The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, guarantees basic individual rights and freedoms that cannot be denied. While the First Amendment protects freedom of expression, including symbolic speech, children have not always been permitted the same expressive rights as adults, especially in schools.
(Free Speech Center, N.d.)
However, the U.S. Supreme Court created an important precedent in West Virginia v. Barnette (1943). By ruling that students couldn’t be required to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance if it conflicted with their religious beliefs, the Barnette case established First Amendment protections for students in school, which later became an important argument in the Tinker case.
Barnette Decision (The Albert Lea Tribune, June 14, 1943)
(Free Speech Center, N.d.)
“If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.”
- Justice Robert H. Jackson, Barnette Case Majority Opinion, 1943 (National Constitution Center)
In 1965, the United States sent combat troops to Vietnam to try and stop the spread of communism in Asia. While most Americans initially supported the war, an anti-war movement quickly grew nationwide, especially among young people. These activists objected to American involvement in a conflict with no true objective by exercising their First Amendment rights in public demonstrations, marches, and protests.
"More than 2.7 million Americans served in the Vietnam War." (New York Times Upfront, January 7, 2019)
"Students outside the White House protesting against the Vietnam War." (New York Times Upfront, January 7, 2019)
“All the time, we were seeing on the news: war, war, war. The bombings, the kids running from their huts screaming—it seemed like everything was on fire.”
- Mary Beth Tinker (Iowa Public Television, February 22, 2019)