Wearing Gang Colors In Public Schools

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Everyone often expresses who we are or what we believe by what we wear. Students maintain constitutional rights for freedom of expression when it comes to school. To some extent our decisions about our appearance are protected as well. Keeping in mind that dress code policies vary from school to school, and there will often be disagreement about what makes up inappropriate clothing. Fear of school disruption is NOT enough to overcome freedom of expression. And wearing gang colors does NOT interfere with our learning nor with the rights of other students. A general ban on gang colors is too vague and therefore unconstitutional. Almost all colors are associated with gangs. Overall, school administers have no right to ban students from wearing gang affiliated colors in public schools. In the 1969 case of Tinker vs Des Moines, one of the most well-known student rights cases it has considered, the US Supreme Court ruled that students had a constitutional right to wear a black armband to school to protest …show more content…

Of course, students and school officials can often disagree about what may or may not be disruptive. For example, in 1998, the Rhode Island ACLU successfully challenged the suspension of a student for wearing a rock band t-shirt with the numerals “666” on it. On the other hand, although the ruling might come out differently today, a Virginia court ruled two decades ago that a school could decide to ban as “vulgar” a t-shirt with the phrase “Drugs Suck.” If you think you were unfairly disciplined for something you wore to school, you should contact the ACLU. Administrators have the responsibility to protect the health, welfare, and safety of students. And can stop conduct that interferes with the operation of schools or impinges on the rights of other students. Also, administrators can stop conduct that interferes with schoolwork during school

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