School to student: Take U.S. flag off your bike

The First Amendment Center ^ | 11/12/10 | David L. Hudson Jr.

[fullchroma]

Since when is honoring Veterans Day with the display of the American flag disruptive?

That's a question facing school officials at Denair (Calif.) Middle School who reportedly prohibited a 13-year-old student from attaching an American flag on the back of his bicycle.

According to a story by Monterey TV station KSBW, officials at the school near Modesto forced Cody Alicea to remove his flag because some other students complained.

School superintendent Edward Parraz told KSBW that students who didn’t like the flag might cause a disruption. Under the 1969 U.S. Supreme Court ruling Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, school officials can prohibit student expression if they can reasonably forecast that the speech or display will cause a substantial disruption.

But something is wrong with this Denair picture. The school administration apparently reasoned that because of some racial tension in the past stemming from Mexican flags displayed at school on Cinco de Mayo, it could ban the American flag. Yet other parts of the Tinker ruling should give officials pause before they engage in heavy-handed censorship. The Court proclaimed in Tinker: “But, in our system, undifferentiated fear or apprehension of disturbance is not enough to overcome the right to freedom of expression.”

Schools facing tensions over cultural differences can teach all students that disruptions over displays such as flags on bikes or backpacks will not be tolerated - rather than banning the expression.

Parraz was even quoted as saying that the "First Amendment is important," even as school officials proceed to ban Alicea's flag.

Let's hope this and other schools will show justifiable reasons before silencing student speech on the basis of "undifferentiated fear.”

[TexasRepublic]

Just freakin’ damn! Our greatest enemies are within the borders.