Supreme Court Does “Bong Hits”
The Supreme Court of the United States released it’s decision today in Morse, et al. v. Frederick (PDF of the justices’ opinions here), and it’s one that high school students should pay close attention to. The case centered around student Joseph Frederick who unfurled a banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” during an informal school-sanctioned event, and it snowballed into an exploration of the limits of free speech in schools. The proceedings and its implications are ably summarized and analyzed in TIME magazine and also on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (RealAudio from the NewsHour).
Some teens maintain the belief that they enjoy all of the same rights and privileges of citizenship as others who’ve already reached the age of majority. At the same time, and I’ve discussed this with students before, many teens and post-adolescents are quick to declare youthful innocoence in defense of some of the choices they or their peers make (Monica Lewinsky’s decisions made at twenty-two, or some graduates decisions to join the military at 18, etc.). I don’t think you can have it both ways. You gotta choose: accountable adult or indiscreet youth?
TIME writer Holding comments further that “Making a Supreme Court case out of it [the offending banner] was all but frivolous, a move emblematic of how students and their parents are rushing to court to vent their smallest grievances with schools”. What think you? Leave a comment by clicking the above link. And check out “A Nation of Wimps”, from Psychology Today, 2004.
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