newly ancient

The New York Times has an interesting article up about freedom of expression (speech) in schools. Personally, I feel that students should be free to wear whatever pleases them. If someone doesn’t like what you are wearing, then they can ignore it. Basically, school should be regarded as a standard public place. Students deserve rights too. The most ubsurd of the attacks are of course when the administration uses its plainly authoritative powers to clamp down upon all unrest. Schools can certainly be incredibly dictatorial. Take the case of a 3rd greader not being allowed to start a petition:

In Walker-Serrano v. Leonard, parents sued when school officials, citing safety issues with pencils on the playground, halted a petition drive being conducted by a third-grade student unhappy with a planned class trip to the circus. (She was protesting animal cruelty.)

Give me a break. Pencils dangerous on the playground? It’s third grade for crying out loud… The worst part is that the district won. Students deserve to be regarded as intelligent people too, not just robots bent upon hurting themselves. Freedom of expression shouldn’t just be limited to adults.