develop an argument of your own about how to best protect students’ rights to free speech, as well as how to balance rights to speech, safety, and access to education for all.

Reading 3: Joan Wallach Scott, “Freedom of Speech v. Civility.”

In “Freedom of Speech v. Civility,” Joan Wallach Scott considers whether students in schools should have the same rights to freedom of speech as adults do, arguing for a balance between students’ constitutional rights and schools’ ability to ensure a safe environment for other students.

Prompt

For this assignment, you will consider how schools should recognize students’ freedom of speech, and whether/how students’ freedom of speech should be limited in schools. This is a complex topic that asks you to consider how to best protect free speech, as well as how to balance rights to speech, safety, and access to education. Your job in this essay is to utilize the Scott article and two more articles you have selected in order to develop an argument of your own about how to best protect students’ rights to free speech, as well as how to balance rights to speech, safety, and access to education for all.

• Your thesis statement will make an argument about this issue and how we should navigate it, focusing on a specific example or issue. (SPECIFIC EXAMPLE REGARDING ISSUE: Public School Dress Code.)

• In the body of your essay, you will develop your argument with supporting claims and evidence from the assigned reading and your outside source. 

• Note: this doesn’t mean you have to fully agree with either of your sources; in fact, you will have more luck in creating your own nuanced argument if you find wiggle room or disagreement within a position you mostly agree with (or, alternatively, find wiggle room or agreement with a position you mostly oppose).

• Some questions to consider (you are not required to answer these, but you can if it helps your argument): How does looking at the right to free speech under the lens of students’ rights shape the way free speech should be interpreted in different contexts? (How) should students’ freedom of speech be limited within the context of students’ rights in schools?

You are required to have THREE SOURCES for this essay:

1. Joan Wallach Scott, “Freedom of Speech v. Civility.”

2. A peer-reviewed article of your choice.

3. A second peer-reviewed article of your choice.

Required Structure

Your essay must follow the structure below:

• Introduction & Argument
• Claim 1 + Evidence
• Claim 2 + Evidence
• Claim 3 + Evidence
• Optional: Claim 4 + Evidence
• Counterclaim & Rebuttal
• Conclusion

Formatting and Requirements: 

• Your essay should be approximately 4-5 pages in length (around 1200-1400 words)

• Include your name, my name, class and date in the upper left corner of the 1st page

• Format your essay according to MLA guidelines (see Documenting Sources: MLA Style in Achieve)

• Include a Works Cited page listing all sources you used or consulted