When Words Become Dangerous Civility in School

By Rosslin Mensah-Boateng

Technology High School

Grade 11

“Is expressing your thoughts dangerous?”

When people express their thoughts in a way that personal attacks or offends someone, their words become dangerous. It provokes anger, rancor and physical retaliation. Although the First Amendment allows us to have the right to freedom of speech, it is not guaranteed that everything we say is permissible and appropriate. Therefore, we need to have civility in our society in order to maintain respect for one another, while expressing our thoughts appropriately. Civility is important in our daily lives because it allows us to develop a sense of correct behavior. The role that civility plays in our life is that helps us to establish morality and a code for proper conduct. This resonates to the hypothetic case in first NJLEEP Constitutional Law Debate Competition of this school year.

It was October 2012 when I gave an oral argument about the case of Conviction v. Harmony. The issue in the case was whether the Speech in School’s Act (SSA) was constitutional and violated Lesley Conviction’s right to free speech afforded to her by the First Amendment. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution provides that “Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to assemble peaceably, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Lesley, a senior at Prudence High School in the city of Harmony, received the accolade of delivering a speech during graduation day at her school. Lesley’s speech was “supposed” to be about promoting a positive image and attracting more students and qualified teachers to the Harmony public school system. Under the SSA, the student’s speech may not contain any personal attacks or offensive language. The student writing the speech must give a draft of his or her intended speech to the principal to review and edit, if needed. If any student of Harmony fails to obey the rules of the SSA, he or she will be 1) suspended, 2) expelled from school, or 3) receive any other disciplinary action that the Harmony Board of Education finds appropriate. Lesley gave a draft of her speech to Principal Dolittle. Principal Dolittle read it, and he did not find any content within the speech to be disparaging toward Prudence High.

During the day of the graduation ceremony, Lesley gave a speech unlike the one that she submitted to Principal Dolittle. She stated “I blame Principal Dolittle for not being a true leader to our school ---- he doesn’t care about the students, he’s lazy, and he’s just in it for the money…….he does so little….his name should be Principal Do Nothing……” Before Lesley could finish her speech, the school officials muted her microphone, and two security guards escorted Lesley off the stage and out of the ceremony.

In classroom discussions or debates, some rules or guidelines that I think would help balance students being able to express their ideas with civility and respect for the ideas of others is to allow them to express their ideas without using offensive words or any personal attacks. Something similar to the SSA in Conviction v. Harmony would promote civility and respect. As long as the student does not offend or attack anyone with words, the expression of their thoughts is acceptable.

In this situation, civility and respect for the ideas of others is more important than more freedom to express ideas openly and candidly. Although we may feel a certain way about the actions of others, we cannot openly and candidly express negative, offensive thoughts. In Conviction v. Harmony, Lesley Conviction personally attacked and offended Principal Dolittle. Lesley saw graduation as the “perfect opportunity” for her to share her true feelings about her school principal. The fact that she disobeyed the SSA regulations demonstrated her disregard for the rules. It was the wrong place and time for Lesley to express those negative thoughts. The way she expressed them was disrespectful.