The
focus of chapter 11 gives 10 general rules to govern a school’s ability to
limit student expression online. The
rules are not hard rules, more guidelines that have some legal precedent. As such, everything derived from the rules
may apply in a variable fashion. In
general students enjoy the rights of free speech even in school settings. The biggest limitation in the free expression
is when it provides a disruption to the function of the school, especially if
the expression promotes or entails illegal activity or threats against persons
(using the phrase “going Columbine” was listed as a clear case).
I
have not had much experience with this, the closest I have faced is with
students’ tendencies to get off topic. I
try to engage their reasoning and steer the conversation back on topic. It is in no way the same as curtailing
freedom of expression of course, but it relates in trying to maintain a message
to the students that their input is respected and valued even if it is not
always applicable. However, the input
should not come at the expense of the goal of the lesson. To my knowledge we have not had any threats
or much in the line of bullying that I have seen, but it is nice to see the
aspects laid out as clearly as possible in this chapter. I very much appreciate the guidelines and
their explanations in this chapter.
I think having freedom of expression is something positive in our country, however, sometimes I think that there are too many people that take that too far. For example, in my high school, I had a classmate who took freedom of expression so far to the point that was unacceptable with what she was wearing. This is not acceptable, especially in the school setting. To me, it is OK if this person wants to dress this way outside the professional setting, however, in the professional setting, people need to show more respect by dressing appropriately.
ReplyDeleteI cannot speak to the individual case of your classmate, but it sounds like the manner in which they dressed likely caused disruptions to normal activities in a way that could likely defend 'limiting' her expression some.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that bothers me about people crying 1st Amendment is they use it against anyone. The 1st Amendment (and any of them for that matter) protect a citizen from infringement by the government. If I moderate a forum, for instance, and decide to censor posts however I please, it is not a 1st amendment issue unless it is a government site or some other connection. It does apply to public schools of course, being government entities, but I see so many people invoke things in the wrong context. It is irksome.