10 Supreme Court cases every teen should know: more of the Court's most important rulings on freedom of speech and privacy at school, and other issues affecting teenagers: Part 2.

• Author: Jacobs, Tom
• Position: NATIONAL

Part 1 of this article (Upfront, Sept. 3, 2007) addressed five Supreme Court cases dealing with issues both in and out of the classroom, including students' right to protest, school prayer, and how the legal system treats teenagers. Part 2 looks at five more key cases, involving student newspapers, drug testing of athletes, after-school clubs, the use of race in college admissions, and whether children have constitutional protections at home.

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HAZELWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT v. KUHLMEIER (1988)

ISSUE STUDENT JOURNALISM AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT

BOTTOM LINE SCHOOLS CAN CENSOR STUDENT NEWSPAPERS

BACKGROUND Cathy Kuhlmeier, Leslie Smart, and Leanne Tippett, juniors at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri, helped write and edit the school paper, the Spectrum, as part of a journalism class. An issue of the paper was to include articles about the impact of divorce on students and teen pregnancy. The school's principal refused to publish the two stories, saying they were too sensitive for younger students and contained too personal details. The girls went to court claiming their First Amendment right to freedom of expression had been violated.

RULING The Supreme Court ruled against the girls. A school newspaper isn't a public forum in which anyone can voice an opinion, the Court said, but rather a supervised learning experience for students interested in journalism. "Educators do not offend the First Amendment by exercising editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities," the Court said, "so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate [educational] concerns."

IMPACT Schools may censor newspapers and restrict other forms of student expression, including theatrical productions, yearbooks, creative writing assignments, and campaign and graduation speeches. But the Court's ruling in Hazelwood encourages schools to look closely at a student activity before imposing any restrictions and to balance the goal of maintaining high standards for student speech with students' right to free expression.

VERNONIA SCHOOL DISTRICT v. ACTON (1995)

ISSUE STUDENT ATHLETES AND DRUG TESTING BOTTOM LINE SCHOOLS CAN REQUIRE IT

BACKGROUND James Acton, a 12-year-old seventh-grader at Washington Grade School in Vernonia, Oregon, wanted to try out for the football team. His school required all student athletes to take drug tests at the beginning of the season and on a random basis during the school year. James's parents refused to let him be tested because, they said, there was no evidence that he used drugs or alcohol. The school suspended James from sports for the season. He and his parents sued the school district, arguing that mandatory drug testing without suspicion of illegal activity constituted an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.

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RULING The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school district. Schools must balance students' right to privacy against the need to make school campuses safe...