With rising activism and protests regarding current Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity in the nation, many Falcons used their voices during a non-school sponsored protest on Feb. 7 to oppose the way ICE targets immigrants. These forms of free speech should continue to remain within safe and controlled limits.

One pro-ICE student hung posters around campus stating,  “We Heart I.C.E. – Real Americans.” The poster, and its message, was plastered over social media with several San Diegians conflicted over the anti-immigration sentiment. The student was suspended shortly after the flyers were hung.

The school did not express details of the student’s suspension because of student privacy laws, so the media, many students and other San Diegans were quick to assume that the student’s consequences were a product of speech suppression. 

Many argue this student was merely expressing their own opinions regarding ICE, just as the students against ICE were. How is this perspective any different from the other? Is suppressing politics in a school setting better than embracing it?

The reason the student was suspended was not over the posters’ contents. Allegedly, the student wrongfully plastered the poster across the school hallways and “directed harassment, threats or intimidation,” according to the Times of San Diego.

Thus, the violation of free speech argument is not valid, as the school’s goal was not to suspend the poster’s message. It was simply over the fact that the student violated school policy.

Community members and people online assert that the school handled the issue poorly, censoring political opinions and disregarding the general mix of politics within our school.

Every student deserves a place to share their own political angles. Students should not fear that their educators and administrators, the ones who are meant to protect and support students, might suppress any politics, or opinions for that matter, that do not align with their own. 

According to the San Dieguito Union High School District’s grounds for suspension/due process, nowhere does the Governing Board state that political speech and expression meet the criteria for suspension, as freedom of speech obeys the First Amendment. 

Additionally, California Education Code 48907 declares that  “pupils of the public schools, including charter schools, shall have the right to exercise freedom of speech and of the press including, but not limited to, the use of bulletin boards, the distribution of printed materials or petitions.”

This situation touches on the events that prompted the Tinker V. Des Moines U.S. Supreme Court case, which recognized the First Amendment rights for students within public schools. With the growing tension of the Vietnam War during the late 1960s, groups of students began wearing black armbands in protest of the Vietnam War to advocate for unity. The armbands themselves were symbols of mourning and peace as well as opposition to U.S. involvement in the war.

Just as this widespread case of political expression, the desire to express political opinions regarding current events still seems to be a popular practice among students, especially now concerning ICE, where student-led protests spread across the nation.

Pro-ICE or anti-ICE, all students deserve the platform to share their own political stances within a school environment at a controlled level and within safe means. If there is no physical violence or hate speech associated with either side, then all politics should be permitted. Just as all religions, races and gender identities are welcome, political views should be, too. 

This is an idea that the school continues to uphold, contrary to much of what is circulating online.

The district aims to draw a line between what is considered freedom of speech and expression versus what is considered blatant violence and discrimination —– two things that began to overlap from the continuous spread of misinformation regarding the poster.