My Research Paper of Students Study on High School Students' Rights

Our class was assigned to do a research paper on subject of students study about human rights and civil rights and we were given the option of choosing our own topics. I selected the topic of the rights that highschool students should know and learn to exercise. I also chose this topic because as a highschool student in the United States, I know on how our history is filled with stories of people from minorities and backgrounds have struggle to fight for their basic civil or human rights.

Our teacher gave us until the end of the month to complete our research papers so I had to be sure I would make a thorough and comprehensive research work on my topic of students study on the rights of American highschool students. During my research I learned that the highschool students' rights are based on the civil rights enshrined in the U.S. federal constitution. The most important rights of highschool students are the right to freedom of expression, right to freedom of religion, the right to fair treatment and equality in education, and the right to private records and privacy. I took note that those important rights of highschool students are also enjoyed by all American citizens.

In my topic of students study on the rights of highschool students, I learned from my research about two U.S. Supreme Court rulings that defined a student's right to freedom of expression. In a 1969 ruling about an Iowa highschool that suspended two students for wearing black armbands as a sign of protest about the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court stated that public highschool students could exercise the right to freedom of expression if the methods on how they exercise those rights are not disruptive to the functions of the institution or did not invade the rights of others in the institution.

However, in a 1988 ruling in which a Missouri highschool censored a school newspaper article about teenage pregnancy and the effects of divorce on children, the Supreme Court ruled that public highschool administrators have the right to censor school-sponsored newspapers if the articles are controversial because the highschool newspaper is restricted to the institution.