Know Your Rights: Student Protests

First Amendment rights, applied in light of the special characteristics of the school environment, are available to teachers and students. It can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate. This has been the unmistakable holding of this Court for almost 50 years...

• Justice Fortas, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)

To help students know their rights when it comes to First Amendment activity on school campuses, NCYL has compiled the following resources:

• Students' Rights: Speech, Walkouts, and Other Protests (ACLU)
• What the First Amendment Means for Campus Protests (The New York Times; note the clarification on rights on public vs. private schools)
• Answering Your Student Speech Questions (ACLU podcast episode)
• Can Schools Discipline Students for Protesting? (ACLU)

For your rights covering the protest, please see:

• Know your rights when covering a protest (Student Press Law Center)