COVID19, Student Free Speech & Dress Codes

Free speech in public schools has been an issue for some time, with school administrators really not liking it when students publish things that embarrassing the school, district, administrators or faculty. Go back to the Hazelwood case or Bong Hits For Jesus. The real sin of these students is making the district look bad.

So we’ve just had this hit again, with Georgia student  Hannah Watters getting suspended from Paulding County School District for posting a photo on social media that showed crowds of students passing between classes, not social distancing and not wearing masks.

Note the John Lewis quote… Good and necessary trouble…

Soon after, however, Hannah’s mother reports that after she spoke with the school’s principal, the suspension was cancelled and would not appear on the student’s record.

According to CNN, “Watters was originally told Hannah was being suspended for violating several parts of the high school’s code of conduct, including using a cell phone during school hours, using social media during school hours, and violating student privacy by photographing them, she said.”

The district’s superintendent Brian Otott wrote in a letter to the community that while he recommends wearing masks, “Wearing a mask is a personal choice, and there is no practical way to enforce a mandate to wear them.”

This generated endless numbers of tweets about young women remembering being punished in high school for letting their shoulders or bra straps show.

Note this post and series of responses from NBC news tech reporter April Glaser:

As of this writing, the high school has at least 9 confirmed cases of COVID19