By Alec Liberman
Opinions Contributor
There are few ideas in our world that are almost universally accepted; freedom of speech and expression just so happens to be one of them. However, does this universal acceptance mean that the freedom can be misused?
As many of you know, Boston Public Schools (BPS) is facing up to $50 million in budget cuts; teaching jobs will be lost, the quality of education will be lowered, and, most importantly, the very existence of up to 30 schools is threatened.
Is this a favorable situation? Not in the slightest. Should students be allowed to express their discontent and show support for their Bostonian peers? I daresay they are obligated to.
Alas, walking out of class is not the way to do it.
Walk Out, a Facebook event organized by several Newton South students, was supposed to take place on Tuesday, May 17th, at 1:00pm. Students were asked to meet by the flagpole and walk around school grounds– in other words, peacefully express their discontent.
These organizers were all threatened with suspension if the event was to take place.
As much as I hate to say this, I think it is something that has to be said: the school did have the right to shut down the event.
The fact of the matter is that by staging this assembly during school hours and openly encouraging students to walk out of their classes, these students were encouraging their peers to violate their obligation to be at classes.
The 2015-2016 Student’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook states: “Associations may be organized within the school for political, social, athletic or other proper and lawful purposes, subject to reasonable limitations as to time, manner and place of assembly.”
Great; students can assemble for causes that they believe in, assuming that the assembly takes place at a reasonable time, in a reasonable manner, and at a reasonable place of assembly.
Was the rally in a reasonable place? Yes, I think it was. Was it a reasonable manner? That’s debatable. Reasonable time? Not even close.
There is one very important thing to keep in mind: by attending South, you are granted rights as described in the Handbook, but you are also bound to follow your responsibilities. The Handbook also states that “when a student is in school, he or she must attend all scheduled classes.”
The Handbook also states that “behavior which endangers persons or property or substantially disrupts the educational process or school activity” may require “disciplinary consequences”. That last part is key; this protest disrupted the education process and school activity. It is fully within the school’s purview to take action.
I wholeheartedly support the motive behind the rally, but by staging it during school hours and encouraging students to cut classes, it was in clear violation of rules all students are bound to follow.
Did the school go too far with threatening suspension? Yeah, I think they did. Was it an abuse of power? Possibly– I’m undecided. Was there a better way to handle the situation? Undoubtedly.
Now, some might be asking, “but what about my freedom to express myself?” Good question.
Unsurprisingly, it’s not one that hasn’t been brought up before. In situations like this, almost every major court ruling sided with the school. The 1969 Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (commonly known as Tinker v. Des Moines) sets precedence.
To simplify the case, students didn’t follow a certain dress code requirement. The court ruled in their favor, saying that a school can’t punish them for doing something that wasn’t disruptive. However, Justice Abe Fortas made a very important observation when writing the majority opinion: schools may forbid conduct that would “materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school.” These acts are “not immunized by the constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech.”
Students’ non-adherence to the dress code in that specific scenario did not disrupt school operation but, unfortunately, our rally would have. The rally was going to be disruptive to the school schedule. It was going to interfere with the school’s operation. Thus, it was not characterized under “freedom of speech.”
I wholeheartedly support the motive behind the rally, but by staging it during school hours and encouraging students to cut classes, it was in clear violation of rules all students are bound to follow.
Let me make this explicitly clear: the rally was a great idea. It was a thoughtful and friendly gesture to our friends at BPS that their voices are not lost and that they are not forgotten. However, walking out of class at 1:00pm on a Tuesday was neither the time nor place to hold it.
By encouraging students to walk out of class, it seems to me like the event is doing the opposite of what it is trying to achieve.
The rally was supposed to be a protest of the lack of public school funding, the elimination of “high-stakes tests”, stopping “unnecessary suspensions and expulsions”, and the investment in a world-class education for all students. These are all ideas that I passionately support; under different circumstances, I might have even joined the rally.
Nonetheless, by walking out of class, students would be showing that they have little regard for the money that actually goes into their education. They would be implying something along these lines: “We need public school funding, something we are not currently utilizing!”
Lastly– and as much as I hate to say this– the risk versus reward factor simply leans too far towards the former. Students would be risking their attendance record, suspension, and disrespect from the administration, which could possibly cause a bulk of unintended consequences.
The reward? Well, to be honest, I don’t think that there would be one.
When talking about 50 million dollars of state budget, unaffected students’ thoughts wouldn’t be taken into consideration. Yes, sympathy and solidarity is great, but unless it actually accomplishes anything, there is no reason to be putting yourself at risk.
The rally had an undeniably good motive; I don’t think anybody can object. It was a noble act and I have nothing but the utmost respect towards the organizers and to-be attendees. Nonetheless, the rally would’ve brought on a lot of the aforementioned unpleasant consequences, the negatives outweighing the positives.
In place of the rally, the organizers are starting a written petition to change the current BPS funding proposal. It is a petition that I will be signing, and I urge my friends and peers to do the same. Signing a petition takes about fifteen seconds, yet, those 15 seconds of your life can drastically change fifteen years of someone else’s.
This opinion reflects the views of a single party and in no way reflects the views of the newspaper.
