Students Can Speak Freely, Thanks to Cheerleader
As the Supreme Court has affirmed in a landmark case, schools have a special interest in letting young people say unpopular things.
On Snapchat or off campus, speech is protected.
Photographer: Mike Comer/Getty Images
In a landmark First Amendment opinion, the Supreme Court has limited schools’ ability to punish students for off-campus speech. In a case involving a cheerleader who was suspended from her team after criticizing her coaches and the cheer program in a profane Snapchat post, the court held that the school had gone too far.
While the court said that some off-campus speech — like bullying and harassment — could still be regulated by schools, it laid out general guidelines that were intended to protect students from having their online speech monitored and regulated 24-7 by the schools they attend.