69ý

Opinion
Student Well-Being Opinion

Black Armbands for Constitution Day

By Jamin B. Raskin & Mary Beth Tinker — September 07, 2005 4 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Forty years ago, one of us, Mary Beth Tinker, was among a group of students in Des Moines, Iowa, who wore black armbands to school to mourn the dead in Vietnam and show support for a Christmas truce. Then a student in the 8th grade at Warren Harding Junior High School, Mary Beth was promptly suspended by her principal.

Because the public school is our most pervasive public institution, it is possible to teach a whole semester or yearlong class about the Constitution through school cases.

The Des Moines students, however, stood their ground. Even as Mary Beth’s family received death threats and people threw red paint on her front door, she insisted that she had a right to make a political statement at school.

Four years later, in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed, holding that students (and teachers) have First Amendment rights at school. Student speech is protected unless it threatens to “substantially” disrupt the educational process. In his majority opinion, Justice Abe Fortas made clear that, far from being disruptive, Mary Beth’s kind of expression—political, respectful, nonviolent—enriched the educational environment.

Americans who go abroad recognize how extraordinary the Tinker decision is. Even in France, a nation that cherishes freedom of expression, public school students are forbidden to make religious or political statements at school through their dress. Although the Supreme Court has cut back on the rights of students somewhat in the intervening years, the Tinker decision still stands as a towering constitutional landmark. It affirms that under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, students have a right to speak truth to power, to express controversial opinions, to tell the community that the emperor has no clothes.

The right of students to speak can make grown-ups nervous. But there is no going back on Tinker, which defines the American approach to education, and even to childhood. Under our Constitution, young people may not be treated as objects of government indoctrination, the way they are treated in authoritarian societies. Instead, they are encouraged to become active and questioning participants in their own education. Their thoughts, feelings, and ideas count.

This month, we have the chance as a society to celebrate the value of student expression. Because of the leadership of Sen. Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, who keeps a copy of the Constitution in his pocket, a new federal law requires public and private schools and universities that receive federal funding to observe Constitution Day, this year on Friday, Sept. 16. Importantly, the law leaves it up to schools and students to decide how to participate in its observance.

Teaching the Constitution does not have to be boring and abstract. On the contrary, Sen. Byrd’s law school alma mater at American University has taken a lead in showing that the promotion of constitutional understanding can be thrilling to students, and not just once a year. Through the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, the school sends gifted law students into public schools to teach the Constitution and lead discussions of real cases and controversies that resonate in the lives of young people.

The trick is to teach students the Constitution through cases that affect them directly. American University’s Washington College of Law has designed an entire curriculum around decisions about censorship of student newspapers and yearbooks, locker searches, drug testing of student-athletes, prayer at high school football games, the posting of the Ten Commandments in the classroom, compulsory flag salutes, the inclusion of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, desegregation and affirmative action, neighborhood inequities in school financing, the rights of students with disabilities, sexual harassment at school, girls’ participation on boys’ baseball teams, and more. Because the public school is our most pervasive public institution, it is possible to teach a whole semester or yearlong class about the Constitution through school cases.

To become thoughtful citizens, young people need to distinguish between the shrill position-taking that dominates public discourse today and serious constitutional analysis that transcends party lines. This is why Marshall-Brennan classroom volunteers have included not only liberal public-interest lawyers but conservative luminaries such as Judge Kenneth W. Starr, who loyally taught once a week at Anacostia High School in Washington.

The black armband has become a national symbol of respect for student rights. On Constitution Day this year, the Marshall-Brennan project, which has spread to law schools at Rutgers, Howard, Arizona State, and the University of Pennsylvania, will be distributing black armbands to schools, teachers, and students. We will encourage lively conversations about the state of student rights and civil liberties across America.

We will be wearing our Tinker armbands on Sept. 16, and hope that other educators will join us. (Those who don’t wish to make their own armbands can get one by going to .)

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar
AI and Educational Leadership: Driving Innovation and Equity
Discover how to leverage AI to transform teaching, leadership, and administration. Network with experts and learn practical strategies.
Content provided by 
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar
Investing in Success: Leading a Culture of Safety and Support
Content provided by 
Assessment K-12 Essentials Forum Making Competency-Based Learning a Reality
Join this free virtual event to hear from educators and experts working to implement competency-based education.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

Student Well-Being Student Journalists Want to Cover Politics. Not Everyone Agrees They Should
Student journalists are grappling with controversial topics—a lesson in democracy that's becoming increasingly at risk for pushback.
7 min read
Illustration of a paper airplane made from a newspaper.
DigitalVision Vectors
Student Well-Being Opinion 3 Things You Need to Know About Absenteeism
We studied the data from more than 1.5 million students. Here’s are some overlooked insights to boost attendance.
Todd Rogers, Emily Bailard & Mikia Manley
4 min read
Scattered school desks seen from above, some with red x's on them signifying absences.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week and iStock/Getty Images
Student Well-Being SEL Has Become Politicized. 69ý Are Embracing It Anyway
Eighty-three percent of principals report that their schools use an SEL curriculum or program.
5 min read
Image of positive movement when attending to a student's well-being is a component.
Dmitrii_Guzhanin/iStock/Getty and Laura Baker/Education Week
Student Well-Being 69ý Don't Want to Talk About Politics, Either
The election is occurring at a time when many schools are discouraged from having tough conversations in class.
6 min read
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio.
Viewers gather to watch a debate between Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at the Angry Elephant Bar and Grill, Sept. 10, 2024, in San Antonio. Researchers say students are more reluctant to talk politics this election cycle.
Eric Gay/AP