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Robert Winner

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Should students be punished by their schools for comments made on social medial from their homes.

In the news are students being expelled for comments made from home regarding their schools, administrators, or teachers. Should this be a matter for courts action ... no action ... or is the school discipline justified.

Remember the comments are not made on school equipment or while the student is under school control / school hours / school trips / etc ...

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  • Ethan Bull

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    May 8 2012: One thing to remember, is that children, meaning everyone who is not an adult, should have the exact same rights as adults. If an employer has no right to fire an employee based on their private life, then a school should have no right to deny a student an education. In fact if a student can be shown to be a threat, they still deserve, maybe even more so, every educational opportunity they are able to accept.

    Non-threatening freedom of speech is protected, especially concerning our government and its agencies. Therefore, a student should in fact have more protection under the law than an employee of a private sector business.

    Currently, students are treated like second class citizens. They are learning that the system is unfair. arbitrary, and corrupt. They are being taught to fear authority. Whether this is a good lesson for our screwed up adult world or not is debatable.
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      peter lindsay 30+

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      May 9 2012: Children don't have the same rights under the law. A fifteen year old cannot get married, sign a contract, drink beer, vote, drive a car on the road, join the army etc. The reason they don't have the same rights is that they also don't have the same responsibilities. If you break the law you are tried as a juvenile and are subject to much lesser penalties.

      • Ethan Bull

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        May 9 2012: The things you list as rights are not rights, these are privileges we gain upon reaching the age of majority. Not every adult enjoys these privileges. We have no right, explicit or inherent, to do any of the things you list, other than voting, which is denied to felons in some states. Consider marriage, does everyone have a right to marry? No. Depending on where you live, couples can only get married if they are a heterosexual, genetically male and female couple.

        in the context of this conversation students deserve the same inherent right to privacy, the explicit right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures, and explicit right of freedom of speech as any other citizen.

        The most glaring example of the way we teach children about fairness and their rights is how we allow them to be beaten by their parents or guardians. Why don't we find it abhorrent that in most states a parent, guardian, or employee of a school system can hit a child, but the same person could be arrested for hitting another human adult or even a dog.

        BTW, juveniles are often tried and sentenced as adults, something with which I strongly disagree, but then I disagree with our entire legal system.
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          peter lindsay 30+

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          May 9 2012: In my mind I see a group of twelve year olds assembled in the town square, all holding AK47s and murmuring something about how their teachers really suck and the police ignoring them because they're just exercising their rights.
          BTW protection from search and seizure only applies if it is the state searching. Your mom can still go through your stuff

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          peter lindsay 30+

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          May 10 2012: Just pointing out that there are several parts of the bill of rights that don't apply to minors

      • Ethan Bull

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        May 10 2012: You know precisely what I mean in the context of this discussion. I am pointing out that children deserve the same basic rights as any other human. No, you're acting like a troll.
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          peter lindsay 30+

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          May 10 2012: Perhaps the right to freedom of speach should be reserved to those mature enough to understand the possible ramifications of their words? Like the right to bear arms is reserved to those considered mature enough to use them responsibly.

      • Ethan Bull

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        May 10 2012: Then we would all be silent. Goodbye.
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          peter lindsay 30+

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          May 10 2012: .....
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          Jamie Lee Mcfadden

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          May 11 2012: Why are so many people saying the Bill of Rights should be reserved? Our forefathers have to be spinning in their graves. I also feel that we are seeing more and more trolls in blogs telling us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights should die. It is like people want us just to give up and be like North Korea. Children have the right of freedom of speech as much as their parents do. The parent needs to teach the child what is wrong and what is right.

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