Many problems exist with the current school system, in that they remove basic human rights that we have as citizens of America, this oh so great country which has its own parade of problems but back to the topic of schools, we also have a pathetic standard of education. Perhaps it is viewed as perfectly fine by many, considering the USA remains a world power, however we are not getting the education available to us, knowledge which should be standardized is instead left for the few with enough initiative to seek it out. Though many will disagree as to whether or not school 365 days a year would be a good thing, it would help teachers better cover the subjects, for many of them are unable to properly cover the material, only giving brief overviews instead of the in-depth explanations necessary, simply so that they can meet all the standards imposed by the state. Now one of the biggest problems, in my opinion, is that once you step onto the schools grounds, you are no longer in a democracy. Many of the laws and human rights given to us as citizens of the United States of America, are removed simply by stepping into an institute of education, ironically enough, the law also demands that we go to a place where we be stripped of our basic human rights. Freedom of expression is one of the rights that are removed on school grounds, as well as freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of petition.
Some may argue that these freedoms have not been removed so much as diminished, however it is my opinion that restrictions and qualifications upon these rights is no longer freedom. Freedom of expression is restricted in schools in a variety of ways, dependant on the state, district, or individual school. One of the myriad of ways it is restricted is to set clothing regulations; lengths of skirts, width of shirt straps, etc. These are mainly aimed at the females because they could prove to be a "distraction." Schools go one step further however, turning from more viable reasoning such as the distractions, to simply foolish, in their regulation of the displayed graphics and text upon clothing, such as t-shirts. They disallow any clothing to be worn that contains graphic images found to be distasteful, such as guns, violence in general, swears, and drugs or drug references; now this may sound like a perfectly fine list, but it removes a lot of freedom, especially when you consider how vague some of the stipulations are. One student was forced to change his shirt, which displayed a picture of Bob Marley's face, in the Ethiopian colors of green, yellow, and red, for drug references. Bob Marley may have done drugs, however in the image there was no drugs evident, simply his face, and they made him change his shirt.
One major dispute as far as freedom of expression is concerned, is the pledge of allegiance. Many people have issues with this, either the "under God" which tramples upon freedom of religion, or with the fact that the pledge of allegiance is in fact, mandatory. Refusing to stand and pledge will result in punishment. Perhaps this is not universal, but speaking from my own experience, there are severe repercussions for not pledging. In a few areas, the pledge has been outright banned, however I feel this is not an appropriate solution either, I think it should be optional, instead of required one way or the other, so as to allow true freedom of ones expression.
