Pubdate: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 Source: Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) Copyright: 2007 The Daily Herald Company Contact: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107 Author: Jordy McNamara, News Editor, The Statesman, Stevenson High School Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) THE STEVENSON HIGH STATESMAN ON ... FREE SPEECH Offensive or just free speech? For decades, high school students have challenged the boundaries of free speech in school, often by wearing material that adults find inappropriate. Here, a student reporter investigates whether anyone's rights were really violated by the banning of controversial T-shirts. Last Friday morning as students entered school, a group of seniors were pulled aside, all with one thing noticeably in common: their shirts. These bright green T-shirts, with the words ".08" on the front and "Legally gone" on the back, have been the topic of conversation amongst the senior class in the past week. "It is very unsettling for the adults at this school," Principal Janet Gonzalez said. "The contents of this shirt were definitely not acceptable for school, and we cannot advocate any substance abuse." Despite teacher and administrator disapproval, Lizz McCrindle, class of 2008, who headed the project to have the shirts made, said she has never before received such support from her peers. "I had the whole commons watching me as they walked me to (Assistant Principal Pat Ihmels") office," McCrindle said. This wasn't the first time McCrindle had spoken with Ihmels about the shirts. "Last Wednesday, she brought me in and we looked at the shirt one by one and they told me they were banned," McCrindle said. During this meeting, McCrindle said that she was asked to inform everyone who had bought a shirt that the shirts had been banned from school. "I sent out a message on Facebook to everyone who bought one telling them what happened, but it only made them want to wear it more," she said. When the seniors arrived at school wearing the T-shirts, they were asked to either change shirts or turn them inside out, and McCrindle was escorted to Ihmel's office. With the banning of this shirt, among other items she and her friends designed, McCrindle believes her First Amendment rights have been violated. "A lot of people feel that their rights were taken away," said McCrindle, who specifically cited freedom of expression and freedom of speech. In the past, the courts have tended to side with schools in cases like these. This past June, the Supreme Court again ruled in favor of the school in Morse v. Frederick, often called the "Bong Hits for Jesus" case. In 2002 in Juneau, Alaska, an 18-year-old held up a sign reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a torch parade for the Olympics. He was suspended from his high school, leading him to believe his rights had been violated. The case reached the Supreme Court, and the justices ruled that if an expression related to or promoted drug abuse, the school had the right to censor it. It also said that if the expression were intended for political or social reasons, the school could not ban the item. "Courts have given school officials a fair share of leeway in setting up dress codes," Mike Hiestand, lawyer and legal consultant for the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va., said in a phone interview. "But they have to stand back when something is worn to convey a certain message." The school guidebook also includes a section banning clothing referencing alcohol or drugs. This, and past court rulings cause Jim Tidwell, attorney and Journalism Department Chair at Eastern Illinois University, to believe the students rights have not been violated. "I really don't think their rights were violated," Tidwell said. "This is a question of freedom of speech, and in the past, the courts have made exceptions for certain categories, and I think a T-shirt like this would fall into that exception." Both Principal Janet Gonzalez and Ihmels agreed that the school has to send a message about safety in this case. "It's our job to draw the line and to do what's best for all kids," Gonzalez said. "That shirt might not be unsafe today, but it's sending a message for the future." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake