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NYTimes: An article about...this is a reliable source because...

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High Schools Threaten to Punish Students Who Kneel During Anthem (Published 2017)

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Schools on Long Island and in Louisiana have cautioned students against protesting. And in public schools, such directives run up against students’ First Amendment rights.

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Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors| Last updated June 20, 2016

The First Amendment gives anyone living in the U.S., including students, the freedom to express any opinion they like. Students in public high schools can access many different opinions, stories, and ideas through their high school libraries. Local boards of education are responsible for choosing books that go in the library, as well as removing books that might not be appropriate for the students. The Supreme Court has not ruled on how Boards of Education choose books to place in a library. However, once a book is in a library, school boards may remove it only under certain circumstances.
The Legal Standard for Banning Books
The Supreme Court set the standard for banning books in 1982 (Island Trees School District v. Pico). In that case, the school board attempted to ban a number of books because they were "anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Sem[i]tic, and just plain filthy," including titles such as Slaughterhouse Five, The Naked Ape, Down These Mean Streets, Best Short Stories of Negro Writers, and Go Ask Alice.

The Justices were unable to come to a majority agreement and instead issued what is known as a "plurality" opinion, in which some combination of justices signed on to three different opinions in order to render an outcome. The standard from Pico which governs book banning decisions is that school officials may not remove books from the school library simply because they dislike the ideas in the book. However, school officials may remove a book from a school library if it is inappropriate for the children of the school. For example, if Lolita was in an elementary school library, the school board could probably remove it because of its highly sexual and violent content.
The Most Challenged Books
The following is a list of the most challenged books in high school libraries, and their reasons:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Many people object to its treatment of African Americans, including the use of a racial slur

The Catcher in the Rye: Contains profanity and prostitution

To Kill a Mockingbird: Profanity and racial slurs

Bridge to Terabithia: Depicts children who do not respect adults, also does not distinguish between fantasy and reality

The Lord of the Flies: Profanity, sexuality, racial slurs, and excessive violence

Of Mice and Men: Profanity, racial slurs, and "taking the Lord's name in vain"

The Color Purple: Explicit sexuality, profanity, violence, and use of drugs

The Harry Potter Series: Some people fear it will draw children to the occult, and others object to the violence it portrays

Slaughterhouse Five: Profanity, violence, and explicit sexuality

The Bluest Eye: Profanity, sexual references, and unsuitability for students

For more information related to banning books and free speech rights, see FindLaw's sections on Student Speech and on the Types of Schools children may attend.

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Created by FindLaw's team of legal writers and editors | Last updated June 20, 2016 The First Amendment gives anyone living in the U.S., including students, the freedom to express any opinion they like. Students in public high schools can access many different opinions, stories, and ideas through their high school libraries.

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A large number of students are following Kaepernicks example by silently linking arms or kneeling during patriotic ceremonies. In West Virginia the Supreme Court held that public school students have a First Amendment right to remain silent during the pledge and, by extension, any patriotic rite. Although most of the attention surrounding peaceful protests in public schools has been focused on students, educators might be moved to protest. But reciting, even leading, the pledge is part of the job.

I know this is a reliable source because even though it ends in .com, it is CNN

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But students have a well-established constitutional right to do so.

In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943) the Supreme Court held that public school students have a First Amendment right to remain silent during the pledge and, by extension, any patriotic rite. Following this edict, many districts echo the New York City Public Schools Student Bill of Rights, clearly stating that students may "decline to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance or stand for the pledge." (Private schools are generally exempt from any of these requirements, so they can require student participation.)

In addition to Barnette's clear direction regarding sitting out these ceremonies, silent nondisruptive political protest is constitutionally protected under another student First Amendment case, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969). This means that public school pupils -- and those in charter schools, because they're publicly funded -- can usually take a knee. If, however, that action or linking arms demonstrably reduces instructional time or creates physical disruption without according opponents a "heckler's veto," school leaders may reasonably limit the activity.

Despite these cases, students are regularly pressured by district officials to stand for the pledge. In Midland, Texas, students were told they had to stand for the pledge until the American Civil Liberties Union got involved. A Detroit-area teacher is under investigation for allegedly snatching a black middle school student out of his chair for failing to stand for the pledge.

Although most of the attention surrounding peaceful protests in public schools has been focused on students, educators, too, might be moved to protest. But reciting, even leading, the pledge is part of the job. For them, the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National Anthem are daily occurrences. Most states require public schools to conduct a daily pledge as defined by federal law. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is regularly sung at schoolwide events, especially for team sports, where those assembled are expected to stand, hats removed, hands on heart. For these public employees, visible protest is especially fraught because of the special nature of student-teacher relationships set amid parent and community scrutiny.

An Indiana teacher who advised students in 2016 of their right to silent protest was directed by his principal to desist.

Teachers' ability to protest presents a thornier question. Their First Amendment rights are severely limited while on the clock and engaging in school activities.

But reciting the pledge is special. It is not part of the school curriculum that teachers have to follow, no matter their personal beliefs. It is a solemn, personal oath, and courts have ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to compel such a false statement of political conscience. While the Supreme Court has not ruled directly on the matter, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Russo v. Central School District No. 1 (1972) is instructive, receiving favor in other circuits. There, the court ruled that a high school teacher's silence during the pledge is protected by the First Amendment since "to compel a person to speak what is not in his mind offends the very principles of tolerance and understanding which for so long have been the foundation of our great land."

Still, such actions are not to be taken lightly. Teachers, as role models, have a special responsibility not to appear to favor some students' point of view over others. Since reciting the pledge or singing the anthem are generally routine, few would ascribe a particular political opinion to teachers who do them. But, as we have seen, nonparticipation, especially when coupled with taking a knee or linking arms, is an affirmative statement of protest or religious objection. Yet in some circumstances, there is no middle ground: Sitting or standing, speech or silence, will necessarily convey belief. In those cases, the teacher has a duty of conscience that the law will support.

Student and teacher actions in these matters are highly consequential. While explanation is not normally required, it is educationally essential. A modern American class, school or district is a pluralistic community where members need to freely and peaceably interact. For this to occur, educators, parents and students need to know their rights and responsibilities during this teachable moment in the nation's history.

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classroom kaepernicks: can students and teachers take a knee? (opinion)  - cnn

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Classroom Kaepernicks: Can students and teachers take a knee?

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But students have a well-established constitutional right to do so. In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943) the Supreme Court held that public school students have a First Amendment right to remain silent during the pledge and, by extension, any patriotic rite.

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Pro 1

Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when. Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents' ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material. "Literary works containing explicit sex, oral sex, explicit & violent descriptions of rape, masturbation, vulgar and obscene language" were on the approved reading list for grades 7-12, according to Speak up for Standards, a group seeking age-appropriate reading materials for students in Dallas, Texas. If books with inappropriate material are available in libraries, children or teens can be exposed to books their parents wouldn't approve of before the parents even find out what their children are reading. "[O]pting your child out of reading [a certain] book doesn't protect him or her. They are still surrounded by the other students who are going to be saturated with this book," said writer Macey France.

Con 1

Parents may control what their own children read, but don't have a right to restrict what books are available to other people. Parents who don't like specific books can have their kids "opt out" of an assignment without infringing on the rights of others. The National Coalition against Censorship explained that "Even books or materials that many find 'objectionable' may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences." In the 1982 Supreme Court ruling on Board of Education v. Pico, Justice Brennan wrote that taking books off of library shelves could violate students' First Amendment rights, adding that "Local school boards may not remove books from school libraries simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books."

Pro 2

Children should not be exposed to sex, violence, drug use, or other inappropriate topics in school or public libraries. Books in the young adult genre often contain adult themes that young people aren't ready to experience. Of the top ten most challenged books in 2018, six had LGBT content, and three were sexually explicit. According to Jenni White, a former public school science teacher, "Numerous studies on the use of graphic material by students indicate negative psychological effects," including having "more casual sex partners and [beginning] having sex at younger ages." The American Academy of Pediatrics has found that exposure to violence in media, including in books, can impact kids by making them act aggressively and desensitizing them to violence. Kim Heinecke, a mother of four, wrote to her local Superintendent of Public Schools that "It is not a matter of 'sheltering' kids. It is a matter of guiding them toward what is best. We are the adults. It is our job to protect them - no matter how unpopular that may seem."

Con 2

Many frequently challenged books help people get a better idea of the world and their place in it. Robie H. Harris, author of frequently challenged children's books including It's Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing up, Sex, and Sexual Health, stated, "I think these books look at the topics, the concerns, the worry, the fascination that kids have today... It's the world in which they're living." Many books that have long been considered to be required reading to become educated about literature and American history are frequently challenged, such as: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, Beloved by Toni Morrison, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Group's "Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century" are frequently challenged; banning them would deprive students of essential cultural and historical knowledge, as well as differing points of view.

Pro 3

Keeping books with inappropriate content out of libraries protects kids, but doesn't stop people from reading those books or prevent authors from writing them. Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council noted that removing certain books from libraries is about showing discretion and respecting a community's values, and doesn't prevent people from getting those books elsewhere: "It's an exaggeration to refer to this as book banning. There is nothing preventing books from being written or sold, nothing to prevent parents from buying it or children from reading it." What some call "book banning," many see as making responsible choices about what books are available in public and school libraries. "Is it censorship that you're unable to go to your local taxpayer-funded branch and check out a copy of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion'? For better or for worse, these books are still widely available. Your local community has simply decided that finite public resources are not going to be spent disseminating them," Weekly Standard writer and school board member Mark Hemingway stated.

