On March 3rd, the Kansas Senate voted to require school districts to pay a hefty fine if their students walked out during the school day for a protest. The amendment would also make it so that walkout days do not count toward the instructional hours required by the state of Kansas.

These restrictions are essentially meant to drive schools to prevent student protests or walkouts. This thoroughly and absolutely violates the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, which guarantees both freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. There have been several court cases that have proved we as high school students do not lose these crucial rights when we step into a school building, most notably the landmark case of Tinker v. Des Moines. This case ruled that students’ First Amendment rights are in fact protected and retained within school walls.

Specifically in Kansas, the Chudley et al. v. Shawnee Mission School District held once again that students have a right to protest. In this case brought by the ACLU of Kansas, the SMSD attempted to restrict the speech being spoken in the classroom, disallowing phrases containing “gun” or “gun violence”. The school district also allowed for seizure of students’ documentation devices, even student journalists. After the case was settled, the district agreed to train its school administrators and staff in how to properly respect students' First Amendment rights.

Students have constitutional rights, and the right to free speech and free assembly remains intact within school walls, whether it’s during school hours or not. Students have a right to protest peacefully, and lawmakers shouldn't be trying to trample on our rights.

As a Kansas high school student myself, the right to protest is extremely valuable to me. I could not vote until a couple months ago, and so having the right to protest and speak out for my beliefs was all I had to express my political standings. I am livid at the idea of that right being taken away for thousands of highschoolers. We are the next generation of adults, and we are just as affected by politics as anyone else. We deserve and are entitled to the right to express feelings about those politics, whether that be walking out of school or writing a paper based on a political subject.

As someone who is surrounded by high school peers on a daily basis, I can say with absolute certainty that we will not be silent about such a blatant violation of our constitutional rights. Free speech and assembly are an integral part of our democratic society, and it is important that these rights are protected and not infringed upon by the lawmakers simply offended that young people would dare disagree with them or make our voices heard.

- Emma Davis, ACLU of Kansas Intern