Tinker vs. Des Moines

A school’s need for order must be balanced with the basic constitutional freedoms of attending citizens. A school needs to be safe, and must not allow students to threaten the safety and security of others under any circumstances. However, there are certain unalienable rights of students, which should always be granted in a public school setting as long as they do not directly harm or intend to harm another person or entity. The freedom of speech is a right that should be granted to students, such in the famous case of Tinker vs. Des Moines, where students took a case to the Supreme Court regarding the extent of their freedom of speech within a school setting. This case, which determined that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom, has set the stage for the constitutional rights of students in United States public schools. I believe that speech or expression should not be regulated in any public settings, except those that are unlawful in public settings according to previously determined constitutional reasoning.