Term Papers on The First Amendment: Free Of Expression

Term Paper Title	The First Amendment: Free Of Expression
# of Words	1079
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.32

The First Amendment: Free of Expression

     In 1787 our forefathers ratified the constitution of  the United States
of America, which contains the most important document to any American citizen,
the Bill of Rights.  The first amendment of the Bill of Rights states:

     Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
     religion, or prohibiting the establishment thereof; or
     abridging the freedom of speech; or of the press; or the right of
     the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the
     government for a redress of grievances.

these freedoms (commonly called the freedom of expression) are of the most
important rights in a  truly democratic society.  Without them there would be
no new ideas; we would all conform under totalitarian rule for fear of
punishment.   However, when I, a common student at West Rowan High School  try
to express my feelings on "the state of the Bill of Rights in schools today" by
making  a computer presentation in multimedia class, my work is declared "bad"
and my teacher and assistant principal do one of the most un-American things
imaginable: they censored it.  I had to re-make the presentation and lighten
the harsh tone, and also erase the anarchy symbol from it.   The teacher said
that she was worried about me for reasons such as my feelings on the freedom of
religion were almost satanic, because I said teachers should not be able to
publicly practice religion in schools because it will encourage students to
become a part of that religion. The presentation was neither slanderous nor
obscene, but it did criticize teachers and administrators calling them "fascist
dictators". At first I was angry at the school because I could wear clothing
that was obscene or contained liquor advertisements,  now they have completely
taken away my freedom of speech.   This of  course proved my argument that
teachers and administrators are totalitarians.   As one journalist put it, "If
Freedom of expression becomes merely an empty slogan in the minds of enough
children, it will be dead by the time we are adults." I soon began reading more
and more about the freedom of speech in schools and every time a subject as
such came up the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the student declaring the
action unconstitutional under the first amendment.  As I was reading Nat
Hentoff's book The First Freedom I came across a story in which a student wrote
a newspaper article criticizing the school administration, soon after he ran
for student government and was taken off the ballot for his critique.
Unfortunately he did not fight it in court.  The principal sharply taught the
student, "The constitution of this school takes precedence over the United
States Constitution.  The freedom of expression in school is  marred by society
but not completely dissolved by the administration.
     The 1969 supreme court ruling Tinker v. Des Moins Community Schools
defined a student's freedom of speech best.   John and Mary Beth Tinker wore
black armbands to school as a protest of the Vietnam war.   It was a silent
protest; the Tinker's never caused one problem, although some students did make
threats at them.   The school's administrators made them take them off.  Their
case made it all the way to the US  Supreme Court, where it won a 7-2 ruling.
(Pascoe, 96)   Justice Abe Fortas gave an excellent interpretation of a
students freedom of speech when he said:

     "It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed
     their rights at the ...

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