Student Voice and School Authority

• In Event: Video Production as Democracy Education

Abstract

In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court dramatically changed the landscape for the creation and distribution of student-produced media in the public schools. In Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, the Court diminished the First Amendment protection of speech created in a “curricular” setting, including class-produced student media. Post-Hazelwood, students have been inhibited in their ability to safely discuss issues of social and political concern. The presentation will summarize legal scholarship about the 28 years of interpretative case law following Hazelwood and explain how, functionally, the First Amendment no longer offers meaningful protection for the ability to engage on controversial issues in the school setting -- even, increasingly, when students are speaking at home on their personal time on social media. Drawing on case studies of specific student/school conflicts derived from the 41-year history of the Student Press Law Center’s Attorney Volunteer Network, the presentation will describe illustrative friction points at which student freedom of expression comes into tension with schools’ (legitimate) interests in maintaining order and focus, and their (non-legitimate) interests in suppressing dissent and downplaying student dissatisfaction. The presentation will highlight recent examples of ways in which students are using their voices to promote pro-speech public policies, focusing on the case study of North Dakota’s newly enacted John Wall New Voices Act, one of the nation’s most comprehensive statutes protecting students’ ability to speak lawfully and non-disruptively without fear of retaliation.

Author

• Frank LoMonte