Mary Beth Tinker, almost 50 years after the landmark Supreme Court case that ruled in favor of students’ First Amendment rights, is now traveling around the country to share her story and speak about the importance of the First Amendment to students.
Tinker and student free speech attorney Mike Hiestand will speak to middle school, high school and college students on Tuesday, Oct. 5, in the Ferguson Theater at 9:30 a.m. The event is part of the ‘Tinker Tour,” sponsored by the Student Press Law Center.
Tinker was 13 years old when she was sent home from school, along with several other students, for wearing a black armband in protest of the Vietnam War. It was a silent protest, but Des Moines, Iowa, public schools suspended many of the students, including Tinker. The students fought for their rights, taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court. In 1969 the court ruled in favor of Tinker and for the First Amendment protection of students in public schools.
“Mary Beth is a rock star, the students want her autograph, and she is their hero,” said Meredith Cummings, director of the Alabama Scholastic Press Association, one of the organizations sponsoring Tinker’s visit. “This is simplified, but it is because of her that we have protests. We are able to go to the Quad and have a protest if we want to, or students [can] speak out on issues.”
Tinker v. Des Moines was an extraordinary case, University of Alabama law professor Bryan Fair said. It was one of several cases surrounding free speech in schools, in libraries and in newspapers.
“Tinker was the lead case and really the exceptional case,” Fair said. “Because it’s really in Tinker that the students win.”
In most cases involving schools and the students, the courts uphold the decisions of the school board – which is, in part, what makes Tinker’s case so phenomenal, Fair said. She has made a lasting impact on the First Amendment rights of students and helped to define those rights on a national scale.
“I think a lot of times, and with the rise of social media, that schools across the country are afraid,” Cummings said. “They are afraid to let their students use social media, and they are afraid to let the students use the Internet in school. There are some valid concerns there, however, I think students are awesome. Their voices are quashed because of this. It is important for them to know that no matter their age they can speak out on issues that are important to them, and they can be heard.”
All students are invited to attend Tinker’s speech. Admission is free to the public and students from local middle and high schools will be in attendance as well. Later in the day, Tinker will speak to high school students in Birmingham at the Civil Rights Institute.
“I think that instead of telling students what not to say, we should tell them how to think critically about the world around them,” Cummings said. “How they can make a difference, and how they can make change if they see something wrong or they see something they don’t like.”
