Diamond+McKie

Should school administration be allowed to punish students for things they write on social media?

 * I chose this topic because students being punished for what they write on social media is a common issue in this day and time. Many question the ethics of this punishment. Others question if this punishment is a violation of the First Amendment. I want to see the opinions of others as well as the court cases that have been settled on this issue.**



Greenberg. //Internet Censorship//. Digital image. //Www.techfreep.com//. N.p., 28 Jan. 2007. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. [].

Cases Used... "//Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District//." //Great American Court Cases//. Ed. Mark Mikula and L. Mpho Mabunda. Vol. 1: Individual Liberties. Detroit: Gale, 1999. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. This case was about students wearing armbands to protest about the war. They were told to take off the armbands. The Courts went against what the shcool said because it was a violation of their First Amendment Rights

"FLAHERTY v. KEYSTONE OAKS SCHOOL DIST." //Leagle//. N.p., 2003. Web. 07 Dec. 2012. Flahery was suspended from school because of a list he wrote about a teacher on an e-mail he wrote at home. He was suspened from the school as well as his athletic team, all his student privaledges were revoked. The court ruled that the school did violate his First Amendment rights and that everything the school said and did was to be disregaurded.

"//Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier//." //Great American Court Cases//. Ed. Mark Mikula and L. Mpho Mabunda. Vol. 1: Individual Liberties. Detroit: Gale, 1999. //Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context//. Web. 7 Dec. 2012. This case was about the principal taking out two of the articles written by students in the School newspaper. They went to court because they students believed that their First Amendment rights had been violated. In turn, their First Amendment rights had not been violated because they were writing for the school newspaper.

I believe that students should have all rights inside and outside of school. If a students publishes something inappropriate at home on the Internet, school administrators should be off limits to the punishment of that child. However, if a student writes something that counts as cyber-bulling or threatening to the school and the student's class mates, then the school administration does have a right to punish the student. But other than that, the school will violate the student's First Amendment rights if they punish a student for what is written on the Internet at home. This topic is a fairly new issue in the United States. It wasn't until a few years ago when students started going to court with the school administrators because of the violation of the First Amendment rights on the Internet. So, I learned quite a bit of information throughout the research process of this paper. I was very interested in the //Flaherty v Keystone Oaks district// case. The case gave me some very good view points on the issue.
 * What I Think....**

**Works Cited **

Cohen, Adam. "Why Students Have the Right to Mock Teachers Online." Time U.S. CNN, 20 June 2011. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.

"Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier."Great American Court Cases.Ed. Mark Mikula and L. MphoMabunda. Vol. 1: Individual Liberties. Detroit: Gale, 1999. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Hilden, Julie. "Can Public School Students Constitutionally Be Punished for Their Off-Campus Comments on Social-Networking Sites or Blogs?" //Verdict//.N.p., 17 Aug. 2011. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

Kaminer, Wendy. "What Right Do Schools Have to Discipline Students for What They Say Off Campus?" //The Atlantic//.N.p., 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

Kase, Aaron. "Can Your School Suspend You for a Facebook Post?" //JD Supra//.N.p., 19 June 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

Kloster, Andrew. "Thefire.org."//Federal Court: Demanding Facebook Password of Student and Punishing Her for "Naughty" Messages Implicates First, Fourth Amendments//. N.p., 19 Sept. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

"PA Court Says School’s Punishment for Internet Speech Violated Student’s Rights."American Civil Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, 26 Feb. 2003. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

"PA High School Pays $60,00 to Student Who Was Punished for Private Internet message." American Civil Liberties Union.N.p., 08 Nov. 2002. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. .

Paulson, Ken. "First Amendment Center."//Schools and Social Media: When Off-campus Means off Limits//. N.p., 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 08 Nov. 2012. <http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/schools-and-social-media-when-off-campus- means-off-limits>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Raskin, Jamin B. "Cyber Censors: Rising Conflicts over Internet Homepages." //We the Students: Supreme Court Decisions for and about Students//. 3rd ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ, 2003. 72-77. Print. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">S.M. v Griffith Public School. 1-8. UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT. 24 Apr. 2012. Splc.org. N.p., 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012. <http://www.splc.org/pdf/sm_complaint.pdf>.