..."I have a dream!" goes the famous speech. Famous words about freedom, about enforcing principles, and about anti-discrimination. But it appears we have fallen behind. For I know a place where you are guilty until proven innocent; where freedom of speech is ignored; where the rights of the people are stomped upon by their higher-ups, and where freedom of expression is restricted. "Where"" I hear you cry. "Let us strike down this bastion of discrimination and oppression within our borders! There cannot be a place such as this inside a country such as ours!" But there is. And it is here, at grade schools. Places where you cannot write what you wish, without it being edited for content. You cannot say what you want, at risk of being given detention or worse. You cannot write a paper for fear you will be made to prove that it is your work. You can be detained on the arbitrary whim of a faculty member. And all of this is very troubling, not in the least because it directly contradicts the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, enforceable under the Constitution Act. The academic honesty policy is disgusting. In practice, it means that if a teacher suspects you of cheating on a paper, you have to prove you didn't. Of course, the fact that this completely contradicts section 11d of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (hereafter referred to as the CCRF) doesn't cross their minds. Because the only place the law is not the law is within these walls. The fact that you...
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...Freedom of Speech and expression in the school system The Supreme Court has recognized several categories that are excluded from freedom and the government now has the right to put reasonable restrictions on certain speech and expressions. These restrictions take me to the discussion of freedom of speech and expression in the schools. School officials may limit free speech under certain conditions. This right applies to all levels of education for students and teachers. Both students and teachers have the right to speak their minds and convey freedom of speech and expression thru clothing, hair colors and other expressive actions and statements. There are limits though in the school setting, deciding on where the line is crossed though is the tough decision. Freedom of speech does not only have to be a language but can also include art, non-verbal expression anything that coveys a message to another person. I do believe that everyone has the right to freedom of speech and expression but I also believe there is a time and a place for everything. In a school setting you need to provide a safe learning environment for all students. And this means making tough decisions as to what should and should not be tolerated. When it comes to the subject of the pledge of allegiance in schools I truly believe strongly that it should be allowed and performed as part of the school curriculum. Growing up we recited the pledge every morning. It was not until recent years that some decided it...
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...First Amendment Research Paper: Freedom of Speech During the time the Constitution was being written, freedom of speech was mainly focused on political speech. People wanted the opportunity to express their ideas and opinions about the government without being reprimanded or unheard. People feared that if the government was able to censor unfavorable viewpoints, they would eventually form a politically powerful population and oppress those who did not share the same mindset. Along with concerns about political speech, freedom of religious speech was a common desire. Previous incidents in English and Colonial history had occurred where certain religious views were prohibited and the people wanted to make sure that they were safe from the government’s restrictions. During his speech to the First Congress on June 8, 1789, James Madison proposed the Freedom of Speech idea to congress. He included several amendments that specifically addressed the concerns of Anti-Federalists that certain rights were not strongly protected by the Constitution. Madison said in his speech, “The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments.” Congress agreed with this idea and it became part of the first amendment. Madison continued with, “No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or of the press.” Congress did not like this and thought that only the federal government should be prohibited from restricting certain rights,...
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...The limitation of free speech on college campuses Many people believe in freedom of speech. Freedom of speech usually exist in democratic countries including the United States of America. Furthermore, The U.S, also known as “Free country” have legalized the freedom of speech in every institution such as school, college, or church. There are many people including myself who are against freedom of speech in specific sectors such as school and college. On the other hand, the University of Missouri believe in the power of free speech even though in some cases it can be offensive. Why should free speech be limited on campuses? When should free speech be limited on campuses? Who should take responsibility of free speech on campuses? Erika Christakis, the the Yale Associate House Matter states, “Free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society” (“Campus adults: protect free speech” 1) and the authorities of the university of Missouri adopted that slogan. I believe that free speech should be limited in the university of Missouri in order to reduce the effects of creating an offensive, demeaning, intimidating, and hostile environment for other students on campus. First, I am against the total freedom of speech in the university of Missouri because it can create an offensive environment on campus. The offense can be directed against other students because of their race, color, religion, sex orientation, age, or disability. The recent events...
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...Freedom of Religion, Speech and the Press The first amendment is part of the United States Constitution in a short portion called the United States Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is one of the high laws of our land. “It guarantees that the United States government can never deprive people in the United States of certain fundamental rights,” according to aclu.org. 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,” according to nccs.net. This means that us as Americans have the right to...
