Schools should limit online speech because it could endanger people’s lives, be disruptive to education, and display offensive information. “The First Amendment to the Constitution says,””Congress shall make no law...abridging [limiting] the freedom of speech...”” (Online Speech Mini-Q 179). Freedom of speech has limits; examples are clear and present danger, fighting words, obscenity, conflict with other important interest, and the time, place, and manner which are not protected by the First Amendment. In 1925, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment applied to multiple levels of government, which included public schools. In 1969, the Supreme Court ruled that free speech rights don’t end at school grounds, and in 2007 the Supreme Court allowed the school to punish students for speech outside of the school campus. Therefore, schools should be allowed to limit online speech in order to protect students from physical and mental harassment as well as distractions.
Online speech allows students to make comments that could potentially endanger people’s lives. “Case 2: Six middle school students created a special Facebook event. It …show more content…
Students have the right of free speech by the First Amendment, but some speech by students is not protected by the First Amendment. Schools should be able to regulate the speech that involves their students. When speech occurs that is not protected by the First Amendment, the school should take the actions necessary in limiting this speech to ensure the wellbeing of the students and teachers at the school. Online speech can endanger people’s lives, disrupt the learning environment, and present sexually offensive content. Therefore, schools should be able to limit their students online speech, on and off campus, to keep the school safe and focused, while still keeping the students First Amendment in