1. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District
Material property of the Arkansas Department of Education Distance Learning Center. It may be used for educational, non-profit use only after contacting the ADE DLC at AG

2. In 1965, three students, including Mary Beth Tinker and her brother, John, wore black armbands to their high school in Des Moines, Iowa.

3. They were protesting the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War.

4. The students said the armbands were silent, symbolic speech, which expressed how they felt about the war.

5. School officials feared the armbands would lead to violence.

6. The three students were suspended for refusing to take off the armbands.

7. The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1969.

8. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the students.

9. The Court said:
The school must prove that a physical disruption would have occurred if the armbands were allowed to be worn
School officials could only censor a student’s speech if it materially and substantially interferes with the education, discipline or rights of other students

10. Most famous line from the Court’s ruling:
“Students do not shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate…”

11. The ruling of the Tinker case is the reason students still have First Amendment rights at school.