The Free Speech Rights of High School Students

Updated Jan. 16, 2025

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“The most notable phenomenon we have observed recently is that free speech is being aggressively challenged at the high school level, including in student publications. In some cases, school administrators are squelching views they find outlandish or disagreeable, but the complaints often have less to do with ideology than with avoiding controversy of any sort. Often, after acting harshly, they have second thoughts or outsiders step in to calm the situation.”

— Sanford Ungar, director, Free Speech Project (February 2019)

Introduction

In U.S. public schools, the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech holds particular importance, shaping the way students express themselves both in and outside the classroom. However, the unique setting of a school raises complex questions.

To what extent should students be free to voice their opinions? Where should the line be drawn between free expression and maintaining a productive learning environment? As schools grapple with issues like online speech, dress codes, and student protests, the tension between students’ rights and school authority invites a closer examination of the balance between freedom and regulation within educational spaces.

Key Incidents from the Free Speech Tracker

Student Press

Graduation Speeches

In January 2023, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, a Jacksonville, Florida, high school, canceled a production of “Indecent,” a play about how members of the 1923 Broadway production of “God of Vengeance” were arrested for obscenity because the play contained a love act between two women. Students alleged that the production had been shut down in an act of LGBTQ+ censorship, citing a Florida state law that bans public schools from teaching young students about gender identity or sexual orientation.

Zooming Out: Other Incidents

Related Incidents on the Tracker

The Role of Free Speech

Points of View

Choose an example from the options below and use it to analyze the issue. Do these points of view change yours? Do they complicate it?

Discussion Questions

  1. What significant court cases have influenced the interpretation of free speech rights for high school students, and what precedent do they set for future cases?
  2. Under the standard of the 1988 Supreme Court case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, school administrators in elementary, middle, and high schools can legally suppress speech when the censorship is “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.” Based on the examples you read about above, what qualifies as a “legitimate pedagogical concern”? In what cases did the school overstep and infringe on students’ First Amendment rights?
  3. What should be the role of high school graduation speeches and student media, respectively? Given those roles, which often attract widespread attention, are schools ever justified in censoring graduation speeches and school-sponsored media?
  4. How are the Free Speech conflicts emerging in high schools similar to those you’ve heard about on college campuses? How are they different, and why? Should college students (and college newspapers) have greater Free Speech protections than high school students, and why?
  5. How might the type of high school (public, private, or parochial) influence how administrators approach Free Speech? Did you ever experience suppression of Free Speech in your high school?
  6. This module has mostly discussed speech that occurred in on-campus forums, like graduation speeches or school newspapers. But some incidents — such as the racist “promposal“ or the alleged Nazi salute in a prom photo — did not occur on campus, though the circumstances were still related to school activities. Should schools be allowed to regulate students’ speech when it doesn’t occur on campus? How might the type of school (public, private, or parochial) affect your answer?
  7. To what extent should students have the right to express themselves on social media, even if their speech is critical of their school or peers? Should schools address off-campus speech? How might the type of school (public, private, or parochial) affect your answer?
  8. What role does student protest play in high schools, and how can schools balance the right to protest with maintaining an orderly educational environment?
  9. How can parents and school administrators work together to foster an environment that encourages free speech while also addressing concerns about safety and well-being?
  10. Considering the current trends in high school free speech issues, what predictions can be made about the future of student expression? How might the landscape of free speech rights in high schools evolve in the coming years, especially with ongoing debates about political correctness and social justice issues?

Activity

Click on these themes below: Hate Speech, Press, Identity

Click on these categories below: Education

Discuss: What patterns emerge? What does this selection of stories tell us about Free Speech issues in the United States? What does it say about Free Speech on high school and college campuses?

Tracker Entries

Themes

Categories