As a result of a Facebook post about their school’s dress code, a group of Spalding County students are facing suspension. The weekend before the last week of school, a FB post instructing classmates to break dress code through the last week of school escalated into what the principal described as “terroristic threats.” According to a recent post published by WSB-TV 2, the students facing suspension either commented on and/or shared the FB post which initially told students to wear red on Monday and by Thursday escalated to, “Everything they say we can’t wear, wear,” and, “We need the hallways packed and out of control.”
“To me it was just a bunch of 13-year-olds acting crazy,” states the father of one of the suspended students, whose only reply to the post was that she was in. “You should at least contact us first and let us know to be aware of this and that way we could’ve disciplined our own kid instead of ya’ll taking action her.”
Next, the students face a tribunal that will decide if additional disciplinary action will be taken. The First Amendment has been held to protect student speech, especially when it is off-campus speech and does not disrupt campus functions. The question is, will the school district uphold this discipline? And if so, will they violate the students’ constitutional rights?
If you or someone you know believes their 1st Amendment rights have been violated, the team at Radford & Keebaugh can help. Contact us by phone at (678) 369-3609.