Con 3

Books are a portal to different life experiences and reading encourages empathy and social-emotional development. One study found that reading J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, which is frequently challenged for religious concerns about witchcraft, "improved attitudes" about immigrants, homosexuals, and refugees. Another study found that reading narrative fiction helped readers understand their peers and raised social abilities. A study in Basic and Applied Social Psychology found that people who read a story about a Muslim woman were less likely to make broad judgments based on race. Neil Gaiman, author of the frequently challenged novel Neverwhere, among other books, stated that fiction "build[s] empathy... You get to feel things, visit places and worlds you would never otherwise know. You learn that everyone else out there is a me, as well. You're being someone else, and when you return to your own world, you're going to be slightly changed. Empathy is a tool for building people into groups, for allowing us to function as more than self-obsessed individuals."

Source: American Library Association, "Top 11 Challenged Books of 2018," ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2019)

Footnotes:

1. Loris Vezzali, et al., "The Greatest Magic of Harry Potter: Reducing Prejudice," Journal of Applied Social Psychology, July 23, 2014

2. Raymond A. Mar, et al., "Bookworms Versus Nerds: Exposure to Fiction Versus Non-Fiction, Divergent Associations with Social Ability, and the Simulation of Fictional Social Worlds," Journal of Research in Personality, 2006

3. Dan R. Johnson, Brandie L. Huffman, and Danny M. Jasper, "Changing Race Boundary Perception by Reading Narrative Fiction," Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Feb. 10, 2014

4. ALA, "Top 11 Challenged Books of 2018," ala.org (accessed Sep. 18, 2019)

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Banned Books - Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org

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Pro 1 Parents have the right to decide what material their children are exposed to and when. Having books with adult topics available in libraries limits parents' ability to choose when their children are mature enough to read specific material.

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https://aclu.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000679...

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1. NFL player, Colin kaepernick kneels during the national anthem for the oppression of different skin colored people in this country
2. The source is from the Washington post news.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/sports/nfl-trump-anthem-protests.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/sports/nfl-trump-anthem-protests.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/10/13/nfls-anthem-protest-rule-would-create-new-problems-commentary.html

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1.It describes the first amendment and how to censor the books.
2. The website is the National Coalition Against Censorship. The website also ends in .org so it is an organization and it is not commercial.

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NCAC presents the following collection of materials on the topic of censorship in schools for the use of students, educators, and parents everywhere. This information is not intended as legal advice. If you are embroiled in a censorship controversy, we hope you will consult the resources below for guidance - if you need additional assistance, please . Introduction: Free Speech, Public Education, and Democracy
Table of Contents

The First Amendment and Public Schools
A. The First Amendment
B. The Public Schools

Censorship
A. Understanding Censorship
B. Distinguishing Censorship from Selection
C. Consequences of Censorship

How Big a Problem Is Censorship?
A. The Numbers
B. What Kind of Material Is Attacked?
C. What Does "Age Appropriate" Mean?
D. Who Gets Censored?

Roles and Responsibilities
A. School Officials, Boards and State Mandates
B. Principles Governing Selection and Retention of Materials in Schools
C. Complaint Procedures
Avoiding Censorship in Schools
Censorship Policies
National Education Association (NEA)
The National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (NCTE/IRA)
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)
American Library Association (ALA)
National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)
A Guide for Student Protesters is available here.
A. Policies and practices designed to respect free expression and encourage discourse and discussion are rarely, if ever, disturbed by courts
B. The decision to remove material is more vulnerable, and often places motivation for the removal at issue since actions motivated by hostility to particular ideas or speakers is not permitted
C. The deference frequently shown school administrators with regard to the curriculum is not always accorded when a dispute arises over material in the school library

Introduction: Free Speech, Public Education, and Democracy

The First Amendment safeguards the right of every American to speak and think freely. Its promise of freedom of expression and inquiry is important to educators and students. The First Amendment protects educators' ability to exercise their judgment in accordance with professional standards and provides the latitude to create learning environments that effectively help young people acquire the knowledge and skills needed to become productive, self-sufficient, and contributing members of society.

This document describes in practical terms what the right to freedom of expression means for the public schools. We hope it provides students, teachers and administrators with a deeper understanding of their constitutionally guaranteed rights and responsibilities, as well as renewed respect for the power of free expression to enhance the educational experience.

Our founders recognized that public schools are a vital institution of American democracy. But education, they also knew, involved more than reading, writing, and arithmetic. Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to changing times, make decisions about social issues, and effectively judge the performance of public officials. In fulfilling their responsibilities, public schools must not only provide knowledge of many subject areas and essential skills, but must also educate students on core American values such as fairness, equality, justice, respect for others, and the right to dissent.

Rapid social, political, and technological changes have escalated controversy over what and how schools should teach. While issues like sexuality and profanity have raised questions for generations, debates are becoming more and more contentuous thanks to increasing cultural, religious, ethnic, and religious diversity. Thus, educators frequently face a daunting task in balancing the educational needs of a diverse entire student body while maintaining respect for individual rights.

The First Amendment establishes the framework for resolving some of these dilemmas by defining certain critical rights and responsibilities. It protects the freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry, and requires respect for the right of others to do the same. It requires us to adhere to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis' wise counsel to resort to "more speech not enforced silence" in seeking to resolve our differences.

The First Amendment and Public Schools
A. The First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.-First Amendment of the United States Constitution ratified December 15, 1791.

The first provision of the Bill of Rights protects the rights essential to a democratic society and most cherished by Americans: the right to speak and worship freely, the right to assemble and petition government, and the right to a free press. It embodies human rights that are celebrated throughout the world. As the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Few countries, however, provide the level of protection for free speech that the First Amendment guarantees.

The potential for tyranny and abuse of government authority particularly worried the Framers. In a letter to James Madison, December 20, 1787, Thomas Jefferson argued that "a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse or rest on inference." Thus, before enumerating rights, the First Amendment begins by prohibiting government conduct that would obstruct certain rights-i.e., "Congress shall make no law respecting...." These clauses, like most of the Constitution, control only what the government may do, and have no effect on private individuals or businesses, which can do many things government officials cannot.
B. The Public Schools
Therefore, public schools and public libraries, as public institutions, are bound by obligations imposed by the First Amendment and many other provisions of the Constitution. However, the First Amendment applies somewhat differently in schools than it does in many other public institutions.

Public schools embody a key goal of the First Amendment: to create an informed citizenry capable of self-governance and political debate. As many commentators have observed, a democracy relies on an informed and critical electorate to prosper. On the eve of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Rush stated that "to conform the principles, morals, and manners of our citizens to our republican form of government, it is absolutely necessary that knowledge of every kind should be disseminated through every part of the Unites States." Not surprisingly, universal access to free public education has long been viewed as an essential to realize our democratic ideals. According to the Supreme Courtin Keyishian v. Board of Education, 1967:

The classroom is peculiarly the "marketplace of ideas." The Nation's future depends upon leaders trained through wide exposure to that robust exchange of ideas which discovers "truth out of a multitude of tongues, [rather] than through any kind of authoritative selection"

Schools must, of course, convey skills and information across a range of subject areas for students of different backgrounds and abilities. They must also help students learn to work independently and in groups and maintain a safe environment that promotes learning. Given the complexity of these responsibilities, school officials are generally accorded considerable deference in deciding how best to accomplish them.

Modern Supreme Court decisions have made it clear that the right to free speech and expression can sometimes be subordinated to achieve legitimate educational goals. (See discussions of Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier and Bethel School District v. Fraser.) A school is not comparable to a public park where anyone can stand on a soapbox or a bulletin board on which anyone can post a notice. While students and teachers do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate" ( Tinker v. Des Moines), speech is not quite as free inside educational institutions as outside.

This does not mean that students and teachers have no First Amendment rights at school. Quite the contrary. But within the educational setting, the right to free speech is implemented in ways that do not interfere with schools' educational mission. Students cannot claim, for instance, that they have the right to have incorrect answers to an algebra quiz accepted as correct, nor can teachers claim a right to teach anything they choose.

Censorship
A. Understanding Censorship

Censorship is not easy to define. According to Webster's Dictionary, to "censor" means "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." Its central characteristic is the suppression of an idea or image because it offends, disturbs, or threatens someone. Alternatively, many censors attempt to suppress speech simply because they disagree with it. In many countries, censorship is most often directed at political ideas or criticism of the government. In the United States, censorship more often involves social issues, and in schools it is commonly directed at "controversial" materials.

Advocates for censorship often target materials that discuss sexuality, religion, race and ethnicity-whether directly or indirectly. For example, some people object to the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution in science classes because it conflicts with their own religious views. Others think schools are wrong to allow discussion about sexual orientation in sex education or family life classes, and others would eliminate The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the English curriculum because of racist language.

Most pressures for censorship come from parents who disapprove of language or ideas that differ from their personal values, but demands can emerge from anywhere across the religious, ideological, and political spectrum. The range of "controversial" topics appears limitless: religion, science, history, contemporary and classical literature, art, gender, sexuality, "one-worldism," health, multiculturalism, and so on. Many demands appear motivated by anxiety about changing social conditions and traditions- from feminism to the removal of prayer from schools, or the emergence of the gay rights movement.

Censorship demands require educators to balance First Amendment obligations against other concerns: maintaining the integrity of the educational program, meeting state education requirements, respecting the judgments of professional staff, and addressing deeply-held beliefs in students and the community. Educators are on the strongest ground if they are mindful of two fundamental principles derived from the Supreme Court's First Amendment decisions:

1) Educators enjoy wide latitude in exercising their professional judgment and fulfilling their educational mission if their decisions are based on sound educational and pedagogical principles and serve to enhance students' ability to learn;

2) The decisions most vulnerable to legal challenge are those motivated by hostility to an unpopular, controversial, or disfavored idea, or by the desire to conform to a particular ideological, political, or religious viewpoint.
It is highly improbable that a school official who relied on these principles and refused to accede to pressure to censor something with educational value would ever be ordered by a court to do so.
Pursuant to these principles, lower courts generally defer to the professional judgment of educators. This sometimes means that courts will uphold a decision to remove a book or discipline a teacher if it appears to serve legitimate educational objectives, including administrative efficiency. However, administrators and educators who reject demands for censorship are on equally strong or stronger grounds; most professional educational organizations strongly promote free expression and academic freedom. Access to a wide range of views and the opportunity to discuss and dissent are essential to education and serve schools' legitimate goals to prepare students for adulthood and participation in the democratic process.
B. Distinguishing Censorship from Selection
There are practical and educational as well as legal reasons to adhere as closely as possible to the ideals of the First Amendment. School districts such as Panama City, Florida, and Hawkins County, Tennessee, have been stunned to find that acceding to demands for removal of a single book escalated to demands for revising entire classroom reading programs. The school district in Island Trees, New York encountered objections to 11 books in its library and curriculum, including Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Black Boy, by Richard Wright, and The Fixer by Bernard Malamud. Other jurisdictions have been pressed to revise the science curriculum, the content of history courses, sex education, drug and alcohol education, and self-esteem programs. Experience has shown far too many times that what appears to be capitulation to a minor adjustment can turn into the opening foray of a major curriculum content battle involving warring factions of parents and politicians, teachers, students and administrators.

Teachers, principals, and school administrators make decisions all the time about which books and materials to retain, add or exclude from the curriculum. They are not committing an act of censorship every time they cross a book off of a reading list, but if they decide to remove a book because of hostility to the ideas it contains, they could be. As the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) and International Reading Association (IRA) note, there is an important distinction between selection based on professional guidelines and censorship: "Whereas the goal of censorship is to remove, eliminate or bar particular materials and methods, the goal of professional guidelines is to provide criteria for selection of materials and methods."

For example, administrators and faculty might agree to take a discussion of evolution out of the second grade curriculum because the students lack sufficient background to understand it, and decide to introduce it in fourth grade instead. As long as they were not motivated by hostility to the idea of teaching about evolution, this would not ordinarily be deemed censorship; the choice to include the material in the fourth grade curriculum demonstrates this was a pedagogical judgment, not an act of censorship.

Not every situation is that simple. For example, objections to material dealing with sexuality or sexual orientation commonly surface in elementary and middle schools when individuals demand the material's removal with the claim that it is not "age appropriate." On closer examination, it is clear that their concern is not that students will not understand the material; rather, the objecting adults do not want the students to have access to this type of information at this age. If professional educators can articulate a legitimate pedagogical rationale to maintain such material, it is unlikely that an effort to remove it would be successful.

Of course, hardly anyone admits to "censoring" something. Most people do not consider it censorship when they attempt to rid the school of material they consider profane or immoral, or when they insist that the materials selected show respect for religion, morality, or parental authority. While parents have considerable rights to direct their own child's education, they have no right to impose their judgments or preferences on other students and their families. School officials who accede to such demands may be engaging in censorship. Even books or materials that many find "objectionable" may have educational value, and the decision about what to use in the classroom should be based on professional judgments and standards, not individual preferences. Efforts to suppress controversial views or ideas are educationally and constitutionally suspect.
C. Consequences of Censorship

The child is not the mere creature of the state; those who nurture him and direct his destiny have the right, coupled with the high duty, to recognize and prepare him for additional obligations.-- Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. at 535 (1925).

What's so bad about getting rid of materials containing profanity? Many people don't want their children using that kind of language even if they do use it themselves, and many parents believe that seeing profanity in books or hearing others swear encourages youngsters to do the same, especially if the act goes unpunished. Yet profanity appears in many worthwhile books, films, and other materials for the same reasons many people use it in their everyday language-for emphasis or to convey emotion. As Shakespeare's Hamlet says to the players, the purpose of drama is "to hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature."

Works with profanity often contain realistic portrayals of how an individual might respond in a situation, and some teachers intentionally select such materials to remove the allure from cursing. But even minor use of profanity has not shielded books from attack. Katherine Paterson's award-winning book Bridge to Terabithia contains only mild profanity, but it has been repeatedly challenged on that ground, as have long-acknowledged classics like Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Profanity, however, is only one of many grounds on which books are challenged. Almost every classic piece of literature-including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet -has been challenged for some reason, in some place, at some time.

As these examples illustrate, censorship based on individual sensitivities and concerns restricts the knowledge available to students. Based on personal views, some parents wish to eliminate material depicting violence; others object to references to sexuality, or to racially-laden speech or images. Some parents oppose having their children exposed to fiction that doesn't have a happy ending, teach a moral lesson, or provide noble role models. If these and other individual preferences were legitimate criteria for censoring materials, school curricula would narrow to only the least controversial- and probably least relevant- material. It would hardly address students' real concerns, satisfy their curiosity, or prepare them for life.

Censorship also harms teachers. By limiting resources and flexibility, censorship hampers teachers' ability to explore all possible avenues to motivate and "reach" students. By curtailing ideas that can be discussed in class, censorship takes creativity and vitality out of the art of teaching; instruction is reduced to bland, formulaic, pre-approved exercises carried out in an environment that discourages the give-and-take that can spark students' enthusiasm. Teachers need latitude to respond to unanticipated questions and discussion, and the freedom to draw on their professional judgment, without fear of consequences if someone objects, disagrees, or takes offense.

When we strip teachers of their professional judgment, we forfeit the educational vitality we prize. When we quell controversy for the sake of congeniality, we deprive democracy of its mentors.-- Gregory Hobbs, Jr (dissenting in Board of Education of Jefferson County School District R-1 v. Alfred Wilder)

Censorship chills creativity and thus impacts everyone. In a volume entitled Places I Never Meant To Be, author Judy Blume, whose books are a common target of censorship efforts, collected statements of censored writers about the harms of censorship:

Katherine Paterson noted:

When our chief goal is not to offend someone, we are not likely to write a book that will deeply affect anyone.

Julius Lester observed:

Censorship is an attitude of mistrust and suspicion that seeks to deprive the human experience of mystery and complexity. But without mystery and complexity, there is no wonder; there is no awe; there is no laughter.

Norma Fox Mazur added:

...where once I went to my writing without a backward glance, now I sometimes have to consciously clear my mind of those shadowy censorious presences. That's bad for me as a writer, bad for you as a reader. Censorship is crippling, negating, stifling.. It should be unthinkable in a country like ours. Readers deserve to pick their own books. Writers need the freedom of their minds. That's all we writers have, anyway: our minds and imaginations. To allow the censors even the tiniest space in there with us can only lead to dullness, imitation, and mediocrity.

Censorship represents a "tyranny over the mind," said Thomas Jefferson and is harmful wherever it occurs. Censorship is particularly harmful in the schools because it prevents student with inquiring minds from exploring the world, seeking truth and reason, stretching their intellectual capacities, and becoming critical thinkers. When the classroom environment is chilled, honest exchange of views is replaced by guarded discourse and teachers lose the ability to guide their students effectively.
A. The Numbers
How Big a Problem Is Censorship?

Censorship occurs every day. Sometimes it's obvious even if no one uses the "C" word. Sometimes it's invisible-when a teacher decides not to use a particular story or book or when a librarian decides not to order a particular magazine because of fears about possible complaints. No one can quantify this kind of "chilling effect" and its consequences for education. After discovering his 2007 novel Boy Toy fell prey to such "self-censorship," acclaimed YA author Barry Lyga called it " sort of a soft, quiet, very insidious censorship, where nobody is raising a stink, nobody is complaining, nobody is burning books.... They're just quietly making sure it doesn't get out there."
B. What Kind of Material Is Attacked?
The American Library Association (ALA), which tracks and reports censorship incidents, records a problem of significant magnitude, and it estimates that for each incident reported, there are four or five that go unreported. ALA states that between 1990 and 1998, 5,246 challenges were reported to or recorded by its Office for Intellectual Freedom. During the 1995-1996 school year alone, there were 475 challenges to educational materials, according to People for the American Way (PFAW). Both PFAW and ALA report challenges from all regions of the country and most states.

Almost 70 percent of censorship demands are directed at material in school classrooms or libraries. Most of the remainder are aimed at public libraries. Parents lodge 60 percent of the challenges. The ALA offers an instructive analysis of the motivation behind most censorship incidents:

The term censor often evokes the mental picture of an irrational, belligerent individual. Such a picture, however, is misleading. In most cases, the one to bring a complaint to the library is a concerned parent or a citizen sincerely interested in the future well being of the community. Although complainants may not have a broad knowledge of literature or of the principles of freedom of expression, their motives in questioning a book or other library material are seldom unusual. Any number of reasons are given for recommending that certain material be removed from the library. Complainants may believe that the materials will corrupt children and adolescents, offend the sensitive or unwary reader, or undermine basic values and beliefs. Sometimes, because of these reasons, they may argue that the materials are of no interest or value to the community.

Of more than 5,000 challenges recorded by the ALA over the past eight years, 1,299 challenges alleged the materials' content was "sexually explicit;" 1,134 objections concerned "offensive language" in the material; 1,062 alleged the material was "unsuited to age group;" 744 complained about an "occult theme or promoting the occult or Satanism;" and 474 concerned objections about homosexual issues or "promoting homosexuality." Other reasons for objecting to materials included nudity (276), racism (219), sex education content (190), or anti family sentiments (186).
C. What Does "Age Appropriate" Mean?
While demands for censorship can come from almost anyone and involve any topic or form of expression, most involve concerns about sexual content, religion, profanity, or racial language. Many incidents involve only one complaint, but can nonetheless trigger a contentious review process. Often, parents who support free expression do not step forward to the same extent as those seeking to remove materials, leaving school officials and teachers relatively isolated. It is then their task to carefully assess the pedagogical value of the materials, to avoid simply giving in to angry demands that could undermine educational objectives and invite additional challenges in the future.

