School Paper

Just decided to upload this since I haven't had anything recently.

School Censorship
School censorship has always been a big issue on many high school and lower level campuses. Do students, who are usually under the age of 18, have the same rights as adults? This debate breaks down in two ways; do schools have the right to limit student’s speech for the well-being of other students, and do schools have the right to limit freedom of speech since their students are minors? This debate has been seen in students carrying signs around campus, students wearing certain t-shirts, statements made in school speeches, and what is allowed to be published in student press. Though people in the general public have freedom of speech, they do not have the freedom to say whatever they want whenever they want. A person cannot yell “bomb!” on an airplane and expect to not get in trouble. This is not an issue of freedom of speech, but of protecting the general public. Students enrolled in any public school, should have the same rights as any citizen in the general public. This will, in fact, cause students in school to be better prepared for the real world society after graduating school.
Schools are institutions built with the idea of educating the younger generations who will eventually become the future of America. In his article “School Censorship: It Come in a Variety of Forms, Not all Overt,” David Martinson says, “The values students learn in high school are the values that they take into their lives.” This statement is very true, although it can also be argued that parents have a great deal of influence on how a student basis their life after school. Schools however do have students under their control for a large part of the day and the students and teachers there do have a large and lasting influence on each other. If students are taught in schools that they are only allowed to say things that will appease everyone, they will leave school believing in a freedom of speech that is just speech and not free. Students need to be informed during school, that their forefathers died to give them the right to stand up in public and say what they believe. In the same way though, schools should punish to the utmost any sort of speech that causes or can cause direct harm to anyone on campus. Students who make threats about bombs or shootings should be punished, as talking about committing crimes in a threatening manner is illegal. Though students should be informed about their freedoms, related to speech, they should always be told of the limits of these freedoms and taught what happens if these freedoms are abused. The law should apply to students; all students should be bound to the same laws in the same manner as the general public, despite age. Though schools should enforce the laws established by the respective government, they should not be allowed to fashion any laws beyond the bounds of the governmental laws. Though this will greatly limit the ability of school officials to monitor and control the school setting, school will be more realistic to society and will do a better job at weeding out those who are bound to fail in society. Though this might seem to be a harsh argument, society is a harsh place and if only students bound to succeed in society end up spending time in school, it will be cheaper for everyone. School should teach students about the real world, and how to live in it, not useless information that will be stored away for future use only on the game show Jeopardy.
The way the school system is now, many students are taught things that are very contrary to society. In the article “The Obscene Election Speech,” Philip Hager tells the story Matt Fraser who was punished after giving a speech at a student lead event that contained obscene language. In the real public, someone running for office would be allowed to make obscene remarks and actions during a speech (although it may be unwise.) If people in the real public are granted these rights, so should students in school. Martinson claims;
Students fail to understand why it is important that they be engaged and committed citizens because they learn through the socialization process what is common to much of public education—the way to survive is not to raise questions but to go along.
This is a crime; society often does work this way, but only because this is what the schools are teaching. Schools should teach people that sometimes standing up for what you believe is okay, and even needed at times. Survival in the world should not be based off of apathy and pacifism, but a continual desire to better society and self, even if sometimes that requires one to offend people.
Stealing the freedom of open speech, as granted to the general public, often destroys a student’s ability and desire to think. School often teaches students how to learn, but often neglects enlightening them of what matters most—the ability to think. Often thinking will help a person later on in life becoming a better citizen than someone who only knows how to learn. Learning is often a process of acquiring knowledge, but doesn’t always include the ability of applying what is learned. Thinking goes a step further requiring the student to apply knowledge in a way that it is used in an effective manner given a situation. The world has enough people with knowledge, what will make a society particularly great is one where everyone thinks.
School censorship is an issue far greater than that of freedom of speech. The policies that a school enforces will lead to a society that is greatly influenced by these policies. Therefore schools should practically teach what they want their society to look like. If they want a society full of informed thinkers, they should raise their students to be thinkers. In the same way, if they only teach how to learn, the students graduating from our schools will be less prepared to handle society.











Works Cited
Hager, Philip. "The Obscene Election Speech." Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. By Laurence Behrens and Leonard J. Rosen. New York: Addison-Wesley Longman, Incorporated, 2007.

Martinson, David L. "School Censorship: It Comes in a Variety of Forms, Not All Overt." Clearing House 81.5 (May 2008): 211-214. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Annie Gabriel Lib,Riverside, CA . 7 Nov. 2008 .