The Supreme Court is soon to hear a case concerning a student using profanity about her school and one of its programs for which she was suspended from the program for twelve months. The issue is that this occurred on social media, outside the school's campus and outside the school day. This two-pronged problem, whether her speech is protected or not and whether the school can act or not, puts any school in an impossible position.
From the perspective of free speech advocates, the matter is simple. Firstly, the student is free to say whatever she wants, and secondly, even with the "shouting "fire" in a theater" prohibition, the student's comments were made off-campus and outside school-hours.
From the perspective of the school, things are not so simple. The student signed an honor code which specifically prohibited this behavior, these comments and this language. She contravened the honor code, and so the code's specified sanctions apply.
Secondly, the comments targeted a specific activity, and by implication, the teachers involved in that activity. The student demonstrated a lack of respect, of civility and of trust in the decisions of those teachers. Just as a football coach cannot select a player who does not accept his/her coaching decisions, the teacher(s) in this case cannot include this student. There is a relationship break-down and rather than an expulsion, the school chose a one-year suspension, presumably to allow time for the relationship to re-build.
Thirdly, the comments are disruptive to the smooth running of the school. Appropriate forums, channels and processes exist for challenging school decisions, and this was not one of them. Appropriate language when referring to the school and its faculty should be used, and this was not it. A certain essential respect or deference is needed for a school, and for a community, to function and this was not it. Her actions and language could provoke copycatting and escalation, and of course one of the major functions of a school is to inculcate the sense of rights and responsibilities, not just the former, and of actions and consequences.
The school's decision to impose a one-year suspension from an extra-curricular activity, not even from attending school, was a minor sanction and more than reasonable, and for the sake of every teacher, principal and school, and for our community as a whole, I hope SCOTUS upholds it.
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Further Reading (and viewing!)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/cheerleaders-vulgar-message-prompts-first-131037750.html
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