The founding fathers gave American citizens a guarantee of freedom of speech after years of oppression from the British Crown. The First Amendment of the Constitution also grants us this right. However, the validity of this right is often discussed in the context of offensive speech, especially in this election season with controversial candidates like Donald Trump coming up on the forefront. But what about people not exactly old enough to be citizens?  While the United States Supreme Court believes that students have as many constitutional rights as they do outside of the educational system, there is much dispute whether students leave their natural rights at the school bus stop.

The First Amendment prohibits any laws creating an establishment of a national religion, impediments on the freedom of speech and anything that infringes on the freedom of the press or to assemble. This law has set a precedent for the principle of democracy throughout the world. Still, with a great number of court cases and appeals seen often in this wired age, it can be questioned if freedom of expression still exists, especially in facilities like workplaces and schools.

Cases that cover school speech normally integrate the educational objectives of the school with the First Amendment values of democracy. Cases like Tinker vs Des Moines, several students were suspended from the school district for wearing black armbands in support of the anti-Vietnam War effort. The Supreme Court ruled against the Des Moines Independent School District and the basic case law resulting from this case was that public schools may not prohibit speech unless it disrupts education. What even defines for disruption?

According to Harford County Public Schools’ policy for student rights and responsibilities concerning speech, “every student has a right to search for the truth and to form opinions about that truth.” Yet, how are we supposed to know the truth? Dr. Lamb, an assistant principal of Bel Air High School, gave a simple explanation of what our speech codes and policy mean. “Most of the codes and conducts regarding speech in schools has already been to the Supreme Court and gone through that process.” Dr. Lamb stated. Recently, there has been quite a few cases that stretch the reach of student free speech rights. One example is the 2013 Wynar v. Douglas County School District where Nevadan sophomore Landon Wynar claimed, on MySpace, that he was planning a school shooting on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. An appellate court ruled in favor of the school in this case as it was assessed as a direct risk to the school and Wynar was suspended.

Most student expression codes explain for student speech rights as disallowing obscenity, lewd or vulgar expression and profanity.  The prohibition of “indecent” speech in the education system is shown quite obviously to be a bowdlerized version of the provisions stated in the Constitution. Yet why are courts so much in favor of schools in speech cases? The unassuming answer is school safety. The Supreme Court tends to be deferential towards school systems because schools are meant to have students’ best interests at hand. That’s why the school system if allowed to restrict speech. Nevertheless, argument over whether this is democratic still persists. Students will eventually because full citizens when they turn 18 and in turn, students will become voters. We learn so much about the amazing aspects of living in a republic from American Government to United States History, but are constantly warned about speaking out. With the rise of online media, will teens continue to wear the hypothetical armband of self-expression?