Is there freedom of speech in highschools?
As mentioned above, public schools do have a limited authority to suppress speech that causes “a significant disruption”. However, in the United States, your freedoms of speech and of expression are constitutionally protected under the First Amendment, regardless of whether you are in school or on a public street. Although excessively “vulgar” speech may be prohibited (e.g. swear words, racial slurs, etc.), your speech may not be censored simply because some people might disagree with it. In the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v Des Moines, the court ruled that “it can hardly be said that students shed their constitutional right to free speech at the schoolhouse gate”. In other words, so long as you don’t swear like a sailor, advocate something illegal, or otherwise disrupt the educational process, you are entitled to peacefully voice your opinion, no matter how controversial. Please note that the Tinker decision does not include private schools, which operate independently of the f
In states that don’t forbid it, administrators are allowed by federal law to censor student speech in official school publications under certain circumstances. When you use your free speech rights on school property, school officials can legally set some limits, regarding obscenity, libel, slander, illegal acts, or disruption of the school.
