Opinion: Free speech still rules - even for mouthy teens

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether public school officials can punish students for smarting off on social media.

Hopefully it won’t take long to rule in favor of the First Amendment. But the 2017 incident that sparked the court case does provide some teachable moments about respect for others and consequences that can follow bad behavior.

The background, according to The Los Angeles Times:

A student known in court filings as B.L. was upset when she failed to make the varsity cheerleading team at Mahanoy Area High School in Pennsylvania. While hanging out with a friend at a local store, she took a photo of herself and her friend raising their middle fingers and posted it on Snapchat.

Accompanying the photo was this message: “F- school, F- softball, F- cheer, F- everything,” the LA Times reported.

When her cheerleading coaches saw the post, they suspended B.L. from the junior varsity team. B.L. sued, alleging the school had violated her free speech rights.

Back in the day, an athlete who went on a profanity-laced rant about anything, in front of a coach at school, could expect repercussions. Those might include a good talking to or extra sets of bleacher runs or temporary suspension or even removal from a team. But cussing about the same thing outside of school, beyond earshot of the coach, was not likely to result in school punishment.

More likely, then and now, questionable student behavior that occurs beyond the school yard results in parental discipline. Or not, depending on the parents’ perspective.

The internet hasn’t changed the dividing line between parental and school authority over students. Mom and Dad are still in charge of mouthy teenagers, not the teachers or administrators, especially after the bell rings.

It’s important to remember that B.L. did not threaten to hurt anyone. She even had the good sense to use her words away from campus. If she’d been born before Snapchat, her poor choice of language might only have been known to those unfortunate enough to have been sitting next to her booth at the malt shop.

The LA Times, in its editorial on the topic, stated:

“(T)he court shouldn’t erase the legal distinction between how students behave at school and how they act at home — even if they’re logging on to the internet in their bedroom to complain that their teacher is a moron or that homework is an abomination.”

B.L. has probably learned by now that she lives in a world where everyone is watching everything all the time and it’s a good idea to think before you talk, or post.

The adults in her world should be using this opportunity to remind her of that, but also they should remind themselves about their responsibility, and their boundaries, in helping young people grow up.

— David Stevens

Publisher