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...Freedom of speech is a civil liberty protected by the first amendment. Most people also refer to this liberty as freedom of expression, which was adopted on December 15, 1791 making part of the Bill of Rights. It allows you to express your opinion without any government restraints. Additionally, this liberty not only protects your expression verbally, but it protects all type of communication. However, the modern democracies also have limits on this freedom. Not all speech is protected by this liberty, especially if it is inciting illegal actions. Including, expressions that can cause direct harm are not protected by the freedom of speech either. Furthermore, this amendment is a liberty that the ACLU, American Civil Liberties Union, has worked...
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...Des Moines. The case decides the issues of symbolic speech and its limits. It displays the right of individuals, including children wherever they are, even school. In this case we see the limits of the first amendment and how far this right extends. What happened in this case? One day in 1969 brother and sister John and Mary Beth Tinker wore black armbands to school in protest over the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. The school issued a new policy stating that those who wore armbands would be asked to remove it right away. If that student failed to remove his armband, he would be suspended until agreeing to return to school without the armband. The Tinker children and their friend wore the armbands to school and were suspended because they did not remove their armbands. On January 1, 1966, their scheduled day for the end of their protest, the children returned to school. Their fathers filed suit to United States District Court. The U.S. District Court recognized their right to free speech but did not issue an injunction because the school’s actions were reasonable because of possible disruptions from the students’ protests. The fathers appealed to the Court of Appeals which ended with a...
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...The limitation of free speech on college campuses Many people believe in freedom of speech. Freedom of speech usually exist in democratic countries including the United States of America. Furthermore, The U.S, also known as “Free country” have legalized the freedom of speech in every institution such as school, college, or church. There are many people including myself who are against freedom of speech in specific sectors such as school and college. On the other hand, the University of Missouri believe in the power of free speech even though in some cases it can be offensive. Why should free speech be limited on campuses? When should free speech be limited on campuses? Who should take responsibility of free speech on campuses? Erika Christakis, the the Yale Associate House Matter states, “Free speech and the ability to tolerate offense are the hallmarks of a free and open society” (“Campus adults: protect free speech” 1) and the authorities of the university of Missouri adopted that slogan. I believe that free speech should be limited in the university of Missouri in order to reduce the effects of creating an offensive, demeaning, intimidating, and hostile environment for other students on campus. First, I am against the total freedom of speech in the university of Missouri because it can create an offensive environment on campus. The offense can be directed against other students because of their race, color, religion, sex orientation, age, or disability. The recent events...
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...five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment: the freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition. Another way to express this amendment is that it gives us our most basic freedoms as American citizens. The reason this amendment is important is because it protects an American’s citizen’s basic rights. There have been many challenges to this amendment over the years. Two of the primary challenges to the amendment are Bethel School District v. Fraser and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In the case, Bethel School District v. Fraser, Fraser, a public school student, was suspended for using sexual references in a speech endorsing one of his friends for a student government position. Bethel School District decided to suspend Fraser which led to Fraser suing Bethel School District for violating his freedom of speech....
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...our first amendment what do you think? Is it freedom of speech? Freedom of religion? Freedom of press, assembly and petition? Do do you think of the millions abusing this amendment day by day? Or actually trying to persuade, inform, entertain and amuse your audience? On April 26, 1983, Matthew Fraser, a high school senior at Bethel High school, gave a speech nominating classmate Jeff Kuhlman for his schools class vice president. The speech was filled with sexual innuendoes prompting disciplinary action from the administration. All though Matthew Fraser thought he was simply helping a friend out, There was much wrong with his profound speech. Does the 1st amendment prevent a school district from disciplining a high school student for giving a lewd speech at an assembly? According to ABC-CLIO When taken to court, the court upheld the school district by a 7-2 margin that officials acted within constitution. With that, Fraser was suspended for three days and his name was removed from the ballet to be selected as one of three to give a speech at graduation. Even though Fraser and family thought it was unfair, Chief Justice Burger delivered the opinion of the court and proved that he had in fact violated and abused the first amendment. While Fraser was giving his speech, school councilor observed the gestures and reactions the many peers of Fraser’s who attended. Some were hooting and cheering on his obscene speech, while many others were very uncomfortable and...