One of the most common demands for censorship involves the claim that certain school materials are not "age appropriate." The term is often used to mean that students of a particular age shouldn't be exposed to the material, not that they are too young to understand it. The objection usually comes up when the material concerns sexuality, reflecting a fear that exposure to this subject undermines moral or religious values. Since many non-objecting parents support informing even young children about sexual matters, it is clear that the content of the material as much as the age of the child lies at the heart of the objection. Acceding to pressure to censor in this situation can be tantamount to endorsing one moral or religious view over another.

Conversely, educators generally use the term "age appropriate" for the point at which children have sufficient life experience and cognitive skills to comprehend certain material. Education proceeds in stages, with increasingly complex material presented as students gain the intellectual ability and knowledge to understand and process it. For this reason, young children usually do not learn physics or read Shakespeare. Similarly, educators may decide that detailed scientific information about human reproduction might not be age-appropriate for six-year-olds, but would be appropriate for 12-year-olds who have been introduced to basic biology.

According to high school teacher Vicky Greenbaum, writing in The English Journal (Feb.1997), the term comes from psychological concepts defining age-appropriate behaviors. She observes, however, that the rationale for psychological descriptions of the age at which certain behaviors generally occur has limited relevance to the selection of educational materials and literature in the classroom. If students understand the sexual allusions in Hamlet, she believes the discussion of it is "age-appropriate." In contrast,

[a]dults who cling to this vision of youth [as innocent] have a corresponding vision of what's appropriate, hoping perhaps that if youth are unexposed to certain elements in the world, they will remain pure, and the world will be a better place. Indeed, for such adults a pristine vision of youth often forms a wall between themselves and any adolescents they happen to know. Youth are people already possessing knowledge and vulnerabilities in ways akin to adults, and their greatest need may be for thoughtful consideration or guidance, while making sense of a vast, difficult, not always appropriate world.

D. Who Gets Censored?
Responding to questions about age appropriateness, the National Council of Teachers of English noted that "materials should be suited to maturity level of the students," and that it is important to "weigh the value of the material as a whole, particularly its relevance to educational objectives, against the likelihood of a negative impact on the students....That likelihood is lessened by the exposure the typical student has had to the controversial subject."

Between 1982 and 1996, the ALA reported the most frequently challenged authors were Judy Blume, Alvin Schwartz, Stephen King, John Steinbeck, Robert Cormier, J.D. Salinger, Roald Dahl, Maya Angelou, Mark Twain, and Katherine Paterson. By 2014, they were Dav Pilkey, Sherman Alexie, Toni Morrison, John Green, Rudolfo Anaya, Stephen Chbosky, Suzanne Collins, Lisa McMann, Gary Paulsen, Jeff Smith, and Tanya Lee Stone.

The books targeted by censors included both popular and classic titles, affecting almost every age group. PFAW's list of most challenged books from 1982-1996 included:

John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye

Robert Cormier, The Chocolate War

Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Alvin Schwartz, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Mark Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Alvin Schwartz, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Anonymous, Go Ask Alice

Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia

Roald Dahl, The Witches

Years later, many of these works were still prime targets of censorship demands.

According to the ALA, the most frequently challenged books in 2014 included:

Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis

Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner

Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell, And Tango Makes Three

Brian Vaughan & Fiona Staples, Saga

Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Jaycee Dugard, A Stolen Life

Robie Harris, It's Perfectly Normal

A. School Officials, Boards and State Mandates
Roles and Responsibilities: Promoting First Amendment Values at School

The school board's role is to define an educational philosophy that serves the needs of all its students and reflects community goals. Most districts see a role for parents and other community members in this process. Educational advisory boards can also assist educators in discerning the community's needs and perspectives. Open school board meetings can keep the public informed about the school district's educational philosophy and goals, encourage comments, questions, and participation, and increase community support. Although public debate provides opportunities for community input and can assist educators in meeting students' needs and concerns, actual curriculum development and selection are tasks uniquely suited to the skills and training of professional educators.
B. Principles Governing Selection and Retention of Materials in Schools
While curriculum development relies heavily on the professional expertise of trained educators, it is also controlled by state law and policy. Educators' choices are influenced by competency standards, graduation requirements, standardized testing, and other decisions made at the state level.

Sound curriculum development requires that educators with professional expertise decide which materials are educationally appropriate and consistent with the school district's educational philosophy, goals, and state law. School officials also have the constitutional duty to ensure that curriculum development and selection decisions are not made with the aim of advancing any particular ideological, political or religious viewpoint.

Many professional educational organizations and individual school systems have articulated the principles that should ideally govern selection and retention of materials; they uniformly emphasize reliance on the expertise of professional educators in developing materials that will best serve the needs of students. NEA Resolutions state that

quality teaching depends on the freedom to select materials and techniques. Teachers and librarians/media specialists must have the right to select instructional material/library materials without censorship or legislative interference

Similarly, the National School Boards Association (NSBA) policy on textbook selection emphasizes that its "first commitment" is "preservation of the student's right to learn in an atmosphere of academic freedom," and that "[s]election of materials will be made by professional personnel through reading, listening, viewing, careful examination, [and] the use of reputable, unbiased, professionally prepared selection aids." The NCTE and the International Reading Association advise selecting curricular materials that 1) have a clear connection to established educational objectives; and 2) address the needs of the students for whom they are intended.

Significantly, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) cautions that "professional judgment must not be completely subservient to the popular will. Educators' primary allegiance must be to the integrity of knowledge and the welfare of students ... materials must never be removed or restricted for the purpose of suppressing ideas."

Policies governing school libraries and classroom resource materials reflect the priority placed on inclusion of a wider range of materials, because of libraries' traditional role to offer choices for all readers. The ALA Library Bill of Rights, first adopted in 1948, recognizes the library's essential role in providing resources to serve the "interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community." With minor modifications, these principles also apply in the school setting.

The considerations specifically relevant to school libraries are identified by NSBA guidelines:

To provide materials that will enrich and support the school's curricula;

To provide materials that will stimulate knowledge, growth, literary appreciation, aesthetic values, ethical standards, and leisure-time reading;

To provide information to help students make intelligent judgments;

To provide information on opposing sides of controversial issues so that students may develop the practice of critical reading and thinking; and

To provide materials representative of the many religious, ethnic, and cultural groups that have contributed to the American heritage.

C. Complaint Procedures
As is true with curricular materials, the ALA cautions that library materials "should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval."

Many school districts adopt formal policies and procedures for responding to complaints about materials-and for good reason. They clarify how complaint processes work; help faculty, staff, and administration fulfill their legal obligations; let parents and students know what criteria are used for removing materials and how they are applied; provide opportunities to understand more about community perspectives and values; and protect teachers' academic freedom.

When materials are challenged, schools with well-articulated processes for handling complaints and reviews are more likely to resist censorship pressures than districts that lack such guidelines. Having policies in place and following them scrupulously ensures that complainants will receive due process, and that challenged materials will be judged on their educational merits rather than personal opinion. It is important for teachers and administrators to be familiar with these policies and understand their significant function. Armed with knowledge of these policies, schools officials are less likely to submit to pressure or react with unilateral decisions to remove books.

Different school systems implement complaint procedures in different ways, but most provide that:

Complaints must be made in writing;

Complainants should identify themselves both by name/address and their interest in the material (i.e., as a parent, student, religious leader, etc.);

Complainants must have read/seen the entire work objected to;

The complaint must be specific about the reasons for the objection;

Complaints should request a specific remedy (i.e., an alternative assignment for an individual, or removal/exclusion affecting the entire school community); and

Complaints, standing alone, will not be considered grounds for disciplining teachers or librarians.

It is advisable for policies to contain a statement supporting intellectual and academic freedom, and an explanation of the importance of exposing students to a wide variety of material and information, some of which may be considered "controversial." Policies should also clearly indicate that certain kinds of objections do not provide legally permissible grounds for removal, exclusion or restriction. Disagreement with a specific idea or message - and personal objections to materials on religious, political or social grounds - are the most common grounds for challenges and the most suspect. Such concerns may justify a parent's request that his or her child be assigned alternate material, and if shared more widely they may suggest the need for discussion about how teachers and school officials can better explain the material's educational value, and ways in which any perceived harms can be alleviated, perhaps through inclusion of additional materials. But such personal viewpoint-based concerns, standing alone, rarely justify removal of material, and may raise First Amendment issues.

A committee - often composed of instructional staff, library staff, and administrators, and sometimes including students and parents - ordinarily processes complaints. Their recommendation is usually subject to a review process, but such a committee's professional judgment is entitled to deference if grounded in sound educational and pedagogical principles. Its decision should only be reversed for compelling educational reasons. Materials should never be removed unless the complaint procedures are followed, and materials should never be removed prior to completion of the complaint process.

These principles, if uniformly and consistently implemented, protect students whose right to learn should not be limited by some other individual's or family's preferences. They also protect educators in their exercise of professional judgment, and help insulate them and the school district from legal challenges and community pressure.

School administrators and teachers should work together to develop an understanding about how they will respond if material is challenged, recognizing that it is impossible to predict what may be challenged.

Educators should always have a rationale for the materials employed-regardless of whether they think something is potentially "controversial."

In approaching material that may be controversial, keep parents advised about what material students are using and why it has been selected.

Encourage parents to raise questions about curricular materials directly with their child's teacher, and encourage teachers to be willing and available to discuss concerns with parents.

