In a recent opinions column published in “The New York Times,” University of Chicago law professor Justin Driver asked the question, “Do public school students have constitutional rights?” His answer: that as time has gone on, the United States Supreme Court has changed it’s once supportive mind on the topic and students are now treated as if the constitution does not apply to them by the American judiciary system.

We find him wrong, but only partially.

It is the agreement of The Mentor editorial board that, while there are cases where students’ rights have been restricted, ultimately students are given constitutional rights at the very base level.

There is no debate as to whether or not we are given rights because, as American citizens, we are. In fact, this argument isn’t even about whether or not we have constitutional rights at all; rather, the question is, are the rights we are given as the American youth respected?

The answer to this is a murky mess of yes and no, each response dependant on the situation and example applied, as well as the perception of the one answering it.

For example, many students feel bag searches are in violation of the Fourth Amendment — the right to secure against unreasonable searches or seizures. However, most administrators and adults find it necessary to protecting America’s academic institutions.

In another example, according to a chapter entitled “Unsocial Media: School Surveillance of Social Internet Use,” published in June of 2018 in “The Palgrave International Handbook of School Discipline, Surveillance, and Social Control,” schools that have recently employed the use of social media monitoring in order to protect against potential threats from students are actually in violation of students privacy and free speech, meaning they are in violation of both the First and Fourth Amendments. However, most schools using this policy find it beneficial to protecting against potential threats.

And, of course, when speaking of constitutional rights and possible violations as well as silences, it is imperative to talk about the recent popularization of student activism that has taken ahold of America’s youth.

Take for example the Never Again movement started by the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting last February. Their movement quickly took ahold of the American public, specifically the youth. While here at Manhattan High we were greeted with an open administration supportive of student opinion and peaceful, non-disruptive protest, according to the Student Press Law Center, even here in Kansas student activism was silenced. Back in April and May of 2018 during the walkouts, a student journalist’s camera was confiscated by administration at Shawnee Mission North in Overland Park. Not only was media silenced, but students themselves were banned from using gun-violence statistics and phrases, resulting in an unsanctioned walkout. This has quickly gained media attention due to both First Amendment rights and activism being yet again squashed by administrations.

However, this argument is not as simple as activism and silencing of large-scale movements, again, it’s about the individual.

Ultimately, it comes down to the individual cases, the specific who and what of the situation, rather a general look across a vast population of students and potential violations of constitutional rights. Yes, we as students are given rights, but at times, those rights are unjustly stripped away. “At times” is not equal to “always.”

While it is still 100 percent wrong to strip anyone of their constitutional rights at any time, it is important to acknowledge that what is happening is not applied to everyone and it is not applied all the time.

Here at MHS, we are lucky to have an open administration who listens to and allows our voices, thus making it very confusing when students here place themselves in the same category as students like those at Shawnee Mission. The more we overdramatize violations of constitutional rights, the more we just become another voice in a country full of screaming people: redundant and insignificant.  

Let your voices be heard. Be not only an informed, but active citizen. Stand up for your and others’ rights, but don’t confuse standing up for someone else with trying to be someone else. Instead of forcing everyone into the generalized label of “the martyred students of the American Education system,” let’s call attention only when needed and only where needed. Recognize your privilege, and use it to help others, not to overshadow their suffering.

Your rights are respected, Manhattan High. Now let’s help those whose rights aren’t.