Within our constitution we have the privilege of utilizing the first amendment. As American citizens, we are allowed to speak our minds on things that matter to us. In this paper, I will review the classic free speech case study of a student going against the desires of the reigning student administration with undesired results. In this essay, I will argue that the school went too far in their claims against the student’s freedom of speech.
When Littleton High School student, Bryan Lopez, posted unfavorable comments on his MySpace page regarding his school’s deteriorating conditions and biased faculty members, he was unceremoniously suspended for fifteen days. Although the suspension was overturned only six days into it, the ruling left an undeniable question of how far one’s freedom of speech spans (Williams, 2007). The school invariably went too far in their punishment of Bryan when all he was doing was voicing his opinion in the matter. Often one’s voice is stifled when expressing their point of view because it goes against the popular belief of the times or of a dominant group. In this case, it was the school board’s decision to override that of the student’s that had initially prevailed. And though the student had some victory when his punishment was shortened, the fact that the school board worked to silence the student was wrong. As pointed out by author, Barendt, “If restrictions on speech are tolerated, society prevents the ascertainment and publication of accurate facts and valuable opinion” (Barendt, 2005). Squashing Bryan’s right to express his viewpoint is appaling because it asserts that one ruling body can overrule a lesser class of people. Within the school system, the school board holds the power to make rules and decisions that will affect the daily lives of students. Students should not be left powerless in decisions that are going to affect them, regardless of what embarrassment or costs it may cost the school system.
Many dictators throughout history have ruled over its people due to propaganda. Littleton High School participated in such propaganda. There were warranted concerns about the condition of the high school. Bryan expressed his views out of concern for his fellow classmates, as well as his frustration over the administration’s preference to certain students. Education should be free of distractions and frustrations in order for students to learn at their maximum potential. When certain students are preferred over others, it presents an unfair playing field. It is the parents that ultimately would feel the divide, and ultimately, the stigma of having their child ostracized due to favoritism of other students.
It is my belief that the school board overstretched their boundaries by suspending Bryan for such a long span of time. His suspension sent a clear message to the student body - do not try to go against the majority governing body or else you will pay in suspension. This maneuver has been conducted by government officials, and others in power when they wish to silence the truth from the public. In an effort to keep parents from learning about the deteriorating conditions, the student’s voice was silenced but not for long. The decision to end Bryan’s suspension after only six days was obvious proof that
Most importantly, the school administration was wrong for the message the suspension sent to the rest of the students - that their voices can be silenced if they voice their opinions towards matters that concern them. If we allow individuals to be censored simply because we do not like or agree with their beliefs and opinions, then we are doing nothing more than creating a climate that is ripe for monopolies where a few people become responsible for making decisions for the masses. It is our basic human right to protest and speak on issues that concern us as individuals without fearing unfair backlash against us. In our case study, one student was suspended for a public post he made outside of school. It was his right to speak on the issues within his school and how they affected him and his classmates. Communicating to the public was the student’s way of increasing awareness while the school board’s action to silence him, by suspending him, was only a temporary inconvenience. The real truth behind the action was to hide the school’s deplorable conditions as well as the documented biases they exhibited towards certain students and faculty. Perhaps it was the costs associated with making repairs that halted the school board from releasing the truth, or the scrutiny from parents that they feared, but regardless, to punish Bryan for exercising his human rights, was a crime in itself.
In conclusion, freedom of speech is a right afforded to American citizens but can become easily abused and misconstrued by those in positions of power. In the case study of Colorado’s Littleton High School versus Bryan Lopez, where a student voiced their opinions on social media regarding his school’s deplorable conditions and faculty bias, the idea of free speech and its limitations is presented. While a punishment of suspension was applied, it was quickly overturned but not before a valuable lesson was learned - that free speech should be allowed, no matter who gets offended in the process. The greatest factor in preventing free speech is censorship. By silencing this high school student’s words, it sent a clear message to the rest of the student body that speaking up leads to being silenced. If there is anything this case study can teach Americans is that we must never take our freedom of speech for granted. Free speech should be a topic that every citizen becomes involved with as it’s the one thing that separates us from third world countries and one that we should all fight to preserve.
References
Barendt, E. (2005). Freedom of speech. OUP Oxford.
Williams, K.D. (2007). Public Schools vs. Myspace & (and) Facebook: The Newest
Challenge to Student Speech Rights. U. Cin. L. Rev., 76, 707.