Schedule regular meetings for parents. In one innovative program in South Carolina called Communicate through Literature, librarian Pat Scales invited parents to the library once a month, without students, to discuss contemporary young adult books that their children might be reading, to understand how the books helped their children grow intellectually and emotionally, and to encourage parents to discuss books with their children. She never had a censorship case, but had many calls from parents asking her to recommend books for their children to address troublesome issues (Pat Scales' book, Teaching Banned Books (American Library Ass'n, 2001) describes this program in detail.).

Involve members of the community in any debate over challenged materials. Broadening the discussion usually reveals that only a small number of people object to the same material or on the same ground, but that if one person's preferences are taken into account, others will expect the same treatment-making almost everything vulnerable to challenge.

Support the value of intellectual and academic freedom. Conscientious teachers who are unlucky enough to get caught in the middle of a censorship dispute - and it could happen to anyone - deserve support from their colleagues and the community if their choices are educationally justifiable. Without such trust and some latitude, teachers will stick only to the tried and true, or the bland and unobjectionable.

​
Major Educational Organizations Take a Stand for the First Amendment
Censorship Policies

Many national and international organizations concerned with elementary and secondary education have established guidelines on censorship issues. While each organization addresses censorship a little differently, each is committed to free speech and recognizes the dangers and hardships imposed by censorship. The organizations couple their concern for free speech with a concern for balancing the rights of students, teachers and parents. Many place heavy emphasis on the importance of establishing policies for selecting classroom materials and procedures for addressing complaints. The following summarizes the censorship and material selection policies adopted by leading educational organizations.

National Education Association (NEA)

The NEA is America's oldest and largest organization committed to advancing the cause of public education. Its 2.5 million members work at every level of education. Elected representatives from across the country are responsible for setting policy, which includes resolutions on selecting and developing education materials and teaching techniques. The resolutions embody NEA's belief that democratic values are best transmitted free from censorship and deplore "pre-publishing censorship, book burning crusades, and attempts to ban books from the ... curriculum." The NEA encourages its members to be involved in developing textbooks and materials and to seek the removal of laws and regulations that restrict selection of diverse materials.

The National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association (NCTE/IRA)

A 80,000-member organization devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts, the NCTE offers support, advice, and resources to teachers and schools faced with challenges to teaching materials or methods. The NCTE has developed a Statement on Censorship and Professional Guidelines recognizing that English and language arts teachers face daily decisions about teaching materials and methods.

The IRA has 90,000 members worldwide, working in a variety of educational capacities. Its goal is to promote high levels of literacy by improving the quality of reading instruction and encouraging reading as a lifetime habit. The IRA supports "freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry as guaranteed by the First Amendment."

The NCTE and IRA have issued a joint statement on intellectual freedom:

all students in public school classrooms have the right to materials and educational experiences that promote open inquiry, critical thinking, diversity in thought and expression, and respect for others.

Their mutual policy sets out four principles aimed at translating the ideals of the First Amendment into classroom reality: (1) to actively support intellectual freedom; (2) to foster democratic values, critical thinking and open inquiry; (3) to prepare for challenges with clearly defined procedures; and (4) to ensure educational communities are free to select and review classroom curricula to meet student needs.

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

The ASCD is an international organization of professional educators committed to excellence in education. Its mission is to "forge covenants in teaching and learning for the success of all learners." The ASCD recognizes the importance of balancing the rights and needs of students, teachers and parents with freedom of expression:

When challenges arise, school officials should bear in mind that education is governed by the public . . . [Educators] should recognize the value of citizen participation and respect the right of parents to shape their children's schooling. At the same time, educators should insist that, as in other fields, professional judgment must not be completely subservient to the popular will. Educators' primary allegiance must be to the integrity of knowledge and the welfare of students.

The ASCD stresses the importance of establishing complaint procedures and affirms that materials are never to be restricted for the purpose of suppressing ideas.

American Library Association (ALA)

The ALA, "the voice of America's libraries," is dedicated to providing leadership for the "development, promotion and improvement of library and information services...in order to enhance learning and access to information for all." The ALA has a widely emulated Bill of Rights affirming all libraries as forums for information and ideas. The ALA's policies stipulate that libraries should provide materials from all points of view; challenge censorship; cooperate with free speech groups; grant access to all regardless of origin, age, background or views; and provide exhibit space on an equitable basis. Drawing on the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights, the ALA emphasizes the importance of free speech: "We know that censorship, ignorance, and limitations on the free flow of information are the tools of tyranny and oppression. We believe that ideas and information topple the walls of hate and fear and build bridges of cooperation and understanding far more effectively than weapons and armies."

National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)

Dedicated to assuring that every American boy and girl receives the world's best elementary and middle school education, NAESP sets policy on curriculum and instruction. In its statement on censorship and academic freedom, "NAESP affirms the right of the student and teacher to use a wide variety of curriculum and literary materials and to explore divergent points of view." NAESP also emphasizes the importance of establishing procedures to address selection of materials and challenges to selections. These procedures are to be carried out "professionally and equitably," according to established professional criteria and the values and needs of the community.

National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC)

Founded in 1974, NCAC is an alliance of over 50 national non-profit organizations-including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties group-united in their support of freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression. NCAC works with teachers, educators, writers, artists, and others around the country dealing with censorship debates in their own communities; it educates its members and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose them; and it advances policies that promote and protect freedom of expression and democratic values.

Avoiding Censorship in Schools

Efforts to remove books and other materials from the classroom, curriculum, and school library represent one of the most significant forms of censorship in the United States. Classics of Western literature like Lysistrata and The Miller's Tale, the Harry Potter series, celebrations of Earth Day, studies of world religion, discussions of feminism, and more have all been challenged. Sometimes these efforts are initiated by a parent or other member of a community; sometimes organizations campaign to change educational norms and practices to reflect their particular views and perspectives. They may circulate a list of "objectionable" books, stimulating challenges in communities around the country.

Local school boards generally have the authority to prescribe the curriculum, within state-approved guidelines. Two Supreme Court cases, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988) and Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986) grant administrators considerable discretion in deciding what is educationally suitable. For example, lower courts upheld action against one teacher for permitting violations of school policy against profanity in teaching creative writing ( Lacks v. Ferguson Reorganized School District (8th Cir. 1998) and against another for staging a dramatic production with controversial content ( Boring v. Buncombe County Board of Education (4th Cir. 1998). However, courts defer to administrators and educators equally when their decisions promote, rather than suppress, speech - as when schools administrators elect to include controversial materials in the curriculum ( Monteiro v. Tempe Union High School 9th Cir. 1998).
A. Policies and practices designed to respect free expression and encourage discourse and discussion are rarely, if ever, disturbed by courts
The outcome of censorship cases often depends on the factual context, how competing interests are balanced, and in some cases motive. As a result, decisions vary widely, and the same action can be upheld in one district and struck down in the next. This can be confusing, but a few rules of thumb are available:
B. The decision to remove material is more vulnerable, and often places motivation for the removal at issue since actions motivated by hostility to particular ideas or speakers is not permitted
They may be challenged by students or parents who are offended by certain books or other materials with racial or ethnic content (e.g., Monteiro v. Tempe Union School District (9th Cir. 1999), or with content that offends religious beliefs (e.g., Altman v. Bedford Central School District (2d Cir. 2001). However, it is rare that a court will order educators to remove materials that have legitimate educational purposes, even if they cause offense to some. Many schools will offer students alternative assignments in such cases.
C. The deference frequently shown school administrators with regard to the curriculum is not always accorded when a dispute arises over material in the school library
E.g., Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board (5th Cir. 1995). As the Supreme Court has observed: "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." Texas v. Johnson, 109 S. Ct. 2533 (1989).

Under a 1982 Supreme Court ruling, school administrators may regulate library content based on "educational suitability," but may not do so to suppress ideas or instill political orthodoxy ( Board of Education v. Pico). Noting the importance of "the regime of voluntary inquiry" that characterizes the library setting, as distinct from the "compulsory environment of the classroom," the Court has affirmed students' right of access to a broad range of information "to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding." Observing this distinction, lower courts tend to inquire more searchingly into decisions to remove library materials, and to order materials restored when there is proof of an impermissible motive ( Case v. Unified School District (D. Kans. 1995); Campbell v. St. Tammany Parish School Board (5th Cir. 1995).

Useful information is available from the American Library Association, including the Library Bill of Rights, Tips for Library Directors, and Tips for Young Adult Librarians:

Make sure the library has an up-to-date selection policy, reviewed regularly by your library board, which includes a request for reconsideration form.

Have the request for reconsideration form available at your major service desk.

Work with your trustees (school board representatives) to ensure that they know and understand the library's policies.

Model the behavior you want staff to practice. When confronted by a parent or other individual who wants an item removed or reclassified, listen carefully to what is being said (and what is not). Respect that person's right to have an opinion, and empathize. Keep the lines of communication open to the greatest possible extent.

Work with your frontline staff (reference librarians, circulation, support staff, etc.) to make sure they understand the library's policies.

Build a good working relationship with your local media before controversy arises. Provide them with positive, upbeat stories about what the library is doing.

Put key contacts on the library's mailing list. The time to build these relationships is before you need them.

Once a school district accedes to a demand to censor, it can become increasingly difficult to resist such pressures. Once one perspective is accommodated, those with a different view come to expect similar treatment. Listening to community concerns and taking them into account in structuring the educational environment is not the same as removing material because someone does not agree with its contents. School officials always have the legal authority to refuse to censor something. They may need to do more to help members of their community understand why it is the right choice for children's education.

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The First Amendment in Schools: A Resource Guide

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NCAC presents the following collection of materials on the topic of censorship in schools for the use of students, educators, and parents everywhere. This information is not intended as legal advice. If you are embroiled in a censorship controversy, we hope you will consult the resources below for guidance - if you need additional assistance, please .

