Courts have held that minors have First Amendment rights and that those rights include the right to receive information. However, how does that apply in the school setting? The First Amendment prohibits governmental entities from unconstitutionally infringing rights of free speech. Students in public schools, therefore, do have rights under the…

Analysis of two recent federal court cases in which principals violated student speech rights offers guidance to middle school administrators as they attempt to address student expression. Characteristics of a successful school from the Association for Middle Level Education provide a framework for analyzing these cases in order to prevent…

In today's public secondary schools, administrators face challenges that prior generations never anticipated, one of which is the T-shirt conundrum. The T-shirts that students wear to class contain all sorts of messages and images, many of which administrators may well consider inappropriate. This article is intended to help beleaguered educators…

Purpose: A significant and growing body of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) research examines the experiences of students, employees, and the substance of leadership training. This project aims to complement this work by taking a macro-level look at the broader legal and policy issues that may constrain or enhance a school…

One central controversy with youth sexting is that adolescents may be prosecuted under child pornography and obscenity statutes that were originally created to protect children from sexual exploitation perpetrated by adults and do not adequately address consensual teen behavior. Due to this concern, many states have implemented laws specifically…

Group decision-making can result in important benefits for organizational effectiveness. However, collaborative environments do not emerge organically. Effective leadership is critical for group success. Educational leaders must understand group processes and the importance of creating a culture that supports collaboration. Student discipline for…

Principals have acknowledged the challenges with remaining current on issues in the law. A unique challenge for principals is the intersection of students' First Amendment rights in the school context and the legal issues surrounding student-created webpages. Using a randomly selected sample of Ohio high school secondary principals, I investigated…

This article lays the foundation of American First Amendment jurisprudence in public schools and examines recent cases relating to student Internet speech. Particular emphasis is placed on the ability of schools to regulate student off-campus Internet speech. School authorities who wish to regulate nonthreatening off-campus speech in the…