Student Rights

The Boston, Massachusetts-based law firm of Markham & Read protects student rights nationwide.

Student rights violations

Whether a student is discriminated against, censored, humiliated, or prevented from expressing their interests or identities, that student's rights are being violated. If a student is threatened with suspension or expulsion without reasonable cause, that student's rights are being violated.

In both instances, a student has his or her future determined for them in many subtle and unsubtle ways and to their detriment.

A safe environment

Source: ACLU Website

“Constitutional violations are far too common in public school . . . articles about controversial subjects written for student newspapers are censored. Lockers and backpacks are searched without reasonable suspicion.

Minority students are disproportionately shunted into lower track programs. Majoritarian religious practices are officially sanctioned . . . female students are excluded from certain extracurricular activities . . . gay students are intimidated into silence.

Teachers and administrators have a responsibility to provide a safe environment for the students that is conducive to learning. They also have a responsibility to respect each student's individual rights. These two missions are not incompatible.”

In loco parentis

Source: U.S. Constitution Online

The rights of minors can be suppressed.

The reason for this is age, or more accurately, lack of maturity. A young child cannot be expected to make the decisions of an adult. An adult may wander the streets at night, but a child doing so would be taken into protective custody.

Violations of students’ rights are upheld by the courts for other reasons. One of the most basic is called in loco parentis. This means that while a student is in the custody of a school, the school can act as a parent, and many decisions can be made that are outside normal governmental purview.

The other principal reason for violation of students’ rights is the goal of school—to educate. If a student interferes with the educational process, the actions of the student may be sanctioned.

Students in public schools are not stripped of their rights completely. In Board v Barnette (319 US 624 [1943]), the Supreme Court ruled that students could not be forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance nor otherwise salute the flag against their will. In Tinker v Des Moines (393 US 503 [1969]), the Supreme Court ruled that students wearing black arm bands to protest the Vietnam War could not be forced to remove the arm bands by school officials.

Public vs. private schools

Private schools are not subject to Constitutional safeguards regarding violations of the rights of students but are governed by contract law. While a public school might have to prove that its violations are for a higher purpose or stem from its in loco parentis responsibilities, a private school may set limits according to their underlying mission without having to legally defend them.