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N.F.L. players across the country demonstrated during the national anthem on Sunday in a show of solidarity against President Trump, who scolded the league and players on Twitter this weekend.

The New York Times is a large newspaper and public

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/sports/nfl-trump-anthem-protests.html?action=click&contentCollection=U.S.&module=RelatedCoverage&region=Marginalia&pgtype=article

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/24/sports/nfl-trump-anthem-protests.html

1. This shows that the whole nfl organization is trying to make a change and let people kneel during the national anthem and not be openly persecuted for it.

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1. It's talks about the history of banning books, and why they ban books today.
2. It's older but reliable because it's an educational organization and written at a University.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/banned-books/

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1: Donald Trump wants Marshawn Lynch to be suspended from the nfl for his silent protest during the national anthem.
2. very recent infornmation and author works for CNN

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After photographs surfaced showing Lynch standing during the Mexican national anthem and sitting during the US national anthem at a game against the New England Patriots in Mexico City on Sunday, Trump called for his suspension.

"Marshawn Lynch of the NFL's Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our National Anthem. Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down," he tweeted.

The President and the NFL have butted heads over athletes' decisions to kneel during the national anthem at games, with Trump calling on the league to fire players who protest during the anthem earlier this year.

This marks the second day Trump has taken to social media to criticize African-American athletes.

Trump helped negotiate the release of three UCLA basketball players, including LiAngelo Ball, accused of shoplifting in China. On Sunday, the President tweeted that he should have left the basketball players in jail, suggesting that Ball's father was "unaccepting" of Trump's efforts to negotiate the players out of China.

"Shoplifting is a very big deal in China, as it should be (5-10 years in jail), but not to father LaVar," Trump said later on Sunday. "Should have gotten his son out during my next trip to China instead. China told them why they were released. Very ungrateful!"

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trump says raiders running back should be suspended for only standing during mexican anthem - cnnpolitics

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Trump calls on NFL to suspend Raiders' Marshawn Lynch

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After photographs surfaced showing Lynch standing during the Mexican national anthem and sitting during the US national anthem at a game against the New England Patriots in Mexico City on Sunday, Trump called for his suspension. "Marshawn Lynch of the NFL's Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our National Anthem.

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1. NFL player, Colin kapernick

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/sports/football/nfl-anthem-protests-trump.html

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https://www.si.com/2017/08/28/anthem-protests-grow-voices-fans-and-players

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1. It describes how the NFL might make a change to how they handle players kneeling for the anthem.
2. Because its a newspaper that many people read every day

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Some NFL owners believe there is a strong possibility they will enact an offseason change to the league's national anthem policy if players' protests during the anthem persist through the end of this season, reverting to a previous approach of keeping players in the locker room while the anthem is played, according to several people familiar with the league's inner workings.

"I think that if players are still kneeling at the end of the year, then it could very well happen," said one person familiar with the owners' deliberations on anthem-related issues.

That person said it was "too early to tell" for certain if the change to the anthem policy will be made by owners and the league. The person was "not sure" if a formal vote of the owners would be required to enact such a change but said, "I think most owners would support it, particularly if players continue to kneel this season."

[Trump uses sports to score political points]

Those sentiments were echoed by several others with knowledge of the owners' thinking on the matter. They said they did not know at this point exactly how many owners would favor such an approach, and they cautioned that there have been no detailed discussions yet about leaving teams and players in the locker room for the anthem because owners did not consider it appropriate to make an in-season change to the policy.

But they agreed that if the protests last all season and remain intensely controversial among fans, the issue will be raised during the offseason and a policy change to having players remain in the locker room until the anthem's conclusion would have the support of a significant number of owners. They said the matter could be addressed at the annual league meeting in March.

"It would certainly have to be considered very strongly," said an official with an NFL franchise who is familiar with the thinking of that team's owner on the matter.

The NFL declined to comment.

[Wife of Raiders coach says she regrets voting for Trump after Marshawn Lynch criticism]

The change to having players and coaches on the sideline for the anthem was made in 2009. The current league policy says that players must be on the sideline for the anthem. It suggests but does not require that players stand for the anthem.

At various points this season some players, including full teams, have remained off the field during the playing of the anthem. They have not been fined or otherwise disciplined by the NFL.

The league has been under intense pressure from President Trump and some fans to require players to stand during the anthem. In September, Trump said during a campaign speech in Alabama that owners should fire any player who protested during the anthem. His fiery speech included a reference to such a player being a "son of a bitch," and it fueled an intense national controversy over the issue.

[Bothered by anthem protests, this bar started its own. No NFL, a lot more patriotism.]

The pressure from the White House has not relented. After Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch refused to stand for the U.S. anthem before Sunday's game against the New England Patriots in Mexico City, Trump offered critical comments Monday on Twitter.

"Marshawn Lynch of the NFL's Oakland Raiders stands for the Mexican Anthem and sits down to boos for our national anthem," Trump wrote. "Great disrespect! Next time NFL should suspend him for remainder of season. Attendance and ratings way down."

[The president attacked her son, so Marshawn Lynch's mother fired back]

Owners held a series of meetings last month in New York focused on the anthem and related topics. Owners met with representatives of the players, then held their regularly scheduled fall owners' meeting. Owners emerged from those meetings without enacting a rule requiring players to stand for the anthem. But even without such a requirement, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and owners said they wanted players to stand.

"We believe everyone should stand for the national anthem," Goodell said at the conclusion of the October owners' meeting. "That's an important part of our policy. It's also an important part of our game that we all take great pride in. And it's also important for us to honor our flag and our country, and we think our fans expect us to do that."

Goodell and owners said then that they were focused on discussions with the players about league support of players' community activism. They said they hoped that such support would convince players to voluntarily stand for the anthem, although they cautioned there was no formal or implied agreement that NFL support of players' activism would lead to all players standing.

"This is not a trade-off," Jed York, the chief executive officer of the San Francisco 49ers, said at the October meeting. "From what I've read, there are some players that have said that they're still not considering standing yet. And that never came up in the meeting. ... This has been, 'How do we take protest to progress?' How do we make sure that we move these issues forward that matter to the players and I think that matter to the owners?"

Players and owners have not had a face-to-face meeting since then and have not completed a formal policy for league support of players' activism. But the conversations have continued, and an agreement could be coming.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he would bench any player on his team who protested during the anthem and thereby, in Jones's view, showed disrespect to the American flag. But other owners said at the October meeting that the overwhelming majority of owners wanted players to stand for the anthem but did not want to enact a rule requiring it.

The players' protest movement began last season with quarterback Colin Kaepernick, then with the 49ers. He refused to stand for the anthem to protest racial inequality in the U.S. and the treatment of African Americans by police. Kaepernick was not signed by an NFL team this season and has filed a grievance accusing teams of collusion.

[The Kaepernick tracker: See how he compares to NFL starters this season ... including Nathan Peterman]

The NFL's current policy is in its game operations manual, sent by the league to teams, and not in its publicly available rule book. The policy says: "The national anthem must be played before every NFL game, and all players must be on the sideline for the national anthem.

"During the national anthem, players on the field and bench area should stand at attention, face the flag, hold helmets in their left hand, and refrain from talking. The home team should ensure that the American flag is in good condition. It should be pointed out to players and coaches that we continue to be judged by the public in this area of respect for the flag and our country. Failure to be on the field by the start of the national anthem may result in discipline, such as fines, suspensions, and/or the forfeiture of draft choice(s) for violations of the above, including first offenses."

[There is strong sentiment among the NFL owners for taking disciplinary action against Jerry Jones]

One NFL sponsor, Papa John's, recently criticized the NFL for a lack of leadership related to the players' protests, although the pizza maker later issued an apology to those who believed its stance was divisive. With TV ratings sagging and Jones citing the league's current financial circumstances as a reason for his bid to stall Goodell's pending five-year contract extension with the owners, some owners have acknowledged that the anthem controversy and the protests have had an effect on the business of the NFL.

"We know how important this is to our sponsors, our partners, our licensees," Goodell said at last month's owners' meeting. "It's important to us, also. We all share that."
Read more on the NFL: The Seahawks' loss to the Falcons may signal the end of an era The president attacked her son. So Marshawn Lynch's mother fired back. Wife of Raiders coach says she regrets voting for Trump after Marshawn Lynch criticism Jerry Jones once told Robert Kraft to 'take your medicine' on Tom Brady's Deflategate suspension Saints' Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara are the best running back tandem in the NFL

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nfl; nfl national anthem policy; nfl leave players in locker room for national anthem; nfl protests; nfl anthem protests; nfl and trump;

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NFL owners could change anthem policy next season if protests continue

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Some NFL owners believe there is a strong possibility they will enact an offseason change to the league's national anthem policy if players' protests during the anthem persist through the end of this season, reverting to a previous approach of keeping players in the locker room while the anthem is played, according to several people familiar with the league's inner workings.

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Many kids that kneeled tried to lean about what Kaepernicks reasoning was, and they ended up agreeing with his reasoning. Many say things like, In school, we learn about America and why things are the way they are. To take a step back and look at how things are, you can see that something doesn’t add up.

This is a reliable source because it is from the New York Times.

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High school football players in New York State lock arms for the national anthem before their game on Oct. 6. Credit... John Carl D'Annibale/Times Union

In August, 2016, the National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick began sitting, and then kneeling, during the national anthem before games as a protest against racist treatment of black people in the United States. His gestures created a new front in the national conversation about race, policing and patriotism.

His action spread beyond the N.F.L., to soccer fields and basketball courts, and into high schools across the country. In recent weeks, as more players in the N.F.L. have locked arms, taken a knee or raised their fists during the national anthem, some students have again taken similar actions.

