa McKinnon is a staff writer at Churm Media. For Letters: ocfamily.com and click on Feedback. |
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