FREE SPEECH IN THE D.O.E. HEADLIGHTS

April 12, 2007 - Guest Columnist - Warren Spade, U.S. Department of Education

Good morning, UCSD High School! Your principal asked me to come here
today to explain the limitations on your constitutional rights, namely
your "right" to free speech.

Have any of you heard of something called the Bill of Rights? ... No
one? Good. Well, the Bill of Rights lets you say anything you want and
there's nothing your principal can do about it! Just kidding. In fact,
as students at a public high school your speech can be censored by
your teachers and your principal in a number of ways.

Don't believe me? Take Morse v. Frederick, a case recently argued
before the Supreme Court. Five years ago, when the Olympic torch
passed through Juneau, Ala., local high school students were let out
of class to watch. As the torch and the TV cameras approached,
18-year-old senior Joseph Frederick unfurled a 14-foot-long banner
that read: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." His principal, Deborah Morse, marched
across the street, crumpled the banner, and hurled it to the ground
before cameras could see it. She then suspended Frederick.

Now you might think the principal's actions were overkill, or the
student was merely exercising his freedom of speech. But you'd be
wrong, and here's why.

You know, kids, that your school has a responsibility to teach you
English, math and "science." But did you also know it's here to teach
you the basics of good citizenship? Think about it. Teachers tell you
to volunteer in your community, vote in elections, practice abstinence
and most importantly of all: Obey the law. You might even say that
part of the school's educational mission is to teach you to be lawful.

Which brings us to the phrase "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." To be clear, my
bosses and I have absolutely no problem with something in a public
school being "for Jesus;" in fact, we encourage it. The problem is the
mention of "bong hits." Bong hits, as we understand it, are puffs of
the marijuana cigarette. And of course, marijuana is very, very
illegal. Both your school and the Alaska school have strict anti-drug
policies as part of their educational missions. It's important that
their "drugs are bad" message reaches your brains unobstructed and
unquestioned.

That's why the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner lies outside the protection
of the Constitution. In promoting bong hits, the banner disrupts the
school's anti-drug mission. According to Supreme Court precedent,
student speech or expression which disrupts the school's educational
mission is unprotected and can be censored accordingly.

Now some hippies from the American Civil Liberties Union will tell you
that in 1969, the court held that students don't "shed their
constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
schoolhouse gate." For one thing, the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" incident
took place outside the schoolhouse gate, on a public sidewalk. So that
established precedent is irrelevant.

For another, they won't tell you that since 1969, the court has backed
off from its extreme assertion of free speech. In 1988, for example,
the court permitted censorship of a school newspaper if it goes
against the "mission of the school." In that case, the court held that
students' experiences with pregnancy and divorce went against said
mission, and pages containing those articles could be removed from the
newspaper.

I hope you don't think we're censoring you because we're bad people or
are personally uncomfortable with frank discussions about sex or
drugs. In truth, we do this for your own good.

Last month, at John Jay High School in New York, three 16-year-old
girls were suspended after saying the word "vagina" when they read an
excerpt from "The Vagina Monologues" at a school event. They protested
the decision, of course, but they didn't have a leg to stand on; John
Jay High School has an explicit anti-vagina policy.

Now I know the question you're all asking yourselves: Is there
anything I can say that won't get me suspended? Well, I know of one
thing. You can profess your love of Jesus! A federal judge held last
week that a school district violated a fourth-grader's constitutional
rights when it prohibited her from passing out flyers to her
classmates about how Jesus gave her a new life.

Of course there are other things you're allowed to say. Just make sure
they don't contradict your school's educational mission. To be safe,
check with your principal before you plan to say something
controversial. I see a hand in the back. You have a question?

That's a good one. The question is: When do I actually get free
speech?

The answer is college. There you're free to say just about anything
you like. You can criticize the curriculum or hang up a 14-foot-long
banner that reads: "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." You can even print a satirical
sports article about a campus rape team.

I'm afraid that's all the time I have. I want to thank your principal
for inviting me here today, and all of you for listening so quietly.
Thank you very much.