We asked high school students to tell us why they sit or kneel during the national anthem or Pledge of Allegiance, or why they stand and recite the words. Here is what they had to say.

My first reaction to seeing Colin Kaepernick kneeling was: Why did he do this? And what does it mean to him? I Googled it, I looked on social media, I talked to my parents. One thing my mom said to me is that I wouldn't be thinking about this so much if it didn't mean a lot to me. It was bothering me that I was thinking about not kneeling because it's one of those things where I can't sit back and watch everything happen and not say something about it.

In school, we learn about America and why things are the way they are. To take a step back and look at how things are, you can see that something doesn't add up. The America we learn about in school is about justice and the fundamental rights that this country is built on, including that everyone has the same rights. That's not happening. People from different races have fought for different rights, and people are not giving them those rights.

There was one football player that approached a few other cheerleaders and me. He told me this is what they wanted to do and why they wanted to do it. I wanted to make sure they weren't doing it just to follow what N.F.L. players did. I wanted people to see that there is social injustice, racial inequality and police brutality. I didn't want people to use that as an excuse to make a name for themselves. I wanted them to kneel because they felt in their heart that was the right thing to do.

I was definitely nervous. It's not easy standing up for something that could cause so much controversy, but when you know it's right, it makes it easier. Some people were supportive. This one lady came up to me and said I was so inspirational and that she wanted a picture with me. Another lady dropped off flowers for me at school.

There was a lot of hate that went around. Some of the football players received death threats and people saying it was disrespectful to kneel. It went around a lot more than we anticipated. So many other people were posting it. It was getting hundreds of thousands of likes, so a lot of people had a lot to say. The football players were scared. I was scared. We didn't expect it to get so big, and we didn't know how to handle it.

The second game I knelt at, there were people in the parking lot with a Confederate flag. It was nauseating. Not many people show up to the games. Going out to the stands and seeing all these people show up, I realized this is bigger than I thought it was going to be. I feel that with time, people will understand. Changing someone's view on something isn't easy to do.

I'm happy with it. I'm proud of myself for standing up for something I believe in, even if other people don't. The people who know why I did it, I want them to know they're not alone. It's a lot scarier to do something by yourself than when you have people doing it with you.

Naylah Williams, left, kneels during the national anthem before a game. Credit... Thom Williams

I really choose to stand to show respect to everyone who is in service, who is on duty at the moment. They give so much and they get so little. The national anthem, the pledge, it's all showing respect to people doing their duty overseas in order for us to have the freedom to protest.

My dad and my brother both served in the army, and I'm trying to go into the Navy SEALs. People coming back from the war and facing personal issues, this probably makes them feel so low.
I know it's a right whether or not to stand or sit, but overall it's showing respect to people who are fighting for us. We hardly ever give them anything back. These football players get paid millions of dollars a day to sit on a bench. People who are fighting wars get paid $26,000 a year.
I think the kids kneeling in high schools are following a trend. There are only a few who will actually dedicate their time to this subject. All the kids like to follow the trends. They probably don't really reason with what they're doing. They feel like it's cool to follow along.

It's an O.K. thing to recognize an issue with race. Some people complain they're not getting paid as much as someone else or that they're getting treated wrong because of their race. Maybe the right place to really protest would be D.C. Doing a peaceful march and doing speeches in Washington would be the most beneficial plan for them.

At our homecoming in October, one other person in my grade, a person in the grade above me, and I decided to kneel for the national anthem. That was the only time we had the anthem before the game. We all identify as black males. It was a bit interesting that we were the only ones who did it.

A couple of days earlier we had been talking about kneeling for the anthem. It was a natural conversation we were having in response to all the things going on with Colin Kaepernick. Growing up as a black male, and not adhering to stereotypes of what a black male in the U.S. could be, I've always been very sensitive to acts that lack equity in the population of black males.

My parents always had conversations about how I should conduct myself based on real-life violence that occurs and based on stereotypes. Would I come home late? Would I take the subway? It has always been an uneasy thing for me to handle, especially when I was younger. It's a discomfiting feeling to always have to present yourself a certain way, especially when you know the type of person you are and the goals you're setting for yourself. As I got older, I realized how you are doesn't matter as much as it should because other individuals can't tell those things just by looking at you.

When I knelt, on the one hand I felt connected to people who protest against racial inequality and discrimination, but at the same time I felt a disconnect from a number of people in the community at Horace Mann. Not because they weren't kneeling but because I was, and I wasn't sure if they shared the same sentiments I do about racial discrimination.

A teammate approached me about the idea to take a knee in order to show solidarity with victims in our country of violence and oppression, specifically minorities. We obviously don't have the platform that professional athletes to. We knew this wouldn't solve the problem, but we thought it would be a good way to evoke conversation and get people in our community to confront what has been going on in the news.

From left, Eli Harold, Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, of the San Francisco 49ers, kneel during the national anthem before a game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 25, 2016. Credit... Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

The first time, there were eight of us. It's been that number consistently. We've done it at three games.

We wrote an email to the athletic director in our school on behalf of three of us who had interest. We weren't asking for permission since it's a constitutional right, but we wanted to keep everybody on the same page.

Since our team is almost all white, some people felt that taking a knee wasn't the best way to solve the problem or to protest. When you see someone white taking a knee, it can be almost like, "Oh, they don't have anything to complain about. Why are they taking a knee?"

But the message we wanted to send is solidarity with minorities who face violence at the hands of police officers in our country. Because of my race and how I was born, I was born into a position of privilege. I felt like I have a moral obligation to do something and not be silent. There are situations where you can't be a bystander. It's important to make a gesture and raise your voice, even if that voice is a small one.

In America one of the most beautiful things is we have the right to express our opinions how we want to. If people are feeling obligated to stand for the national anthem, I think that's a very big red flag. Because America is not the land of the free for everyone in our country, I think that people should have the right to see America both for its accomplishments but also for its flaws. For a coach to tell a player not to take a knee, that goes against everything our country stands for and the rights that the brave men and women that serve this country fight for.

It was about two years ago that I stopped saying it every day.I'm a senior in high school. In 10th grade, I wouldn't say it, but I would stand up. Now as my own silent protest, I sit during the Pledge of Allegiance.

I have no connection to religion whatsoever. The fact that they added the "under God" part to the Pledge of Allegiance doesn't represent me, and it doesn't represent others who do not have religious affiliations.

I definitely support the reasons that Colin Kaepernick keeps referring to. The tension between the police and African-Americans is not being resolved in a way that is benefiting the African-American community. The police system is not being altered in a way that will make it not inherently racist and allow it to protect every individual regardless of color. What I'm upset by is a coach saying, "I will bench someone who takes a knee." That's an injustice because you can't exercise your freedom of speech by doing a silent, personal protest.

There are things you can do besides saying the pledge to show that you support this country even if it might not support you. My mom is a public-school teacher. For her, it's helping others get a public-school education. For me, it's standing up for the rights that the country has promised to protect - I went to the Women's March in Washington, D.C.

I saw the news when Colin Kaepernick kneeled. But nothing ever really came up at my high school physically for a while. Most of the time the protests happen during the Pledge of Allegiance. For example, after the presidential election a lot of people I knew were considering staying seated during the Pledge of Allegiance. If you are sitting, they know what you're standing for or against.

I stand because I have family who is in the military, and I have a lot of reasons why I would stand for the flag. But, I don't put my hand over my heart because while I do stand for the United States, I know that there are there are issues that need to be addressed. Issues that I will not personally face because I am a white girl in the South in a middle-class family. So when taking my hand off my heart, it's my way of acknowledging that there's something happening. But it's a kind of a quieter way of showing my opinion.

I don't want to be someone who stands by and watches it. I want to be active. It's hard to be active just standing or sitting. I think that when I get into college I'll be able to be more public about my beliefs and my opinions. But for now leaving my hand off my heart kind of shows that there is something wrong with what's happening.

Before the national anthem, my whole dance team took a knee, as well as the football team and the cheerleading team. And my own superintendent came up and gave a speech about microaggressions and racial hatred among our communities and in this country. He wanted to make it clear that bigotry wasn't tolerated at the school. And he wanted to make it clear that we were all in it together.

The kneeling was something that we talked about during the week. With my team, we had to make it clear that it wasn't just a trend, we weren't doing it just because the cheerleading squad was doing it or because the football players were. But because we actually wanted to take a stand for what we believed in.

I took a knee because I feel that to stand for the flag is to agree that it is a symbol of freedom and justice. For me, to stand for the anthem and to put my hand on my heart feels a bit ironic considering the fact that we are not living an American dream. There are so many things wrong that we still need to fix and address.

I think that while racism is erased from the laws, women have rights and the laws prohibit racial bigotry, that doesn't mean it is not abundant in society. You can still see very clear examples of this when you read the news. For example, if you look at the Las Vegas shooter, who was white, most of the headlines I see describe the shooter as the "least expected to do this," or "he was a humble man," or "he was a nice neighbor." But shooters of other races immediately get the label of what they are, these people are terrorists, these people are murderers. While this man, who caused one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, is given a humane perspective.

When I was taking a knee and I saw everyone else joining us in the action of taking a knee, I just felt really powerful and united with everyone at my school. I felt really proud of my community and how we had all come together.
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High School Students Explain Why They Protest Anthems and Pledges

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Colin Kaepernick's decision to sit or take a knee during the national anthem exploded into a national conversation about race. Here, high school students tell us why they sit or kneel during the national anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance - or why they stand and participate.

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But students have a well-established constitutional right to do so.

In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943) the Supreme Court held that public school students have a First Amendment right to remain silent during the pledge and, by extension, any patriotic rite. Following this edict, many districts echo the New York City Public Schools Student Bill of Rights, clearly stating that students may "decline to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance or stand for the pledge." (Private schools are generally exempt from any of these requirements, so they can require student participation.)

