Andy Thibault

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Cool Justice
News Flash: 1st Amendment Excites Students
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
May 16, 2005

My experience with students is a mixed bag. Many just take up space. They don't seem to be engaged in issues such as civil rights, war and peace or justice.

Then, there are others who have some kind of fire inside them, evidenced by eloquence, a maturity beyond their years and talent. These students work hard, take chances and stand tall. They produce compelling material.

Some of the work I have read by Connecticut high school students gives me hope. It seems many teachers are doing a good job nurturing these young writers. Cases in point include winning entries in the Center for First Amendment Rights' 2005 high school competition.

CFAR, based in Hartford, has been running this competition for several years, awarding a couple thousand dollars in prizes annually. Winning entries this year includes poems, essays and short stories.

Diane Sobolewski, a student from West Haven, writes about "normal teenager" Jack Dawton, a fictional character from Wilmington, N.C. Jack is close to his father, an Army sergeant. After 9-11, the bond is tested.

Jack's father, William, tells the family he will be fine serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. "Jack, however, knew it was a lie and ran out of the room in tears."

In school, Jack studies U.S. Supreme Court rulings on First Amendment cases. He learns that public schools cannot require students to say prayers, that students actually have some free speech rights as long as they are not disruptive.

One of his favorite cases involves Mary Beth Tinker, a middle school student from Des Moines, Iowa who wore a black armband to protest the Vietnam War. Tinker refused to remove the armband and was suspended. Ultimately the suspension was revoked as the court ruled students' rights do not cease at the schoolhouse gate.

As the war in Iraq evolved and expanded, Jack noted that the purported reason for the invasion - weapons of mass destruction - was bogus. He was not buying the line that the U.S. was spreading democracy in the Middle East. He became enraged. He wanted his father home. He decided to protest.

Jack organized his friends to print Iraqi flags on t-shirts and wear them to school. They put a red circle with a line through the flag to symbolize the bloodshed. They wore yellow armbands as a statement to bring the troops home. Jack felt very strongly about this cause because his father was one of the many soldiers risking his life daily.

They were noticed.

There were no disruptions, but the principal suspended Jack for a week. Jack's mother was upset until he explained the import of Supreme Court decisions. She also wanted her husband home. She became sympathetic and supportive. The Dawtons went to court.

The court affirmed freedom of speech and found no evidence of disruption.

Jack wrote to his father, who was very touched and proud of what his son had accomplished. Jack developed a newfound hope that his father will return soon.

"This story relates to my life and the life of all Americans," Desiree Sobolewski wrote  at the conclusion of her piece. "Many people oppose the war … I agree with everything Jack felt about the war in Iraq and the United States government … In America, the freedom of speech is expressed everywhere, especially in times of war."

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