Free speech activist to visit WC schools

The woman at the center of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that paved the way for students’ First Amendment rights will pay a visit to the West Chester Area School District on April 19 and 20.

In 1965, 13-year old Mary Beth Tinker and five other students in Des Moines, Iowa were suspended from school for wearing black armbands to protest the loss of lives in the Vietnam War and support a truce.

Tinker, a self-described teacher’s pet, said even though she knew wearing the armband was against the rules, she was motivated by several factors - her Quaker faith, the emotional toll of seeing the war unfold on television, and having people in her life who stood up against social injustices.

On November 12, 1968, Tinker vs. Des Moines Independent Community School District was argued in front of the Supreme Court. On Feb. 24, 1969, the high court ruled that public school students did have First Amendment rights. Justice Abe Fortas wrote in the majority opinion that students and teachers do not “shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate.” The Tinker Ruling is still cited in nearly every student First Amendment case.

“We had no idea that our actions were going to have such farreaching effects,” said Tinker. “I always tell students you can sit back and do nothing, or you can do something, even if you think it’s not going to matter. Look around and see some of the successes and realize it does matter, even in little ways. It’s the little things that can change history.”

Since 2013, Tinker has been traveling around the country speaking to thousands of young

people about their constitutional right to free speech. The Tinker Tour is an initiative of the Student Press Law Center. The center gives educational and legal advice to students.

“Students are speaking out today about so many things - Black Lives Matter, the environment, standardized

testing,” Tinker added. “There are so many things going on in these ‘mighty times’ that are so much like the things going on in the ‘mighty times’ I grew up in. I can’t wait to talk to the students in West Chester and find out about all the things they are using their First Amendment rights to speak up about today. Without the ideas, the creativity, and the imagination of young people our society is cheated. Their voices are very powerful when they use them.”

The Tinker Tour will stop at Rustin High School on April 19th and then at Henderson and East High Schools on April 20th.

More detail on the Tinker Tour is available at http:// tinkertourusa.org/.

For more information, please contact Ms. Jennifer Neill, Digital Communications Coordinator, West Chester Area School District at 484-266-1170 or jneill@ wcasd.net

Mary Beth Tinker