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...What is freedom? Freedom is the ability to act, think or speak freely without limitation. The United States of America is notorious for being founded on the basis of freedom and democracy. Freedom is an amazing thing to have but there are times where it is used excessively causing harm around us. It is wonderful to be able to express opinions but there should be a limit as to what we should say to others or in public. John Stuart Mill argues that the government must never censor its citizens, no matter their opinion and that is agreeable to certain extent. The Bill of Rights is one of the nations essential founding documents added to the constitution in 1791. The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments to the constitution that limit the power of the United Stated federal government and itemizes fundamental rights and liberties provided to the people. The Founding fathers wanted to create a strong national government in which its citizens were able to have a voice in what goes on in the government. Though the constitution had already certain rights protected for the citizens many argued that those amendments weren’t enough for many citizens. Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers was pressuring the government to pass the bill of rights. “ A bill of rights he insisted is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular and what no just government should refuse” (Bessette and Pitney p.57). In other words, Jefferson wanted the...
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...It is timely to consider the benefits and abuses of adolescent's free speech in school in this era when false news stories, that are nothing more than opinion have escalated and the freedom of the press is so often under attack. The freedom of speech is a core principle and right given to the American people under the Constitution. This freedom ensures the continuing development of democracy, as well as many other freedoms that our nation can easily take for granted. Institutions of free speech and freedom of press ensure that the truth is exposed and that ideas improve (Stark & Soltis, 2015). However, John Mill in his essay, “On Liberty,” points out that these same freedoms are cut back for minors still in the care of their parents (as...
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...The “Quad-Fecta” of Student Speech The First Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the freedom of speech to any person in the United States. Since the mid 20th century, there has been controversy about freedom of speech, especially in the school setting. These controversies led to four very important cases that have paved the way for the freedom of speech that is or is not allowed in school today. These four cases are Tinker v. Des Moines, Bethel v. Fraser, Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, and Morse v. Frederick. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District was the first case of freedom of speech for students. This case took place in 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa. John F. Tinker and his siblings and friends decided to wear black armbands to school in order to protest the Vietnam War. The principals and other parents and students were not fond of this gesture because they thought it was disrespectful to the people who were serving in the war. The principals of the school heard about this before it occurred and decided to make a policy that stated that any student that wore these black armbands would face consequences. These consequences included taking off the armband and being suspended until the student agreed to not wear the armband anymore. The children wore the armbands to school and were suspended. The Tinker family decided to take this to court. This case went all the way to the Supreme Court where they ruled in the favor of Tinker. The...
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...Arrnbands: freedom of speech or not? Would you wear an armband to school if you disapproved about a controversial topic? In the court case Tinker vs. Des Moines, two students in high school and one student in middle school wore black armbands to publicize their objections of the Vietnam War. The schools that these students went to decided to suspend them until they came to school without the armbands. The parents of these students did not like that and therefore they took it the supreme court in the case which is known as the Tinker vs. Des Moines court case. In the court case two Justices, Fortas and Black, had different opinions on it and one agreed and one disagreed. According to one the Justices, Fortas, he believes that supreme court's decision was wrong because it was not creating a disturbance and therefore it should not have gone this far....
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...guaranteeing us freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Don’t we?’ This is what the American novelist Joyce Carol Oates writes the very end of her novel taking her point of departure in Matt Donaghy who goes to Rocky River High School. The above quote from the novel includes a discourse on the issues of being a big mouth and most importantly the freedom of speech which according to the protagonist Matt Donaghy does not exist? In the story we are inside Matt’s head and therefore we follow and see all of his thoughts on the situation going on and his way of behaving towards the people questioning him in the office about what he actually said. Bear in mind that even though he firmly denies the accusations, he is almost continuously being mistrusted. This is probably caused by his very sarcastic behavior because he keeps saying inappropriate things even when he’s interrogated in the office: ‘I can tell you: I never threatened anybody or anything…And if I had, I wouldn’t tell you, about it, would I?’ Matt is maybe not aware of the possibility that he did actually say something to his friends that could be misinterpreted and have a deleterious effect. He starts realizing that the sarcastic jokes won’t help him out and can only hurt him even more – only by choosing the right arguments with care can he avoid the mistrust laid upon him. His speech is therefore restricted which is perhaps intentionally done by the author because it somehow can reflect that freedom of speech is not all...
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