Understanding Student Rights in Schools

Book excerpt: What rights should students expect to exercise in public schools? Should bible study meetings be allowed during free periods? Should students be allowed to wear t-shirts that exhort taking drugs or committing violent acts? Should students be required to participate in drug testing? In this concisely argued book, Bryan Warnick examines how student rights in three areas—free speech, privacy, and religious expression—have been addressed in policy, ethics, and the law. Starting with the "Tinker" decision, a landmark 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling which declared that students in public schools had constitutional rights that must be understood "in light of special characteristics of the school environment," Warnick develops an education criterion that schools can use when facing difficult questions of student rights. Both probing and practical, Warnick explains how student rights can be properly understood and protected.