What First Amendment rights do students have?
On Friday, March 1st at Perry High School in Arizona, students were wearing a “Make America Great Again” attire and holding a flag and school administration told them to put the flag away.
Some people said that the students were just supporting president Trump while others say that the MAGA slogan has racial undertones. The students that were wearing the attire said other people had worn conservative and liberal attire in the past without censorship.
The district policy prohibits clothing and items that “interfere with school work, create disorder, or disrupt the educational program.” Administrators said they only asked them to put the flag away because it was creating disorder at lunch between students. The principal wants everyone to know that it was not about politics; it was about maintaining a safe campus.
This type of story brings up many questions because it’s he said she said situation. How do we know if the students were arguing or if the principle just does not support Trump? It also brings up does the district have the right to do this.
The executive director of the First Amendment Center in Washington, D.C., said, “students have the right to express themselves unless the school can establish that they were disrupting the environment.” I really believe it all depends on what the school thinks and belives is “disruptive."
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