Essay on "Court Cases Citizens and Their Rights"

Essay 5 pages (1611 words) Sources: 2 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Court Cases

Citizens and Their Rights in the Classroom

Administering a classroom can be one of the most difficult tasks that a person ever attempts to undertake. Teachers an administrators of public and private schools that cater to all levels and ages of children must be able to enforce a fun, safe, and productive classroom through being able to act out of authority and control what happens in their classroom. However, American students are no less American when they walk into the classroom, and the rights that the constitution has guaranteed to all U.S. Citizens apply to students as well. This means that students not only have the right to receive an education that is equal to that of their peers, but that they also have the right to express themselves in a classroom environment, in addition to practicing their religions in an unthreatening manner. As can be expected, the expression of such rights can often be counterproductive to the classroom situation. Students who exercise their free speech by screaming during lessons or telling students of certain backgrounds that their points-of-view do not matter, in addition to students who loudly pray during class, who make a show of leaving the classroom for religious reasons, or who attempt to coerce other students into practicing their religions can be quite distracting and threatening to the safe, effective classroom environment. Because the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America and the purposes of a classroom often come into conflict, Supreme Court cases have been used to clarify how teachers can keep control of classrooms without denying their students' civil rights. In 1962 the case Engel v. Vital found that school-initiated prayer violated students' First Amendment rights to practice whatever religion they chose. In the 2000 case Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Supreme Court validated that decision by stating that student-initiated prayer over the school's loudspeaker system was similarly unconstitutional. While the 1969 Supreme Court Case Tinker V. Des Moines found that students have the right to express themselves through "free speech" and expression in the classroom through actions such as wearing armbands to protest a war. However, the 1987 case of Bethel School District #43 v. Fraser clarified this by finding that students' rights of expression do not include making obscene speeches in the classroom. Despite these cases that have made the boundaries between student expression and inappropriate behavior in the classroom more solid, balancing students' rights with classroom management can be difficult. The following are just a few examples of how students' rights in the classroom are still violated.

Most teenagers are excited about expressing themselves and emphasizing their individuality, in addition to showing their support for the events, brands, musicians, etc. that they enjoy. One of the most common ways that students choose to express themselves is through dress. For this reason, dress codes can be a major source of conflict among students. School administrators list several reasons for implementing school uniforms. In 2003, Mitchell and Knechtle wrote, "Many educational stakeholders believe that uniforms may curb negative behaviors associated with students dress such as teasing, absenteeism, tardiness, gang-related activity, and school violence" (pg. 1). These authors also contend that the First Amendment has often been cited by those who disagree with their use. However, as the 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines found, "students do not leave their rights at the schoolhouse door" (the Federal Judiciary, n.d., para. 2). Thus, students who have rebelled against uniforms and dress codes in the past have on their side both the U.S. Constitution and the Supreme Court.

One instance in which this rights violation occurred included a person who wanted to wear a T-shirt advertising a particular band during class at a particular high school. The student was told that the T-shirt's images were obscene and they created a hostile environment for learning. During the day that the student wore the shirt, she was instructed to turn the shirt inside out and was not warned to wear the shirt again. Although the student complied with the administrator's request, she believed that the shirt's image contained a political message that expressed her own personal political beliefs. The First Amendment guarantees individuals a right to "the freedom of speech," in addition to "the free exercise" of religion ("The United States Constitution," 2009, Amendment 1). Thus, the student, as a citizen of the United States had the freedom to choose dress as her method of speech. Further, because she believed that the T-shirt was displaying a message that she believed in, she could continue to argue that it constituted an exercise of religion, as the exercise of religion and philosophy are intrinsic in today's world. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court Case Tinker v. Des Moines upholds the students' belief that the T-shirt should be allowed, as this case upheld students' rights to wear black armbands in order to protest the Vietnam War. Because the Supreme Court held that students had the right to express themselves and their political beliefs through clothing and dress, it is clear that the student's rights were violated when she was asked to remove her T-shirt. However, it must be noted that even outside of the school environment, law enforcement has the ability to state that these rights are permissible in certain limits. For instance, people cannot argue that their First Amendment rights are being violated because they cannot go naked in public or shout obscenities at others. Thus, while the student's rights were violated in this context, it is clear that such a decision can be difficult to navigate.

Students' rights to free speech and free expression are not the only rights that are guaranteed to U.S. Citizens in and out of the classroom. While the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution gives criminals or those who have been accused of criminal behavior the right to the due process of law before they are penalized, jailed, or fined, the Supreme Court found that due process is also required for students who are going to be deprived of an education because of some delinquent action ("U.S. Constitution," 2009, U.S. Courts, n.d.). However, many students are suspended or expelled without hearings that give them the right to protest their case. This is especially true in the case of younger children, perhaps even more so in the case of younger children whose parents agree with the expulsion. Just because all parties agree to the discipline, however, does not mean that it was the right course of action. For instance, a child in one third grade classroom was suspended for one day after he allegedly choked children on the playground. This particular child has always had a problem with physically responding to others' verbal taunts and is in counseling for anger management. According to the child, the other children had been making fun of him for several minutes, circling him and otherwise threatening him when he attacked. He did not hurt any of the children seriously, and a teacher was able to immediately respond. The administration decided that the child should be suspended for one day for the action, and told the child's mother of this decision, which the mother, who had a history of being upset by her child's behavior, agreed to. Although all parties agreed, no due process or court proceeding was held in order to determine the boy's punishment should be the deprivation of education for one day.

According to the 1975 Supreme Court Case Goss v. Lopez, this boy's rights were denied. The Supreme Court found that "once the state provides an education for all of its citizens, it cannot deprive them of it without ensuring due process protections" (U.S. Courts, n.d.). Not only were the boy's rights denied in this case,… READ MORE

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