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Thus, although children in the school setting are not afforded the full range of personal freedoms guaranteed citizens by the Bill of Rights, they do maintain certain fundamental rights in the school setting. In Tinker, the Court stated that “students in school as well as out of school are ‘persons’ under our Constitution … possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect” (p. 511). Students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolyard gate” (p. 507).

The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with the rights of free speech and assembly and freedom of religious choice. In Tinker and subsequent cases, the courts generally have acknowledged the right of students to free speech and assembly, as long as the exercise of those rights does not significantly interfere with or disrupt the functioning of the school. Freedom of speech and assembly can be restricted when their exercise “materially and substantially” interferes with schooling. The right to free speech does not protect the use of “obscene” language, gestures, or materials (Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 1986); speech promoting drug use (Morse v. Frederick, 2007); or speech that includes true threats (D. J. M. v. Hannibal Public School District #60, 2011).