My Rights at School

What Rights Do Christian Students Have

in Public Schools?

Blanca Guzman

OK, so what’s the deal? There is a great amount of confusion and controversy over what a Christian student can and cannot do inside the walls of a public school building. You may have experienced it yourself or heard the stories of others who have. We have almost all even seen the t-shirt I broke a rule I prayed in school I’m a menace to society….. but what is the truth? Have you ever seen someone get in trouble for reading their Bible or wearing a Christian t-shirt in public school? Is it allowed, is it not allowed you may ask? And what about that one phrase we are so accustomed to hearing that we immediately establish it as truth without ever even researching it? What phrase am I speaking of? The phrase….. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE…. Dun dun dunnnnn… Sometimes as students, we feel we can’t do anything bold with our faith because that phrase will be tossed at us… and most likely it will be because people use it often, and often people use it out of context.

No worries, we are here to help YOU out. Below you will find 3 Rights every Christian student has in any public school. These rights are constitutional and below the right you will find all the court case information proving that you as a Christian in public school have this right. Print these pages out and bring them to school with you, if a teacher ever challenges your faith on these 3 rights, you can politely show them the name of the court case where the Supreme Court has allotted you this right. So go on, read on, be bold about the Gospel and start changing the world for God, one classroom at a time… oh and remember ..

Students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” - U.S. Supreme Court Judge Abe Fortas

1.)    Students Have The Right To Wear Christian Clothes and Christian Accessories In Public Schools

    Clothes with printed messages on them are forms of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. That means Christian students have the right to wear clothes that display religious messages on them. The same way that other students are allowed to wear clothes with messages, symbols, sports teams, brand names and pictures on them.

The only time the courts have allowed suppression of symbolic speech in public schools is:
1.)    If the clothing were lewd or obscene. (Broussard)
2.)    If the clothing had slogans advertising alcoholic beverages. (McIntire)

Here are the court cases for those 2 examples:
•    Broussard V. Sch. Brd. Of City of Norfolk (E.D. Va. 1992),
•    McIntire V. Berel Sch., 804 F. Supp. 1415 (W.D. Okia 1992).

2.) Students Have The Right To Read Their Bible In Public Schools

OK, this one doesn’t have a specific court case to back it up but it doesn’t have one because it doesn’t need one! This is why - Just the same as non-Christian students are allowed to read non-instructional books during free time in school, Christian students have that right as well. Anytime non-Christian students are reading non-instructional books, reading the Bible must be permitted. (A non-instructional book is anything other than a text book)

This includes:

*    The hours before school.
*    The hours after school.
*    The hours during lunch.
*    Study Halls.
*    Any free reading hours during class time (when teacher permits
            students to read books of their choice)

3.)    Students Have The Right To Freedom of Speech in Public Schools

Talking about God is a form of expression protected by the First Amendment.
The following phrases are legal and protected right of free speech according to the U.S. Supreme courts:

•    "God Bless America"
•    “In God We Trust"
•    "under God"

U.S. Supreme Court Cases Protecting Student Rights of Free Speech :

•    Widmar v. Vincent, 454 U.S. 263, 269 (1981) (citing Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc., 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
•    Niemotko v. Maryland, 340 U.S. 268 (1951); Saia v. New York, 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
•    Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, 61 U.S.L.W. 4549
•    Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District, 393 U.S. 503, 509 (1969

For more information on your rights as a Christian Student in public schools, visit
www.iReform.org