A student at my school posted a mean comment about a math teacher on Facebook, saying “Ms. Smith is a f***ing bitch and is really a shitty teacher.” During school, ten other students “liked” the comment. The principal heard about the post and threatened to suspend the student who posted it and give anyone who “liked” it a detention. Can the school punish a student for venting on social media?

At school this week, all the students planned to take part in the #walkout movement—walking out of class and standing in the halls in protest of gun violence in schools. Students at plenty of other schools walked out of their classrooms, but our school was put into lockdown mode to stop the demonstration. Can the school do that? Doesn’t that violate our free speech rights?