Mary Beth Tinker: Communication Through Silence
In 1965 in Des Moines, Iowa, 13 year-old Mary Beth Tinker and other students protested and mourned the deaths of soldiers on both sides of the Vietnam War, by wearing a black armband to school. This violated the school dress code and they told her she had to take it off. This "silent protest" led to a long court battle. The Supreme Court made the decision to recognize that the students' "silent protest" was included and protected in the First Amendment, also known as "Freedom of Speech," which applies to all Americans, and that includes students too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Beth_Tinker https://humanrights.iowa.gov/mary-beth-tinker#:~:text=Mary%20Beth%20Tinker%20was%20born,rights%20movement%20in%20the%201960s. https://www.oif.ala.org/oif/?p=17195
Mary Beth Tinker still educates students about their right to free speech today. She is a retired nurse, and has master's degrees in Public Health and Nursing. In 2013 Mary Beth Tinker created the "Tinker Tour" where she and others traveled around the U.S.A. and taught about first amendment rights. Mary Beth Tinker is still making a big impact, and having awards named in her honor today. For example, The Tinker Tour website states that, "In 2000, the Marshall-Brennan Project at Washington College of Law at American University named it’s annual youth advocacy award after Mary Beth. Another example written by the ACLU website states, "In 2006, as a tribute to her devotion to the rights of young people, the ACLU National Board of Directors’ Youth Affairs Committee renamed its annual youth affairs award as the Mary Beth Tinker Youth Involvement Award.”
Mary Beth Tinker: Communication Through Silence
Micah Taylor
Elementry division
Individual website
Student composed words: 1,006
Prosses paper: 316
Media Time: 4min 36sec