Should Schools Be Allowed To Limit Students Online Speech

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Should Schools Be Allowed to Limit Students’ Online Speech? Has your day ever come to a complete and utter halt, forcefully interrupted by the news of a peerś online activity? Chances are, it hasn´t. Many school officials want to limit students’ online speech, even from their own homes, removing their freedom to speak their mind. I believe that schools should only be allowed to limit students’ online speech if it causes a significant disruption or threat to the school or the student´s peers. Any limit other than ones regarding disruption should be banned. There are three main reasons why schools should not limit online speech: online activity typically does not affect schools, bullying is everywhere, and First Amendment rights could be violated. …show more content…

In the case of J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District, J.S.ś classmates did speak of her mocking profile, but did not cause disruptions in class that were any worse than their usual disruptions. This evidence helps explain why schools should not limit students´ online speech because it promotes the idea that online speech usually does not cause any significant negative changes in classroom behavior. A second reason why schools should not limit students´ online speech is that bullying does not solely exist online. Evidence of this is that bullying has been occurring for centuries. Cyberbullying is just one more branch of harassment by bullying. This evidence helps explain why schools should not limit students´ online speech because it suggests that even if online speech was to be limited, students could still find other ways to bully. Finally, a third reason why schools should not limit students´ online speech is that limiting online speech could violate free speech rights. Evidence of this in J.S.ś case is that the courts decided that she had been punished unfairly, violating her First Amendment rights. This evidence helps explain why schools should not limit students’ online speech because school districts could get in legal trouble when trying to censor

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