Teenage limits on freedom of speech

Everyone has their own opinions on teenage freedom of speech. Some kids in my class believe it is too restricted and others believe it isn’t restricted enough. There are also those like myself who aren’t sure what they think. I think that the people with the strongest opinions on the subject have had the most experience with it. If someone is constantly reprimanded in school for what they said, wore or any other demonstrations of symbolic speech, they will hold a lot of hostility towards the current rules against freedom of speech in their school. I personally have been told I am not allowed to wear something at school that I didn’t find offensive at all. One day in the season of varsity girls soccer is dedicated to the seniors. All of the underclassmen on the team wear embarrassing pictures of the seniors on their shirts. My senior was Audrey Rabuska. I selected an extremely awkward and hilarious picture of Audrey from the eighth grade. She was wearing a hideous one-piece swim suit, and cheesy smile. Audrey knew the picture I selected and was embarrassed but gave me permission to wear it to school. The second a teacher saw me with it at school she made me take it off. It was in no way inappropriate or offensive and I had permission from the person to wear it to school. That was one of the only instances my freedom of speech had been tampered with, but I didn’t really think that it was a big deal.  The other side of the argument is the people who believe that speech and symbolic speech is not restricted enough in schools. I would assume that these people are people who have fallen victim freedom of speech, people who have been teased or embarrassed by other people exercising their freedom of speech. If you have felt humiliated by another person using their freedom of speech it is understandable why you would want the rules to be changed. I personally haven’t been dramatically affected by either side of the debate. I obviously think that freedom of speech is important. I value my opinion and being able to share it. But I also believe in common sense. I am not going to run down the halls in school screaming at the top of my lungs because there is no reason to. I am not going to say whatever is on my mind because that wouldn’t be appropriate. I think people use freedom of speech as a cop out when they did something they know is wrong. It’s an easy way to get away with something. When teenagers in school clutch to the first amendment as their argument they are not concerned at all with their rights, they are just concerned with getting out of trouble. I think everyone should just deal with the rules at their school that deal with freedom of speech because we are done in four years. Just learn to hold your tongue until we are out.