Religion And The First Amendment

The district court determined that the student’s First Amendment rights had not been violated. The court viewed the school paper as an extension of a journalism class. It was intended to be a learning experience, therefore must follow board rules for curriculum (Open Jurist, 2008). Laws mandate balancing the rights of the students to freedom of speech and the protection of other students to speech that is lewd, vulgar, or creates a substantial disturbance. The Supreme Court held this case differently from previous cases, such as Tinker v. Des Moines, which ruled in favor of the students (2008). Students were allowed to wear allow black armbands in a silent protest to the Vietnam War. This was not a part of the curriculum and was not found to be

"It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate." This was the main argument from Justice Abe Fortas that came into play at the Tinker v. Des Moines School District Case of 1969. The case involved a small group of students who silently dissented against the government’s policy during the ongoing Vietnam War by wearing black armbands to school. In response by the school administration, each of those students was suspended from the public schools they attended in Des Moines, Iowa. This case is a prime example of the Constitutionally protected symbolic speech we have

The 1st amendment right in question is whether the schools suppressing of Mr. Harper’s speech was in direct violation of the 1st Amendments freedom of speech and the freedom exercise rights. The freedom of speech through expression of any concept, thought, idea, or notion on medium is protected as long as it does not inflect harm upon others. An applicable test to apply in a case of this nature would be the Tinker Test. The tinker test is employed to determine whether a school’s disciplinary actions violates students’ First Amendment rights. In this case the test would figure out whether the students’ religious banners and or posters distributed other students’ classwork or the rights of others. In addition to the Tinker Test, the precedent

In 1969, a group of students filed a lawsuit against their school district claiming that their First Amendment rights were violated because the school district wrote a policy that prohibited them from wearing black armbands in a silent protest of the Vietnam War. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) ruled that students are entitled to their First Amendment rights as long as they are not causing a disruption to the school environment. This paper outlines the procedure and rulings in the case as well as other legal rulings that have expanded on when censorship of students is protected in public school settings as well as provides a personal reflection on how such matters can impact my future as a school administrator.

I concur the first amendment protects students right to express themselves in various distinctive school environment such as during discussions, and interaction with their peers. Moreover, public schools cannot prevent student’s ability to pray and learned about diverse religion in the curriculum.

"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, ' thus building a wall of separation between church and State."5

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison cowrote "The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom" in 1786 in an effort to end state funded religion. The struffle was fought by religious leaders who requested a state tax to fund their institutions. They feared that without a state tax moral fabric of society would disintegrate. This bill ended the feud between religion and state, and created the precedent for religious freedom in the United States. "Conventional wisdom teaches that secularization was an essential ingredient in the cultural background for liberal democracy. To have liberal pluralistic democracy, it is said, we in the West first had to break away from the religious worldviews that were characteristic of pre-modern feudalism, aristocracy, and monarchy" (Mcconnell, 2003, p.943).

The subject of student rights has caused a lot of confusion and anger for decades now. There are two different sides that everyone seems to fall into. Some people want the constitutional rights of students to be fully protected within the school. The other side believes that, as a public institution, schools should regulate what is said or done by students to protect everyone involved. This is where it gets confusing, because it is hard to draw the line between what is allowed or not. The three most interesting topics that I chose to cover are a student’s right to free speech, religion within the school and student privacy.

When the Pilgrims settled into Massachusetts in 1620, they dreamed of a better life, a life away from the persecution they experienced in England from King George. They never would have dreamed that their small colony of Plymouth would blossom to be one of the largest countries in the world. And yet, nearly four hundred years later, it has become apparent to many, that America is in a downward spiral. It has come to a time where, the fate of our country could fall into the hands of one of the many people who believe it is right to persecute those of a specific religion because the actions of a small group of religious extremists. The unalienable First Amendment right of freedom of religion would be denied to more than 2.6 million people, based on uneducated assumptions. In addition to this, America has come to the point where more than forty-five million people live in poverty. Likewise, statistics show approximately 48.1 million people are in the uncomfortable position where they are insecure about their next, if not current, meal. In addition to this, our famous government, our renowned democracy, has become belittled by assumptions of political corruption. Furthermore, the morals in America have started to disappear, not only in our government, but also in our society. More kids are getting bullied and more people agree that we should rely less on faith, the very reason we built and expanded our country in the first place. Our once thriving nation

Cases that involve the First Amendment in school systems have always been around but the issue of finding a balance with these freedoms is

Many people today have their own personal beliefs. In a school setting, there have been many controversial situations that have been brought to court to help resolve individual rights. As National Coalition Against Censorship (2017) stated, the First Amendment guarantees of religious liberty include the freedom to believe or not to believe, to observe one’s faith openly without government interference, Freedom of speech encompasses religious as well as secular speech, but the Establishment Clause is where Thomas Jefferson described it as “a wall of separation between church and state”, because it has important implications for religious speech and observance in public schools” (Retrieved from http://ncac.org/resource/the-first-amendment-in-schools-resource-guide-religious-expression-in-the-public-schools). For this paper, legal issues regarding grading of assignment, appropriate of displaying student’s work, application of First Amendment to scenario, and conclusion will be discussed.

Since the early 20th century many lawsuits have been brought forth challenging mandatory prayer and bible readings in schools, arguing that students should not be forced to practice any religion other than their own. Since then, the Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that, “prayer in schools, Bible readings, and other such religious practices are violations of the First Amendment (Find Law)”. The decisions of the Supreme Court stand as huge “milestones between federalism and states ' rights (Find Law)”.

One of the main reasons that the settlers came and founded America was for religious freedom. Colonist made the long and dangerous journey for other reasons as well, but a major factor was the search for religious freedom. Coming to America alone did not solve this problem; the journey to religious freedom was just that, a journey. Everyone had a slightly different idea of what this new nation’s ‘religious freedom’ should look like and it took many years to come to a compromise.

The First Amendment is designed to protect all citizens by giving them the right to express themselves in different ways. In doing so, we still have to be careful on how we do it. Students have the right to express themselves as long as it does not cause any disruption. In my school district, we abides by the First Amendment by not forbidding all mention of religion in the school system (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015). The only part that is prohibited is the advancement or inhibition of religion (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015). My school district feels that there’s nothing unconstitutional about using religious subjects or materials as long as it is in compliance to the neutrality of the education program (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015).

Censorship cases often bring about debates over students’ first amendment rights. Students’ first amendment rights are important to preserve so that students can not be excluded from meaningful works or literature. It is understandable for the government to design educational plans as a way to get its voice into classrooms, but “the truth-promoting function of the First Amendment provides no reason, however, to question the right of students to explore a variety of ideas and perspectives, and to form and express ideas of their own” (Brown, 1994, p. 30). Schools already place a restriction on religious material or material addressing current political controversy (Brown, 1994).