Do I Have More Protections for a Personal Blog?
Yes. In Emmett v. Kent School District, 92 F. Supp.2d 1088 (W.D. Wash. 2000), the court held that public school officials had violated a student's First Amendment rights by punishing the student for his personal website, the "Unofficial Kentlake High Home Page." The court held that "[a]lthough the intended audience was undoubtedly connected to Kentlake High School, the speech was entirely outside of the school's supervision or control." Likewise, in Flaherty v. Keystone Oaks School Dist., 247 F.Supp.2d 698 (W.D. Pa. 2003) a federal court found a public school's policy, which prohibited "inappropriate, harassing, offensive or abusive" behavior, was unconstitutional because "the policy could be (and is) read by school officials to cover speech that occurs off school premises and that is not related to any school activity in an arbitrary manner." Sweet, my Personal Blog is Untouchable!
Not so fast. EFF believes that public schools have no right to punish or censor any speech activities conducted outside of the school gates, and the Supreme Court has yet to consider such off-campus censorship. However, some lower courts have applied the Tinker "material disruption" standard in cases concerning the personal web sites of high school and middle school students. For example, in Beussink v. Woodland School District, 30 F. Supp.2d 1175 (E.D. Mo. 1998), a federal court applied Tinker's "material disruption" standard when considering a student's web site that used vulgar language to criticize his public school and its teachers and administrators. Even though the site was created on the student's own time, with his own computer and Internet connection, the court decided that the Tinker "material disruption" test applied since a classmate viewed the site at school. While it is unfortunate that the court applied the less protective standard, in the end the student was vindicated — since there was no material disruption, the court decided that the student's First Amendment rights were violated.Likewise, in J.S. ex rel H.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District, 569 A.2d 638 (Pa. 2002), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that despite the fact that the web site was not created at school, the Tinker test applied because the site "was aimed at a specific school and/or its personnel" and was "brought onto the school campus or accessed at school by its originator." The court proceeded to hold that the public school's punishment of a student for his off-campus web site, which included an image of a teacher's face morphing into Hitler's, an image of the same teacher with a decapitated head dripping with blood, and a request that visitors contribute $20 for a hit man, was justified under the "material disruption" standard.
Better reasoned cases have looked at whether the speech was "intentionally or knowingly communicate[d]" to the students before applying Tinker's "material disruption" test to speech that originated off campus. See e.g. Porter v. Ascension Parish School Bd., 393 F.3d 608 (5th Cir. 2004).
Again, EFF doesn't think that a public school should be able to punish you for the contents of your personal blog. Nevertheless, these cases show that some courts may find even a blog created and hosted off campus to be subject to school restrictions.
So Can I Criticize Teachers on My Blog?
It depends on how you do it. Merely criticizing or insulting schoolteachers and administrators, even with vulgar language, likely will not amount to the "material disruption" required by the Supreme Court. See e.g. Beidler v. North Thurston County (Wash.) Sch. Dist., No. 99-2-00236-6 (Thurston Cty. Super. Ct. July 18, 2000) (unpublished opinion holding the First Amendment protected a student's private web site that ridiculed a school administrator), andBeussink v. Woodland School District, 30 F. Supp.2d 1175 (E.D. Mo. 1998) (student's vulgar criticisms of school on his personal blog did not rise to a "material disruption.").However, if you publish anything that might be considered a physical threat toward a student, teacher, or administrator, a court will likely find that punishment by the school is constitutional. See J.S. ex rel H.S. v. Bethlehem Area School District, 569 A.2d 638 (Pa. 2002) (punishment of student for publishing an image of decapitated teacher and soliciting donations for a hit man on his personal blog was justified under the "material disruption" test, even though it was intended as a joke and a law enforcement investigation concluded the student was not a threat).
Similarly, although your opinions are protected by the First Amendment, publishing defamatory content (See our Guide to learn what that is) — even jokingly — may get you in trouble at school, and maybe even get you sued. Other types of speech may also violate the law and put you within reach of the school's discipline, so read further to see what legal pitfalls you should avoid.
What Can I Do to Avoid Causing a "Material Disruption" at School with My Personal Blog?
Based on how the courts have applied the "material disruption" standard to off-campus web sites in the past, there are several things you can do to avoid a situation where the school might discipline you:- Most importantly, don't post anything that someone at school is likely to take as a direct physical threat against school staff or students.
- Don't advocate for the immediate violation of any laws or school rules.
- Review the Bloggers' Legal Guide to understand your rights and make sure you aren't publishing anything illegal. Just as you have First Amendment rights like other bloggers, you're also subject to all the same legal responsibilities.
- Don't use any school resources to publish or view your blog.
- Don't encourage other students to read or post comments to your blog while at school — tell them to wait until they are off campus. If you see comments on your blog posted by other students during school hours, consider deleting them.
- Make sure it's clear to readers that the blog isn't sponsored by or affiliated with the school.
- Before you start cussing or bagging on people, take a second to cool off. Although we think you have a right to use coarse language to describe people at school, and several courts have agreed with us, it will still increase the chance that your school will try to punish you
What if My School Orders Students to Stop Blogging About School?
Contact a lawyer; if you don't have one, contact EFF and we may be able to help. Such a blanket ban at a public school would undoubtedly violate your First Amendment rights, while such a ban at a private school may violate state laws protecting student speech that are described below.
LOLOLOL. Just an article on blogging rights. Not that i want to call up a lawyer though.
Respect our blogging rights, adults.
