Monday, June 25, 2007

Bong Hits 4 Jesus and Juvenile Free Speech

In the Supreme Court ruling today, basically gives a government body control over what a juvenile can say in public anywhere they are, even if they are off campus. I can understand the need for order in public school, t-shirts with sayings, flyers that could defame, what I do not understand is the governments reach beyond the campus. While I really don't find the humor in "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" I do believe the kid had the right, right or wrong, to express himself on private property on his own time without penalty from a government body.
This is a further erosion of juvenile rights, years ago I personally experienced just few rights young adults have as a parent. I was frankly amazed at what a government body can do to your child and there's not one damn thing you can do about it, juveniles truly have no rights. With this ruling I see schools reaching into the parental realm even more. Free speech will be quashed on YouTube and Myspace and other sites young people flock to. I see the problems of "bullying" online and this is something parents should be made aware of and asked to prevent. As with a lot of things we have to take the bad with the good, free speech should prevail even for youths.

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