In addition to Barnette's clear direction regarding sitting out these ceremonies, silent nondisruptive political protest is constitutionally protected under another student First Amendment case, Tinker v. Des Moines (1969). This means that public school pupils -- and those in charter schools, because they're publicly funded -- can usually take a knee. If, however, that action or linking arms demonstrably reduces instructional time or creates physical disruption without according opponents a "heckler's veto," school leaders may reasonably limit the activity.

Despite these cases, students are regularly pressured by district officials to stand for the pledge. In Midland, Texas, students were told they had to stand for the pledge until the American Civil Liberties Union got involved. A Detroit-area teacher is under investigation for allegedly snatching a black middle school student out of his chair for failing to stand for the pledge.

Although most of the attention surrounding peaceful protests in public schools has been focused on students, educators, too, might be moved to protest. But reciting, even leading, the pledge is part of the job. For them, the Pledge of Allegiance and singing the National Anthem are daily occurrences. Most states require public schools to conduct a daily pledge as defined by federal law. "The Star-Spangled Banner" is regularly sung at schoolwide events, especially for team sports, where those assembled are expected to stand, hats removed, hands on heart. For these public employees, visible protest is especially fraught because of the special nature of student-teacher relationships set amid parent and community scrutiny.

An Indiana teacher who advised students in 2016 of their right to silent protest was directed by his principal to desist.

Teachers' ability to protest presents a thornier question. Their First Amendment rights are severely limited while on the clock and engaging in school activities.

But reciting the pledge is special. It is not part of the school curriculum that teachers have to follow, no matter their personal beliefs. It is a solemn, personal oath, and courts have ruled that it is unconstitutional for the state to compel such a false statement of political conscience. While the Supreme Court has not ruled directly on the matter, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Russo v. Central School District No. 1 (1972) is instructive, receiving favor in other circuits. There, the court ruled that a high school teacher's silence during the pledge is protected by the First Amendment since "to compel a person to speak what is not in his mind offends the very principles of tolerance and understanding which for so long have been the foundation of our great land."

Still, such actions are not to be taken lightly. Teachers, as role models, have a special responsibility not to appear to favor some students' point of view over others. Since reciting the pledge or singing the anthem are generally routine, few would ascribe a particular political opinion to teachers who do them. But, as we have seen, nonparticipation, especially when coupled with taking a knee or linking arms, is an affirmative statement of protest or religious objection. Yet in some circumstances, there is no middle ground: Sitting or standing, speech or silence, will necessarily convey belief. In those cases, the teacher has a duty of conscience that the law will support.

Student and teacher actions in these matters are highly consequential. While explanation is not normally required, it is educationally essential. A modern American class, school or district is a pluralistic community where members need to freely and peaceably interact. For this to occur, educators, parents and students need to know their rights and responsibilities during this teachable moment in the nation's history.

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classroom kaepernicks: can students and teachers take a knee? (opinion)  - cnn

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Classroom Kaepernicks: Can students and teachers take a knee?

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But students have a well-established constitutional right to do so. In West Virginia v. Barnette (1943) the Supreme Court held that public school students have a First Amendment right to remain silent during the pledge and, by extension, any patriotic rite.

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To high school boys kicked off football field after kneeling for national anthem to protest racial inequalities.  From new York times https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/us/high-school-national-anthem.html

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1. Describe
2. How is it a reliable source

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1)employees getting punished for talking bad about there co workers on Facebook or any other social media account.
2) this is a very reliable source because its CNN which is true news

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That's it. That's the entirety of our Constitution's First Amendment, the central animus of our American way of life that gets dragged out every time someone's banned from Twitter.

There's a lot going on in those few sentences, and it's important to know when and how it applies to common situations -- and, equally as important, when it doesn't.

Let's look at some common First Amendment arguments; illuminated and debunked by a constitutional expert.

If you work for a private company, it's probably not a First Amendment issue.

"It's the company's right to discipline their employees' speech," Nott says.

But just because a private employer has the right to fire someone for something they say doesn't give them legal carte blanche. Depending on what the fired employee said, the employer could be in violation of the Civil Rights Act, or possibly in violation of contract law

If you're a government employee, it's complicated.

Institutions like police departments, public schools and local government branches can't restrict employee's free speech rights, but they do need to assure that such speech doesn't keep the employee from doing their job. It's definitely a balancing act, and the rise of social media has made it harder for such institutions to regulate their employee's speech in a constitutional manner.

If it's a private institution, it's probably not a First Amendment issue.

If it's a public institution, the lines can get blurry.

"If you invite someone to speak on your campus and are a public university, you have to respect their First Amendment rights," Nott says. That doesn't mean you can't put regulations on a speech, like dictating the time, place, venue and suggestions for subject matter. It just means you can't do so in a way that discriminates against a certain point of view.

If students protesting play a hand in moving or canceling a speaker, that presents a different free speech challenge.

"If a speaker were to take legal action for being blocked from speaking, they can't do it against the students. You can't take constitutional action against a group of private citizens," she adds.

Such a complaint would have to go against the school, for allowing the constitutional breach to happen.

This is not a First Amendment issue though plenty of people think it is.

This scenario illustrates one of the biggest misconceptions people have about the First Amendment. Bottom line: It protects you from the government punishing or censoring or oppressing your speech. It doesn't apply to private organizations. "So if, say, Twitter decides to ban you, you'd be a bit out of luck," Nott says. "You can't make a First Amendment claim in court."

However, while it's not unconstitutional, if private platforms outright ban certain types of protected speech, it sets an uncomfortable precedent for the values of free speech.

Definitely a First Amendment issue.

But, like pretty much everything in law, there are exceptions and nuances.

"It's definitely unconstitutional, unless you are trying to incite people to violence with your speech," Nott says. Even then, it needs to be a true threat -- one that has immediacy and some sort of actual intent.

It's a private company, so it's not a First Amendment issue.

There's that refrain again: Private companies, like social media sites, can do whatever they want.

But regulating conversations and posts online is a delicate balance for social media giants like Facebook.

While such sites retain the right to remove content they don't like, they are also protected by the Communications Decency Act, Section 230.

"That says, if you are an internet company and you have some way for people to post or leave comments, you are not liable for what they do," Nott says. This covers things like obscenity, violence and threats.

The problem is, this protection often butts up against the enforcement of basic community standards.

"Facebook is under enormous pressure to take down, not just violent and illegal content, but fake news," Nott says. "And the more it starts to play editor for its own site, the more likely it is to lose that Section 230 protection."

This is a First Amendment issue, at the very least in spirit.

"Symbolic speech is protected by the constitution," Nott says. "In essence, you have the right to not speak. You have the right to silence."

In theory, a private employer could require you to stand for the anthem or say the Pledge of Allegiance, but such a requirement may run afoul of the Civil Rights Act. Even in schools, where there have been some cases of students being singled out for sitting or kneeling for the anthem, it would be hard to provide justification for punishment.

"This is an act of political speech, the most protected type of speech," Nott says. "It's completely not disruptive because it's silent." Plus, it is buttressed by court cases that have decided there is no requirement to salute the flag.

A First Amendment issue -- usually.

You are fully within your rights to record the police doing their job in public. And if you get arrested while doing so, your constitutional rights are being violated.

This is, unless you were doing something unlawful at the time of your arrest.

In a heated situation with police, that can also become a gray area. Physical assault or threats could obviously get you arrested, but what about if you were just yelling at the police while recording, say, to get them to stop an act or to pay attention?

"That's tough," Nott says. "If you were disturbing the peace, you can get arrested for that, or for other things. But the bottom line is it's not a crime to record police activities in a public space."

If it's a student publication, it's a First Amendment issue.

Nott points to a landmark Supreme Court cases from 1969 that has acted as a standard for cases involving free speech at public universities and colleges. That's T inker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which you can read more about below.

Another case, Bazaar v. Fortune from 1973, helps tailor these guidelines to the student press by stating that schools cannot act as "private publishers" just because they fund a student publication or program. In other words, they can't punish the publication -- whether it be through student firings, budget cuts or withdrawals or a ban -- just for printing or broadcasting something they don't like.

Now, a gentle reminder that this is just for PUBLIC schools. All together now: Private institutions can (usually) do what they want!

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the first amendment doesn't guarantee you the rights you think it does - cnnpolitics

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AJ Willingham, CNN
Design: India Hayes, CNN

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The First Amendment doesn't guarantee you the rights you think it does

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That's it. That's the entirety of our Constitution's First Amendment, the central animus of our American way of life that gets dragged out every time someone's banned from Twitter. There's a lot going on in those few sentences, and it's important to know when and how it applies to common situations -- and, equally as important, when it doesn't.

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1.) Students were being pressured to stand for the national anthem even though according to their first ammendment rights they had the choice of whether they wanted to or not.
2.) This is a reliable source because it is CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/12/opinions/students-teachers-protesting-the-flag-bloomfield-opinion/index.html

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https://school-uniforms.procon.org/

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Students are forced to stand to the flag when they have no say in there belief on what they stand for.

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1) Student's 1st amendment rights are not checked at the school gate, therefore prohibiting student protest challenges the very purpose of school as a place of learning.
2) "org" is an organization or a non-profit, meaning it cannot be purchased by just anyone. Therefore, they are usaully reliable. This article also seems to state facts rather than opions.
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/rulesforengagement/2017/09/students_have_a_right_to_protest_during_national_anthem_pledge_of_allegiance.html

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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/sports/football/nfl-anthem-protests-trump.html
1. Talks about the anthem protest when players knelt during the national anthem and how Donald Trump thinks it is inappropriate. This source is reliable since NY times is well known and trust worthy.