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Instructor’s background:
The Morse Decision (2007)

The Morse Decision (2007) In 2002, a high school in Juneau, Alaska, allowed its students to leave class to watch the Olympic Torch Relay as it proceeded in front of the school building (Kozlowski et al., 2009). Kozlowski et al. (2009) stated that during the ceremony, student Joseph Frederick displayed a large banner proclaiming, “BONG…

Scope & Sequence: Morse Teaching Units

Introduction Before you begin working through this document, I’d first like to thank you for trying this unit in your classroom. This unit’s main emphasis is on customization because every media program is different. You may find that all the activities in these units are applicable to your media program, or you may find them…

Introduction to Morse v Frederick lessons

Introduction by Peter Barringer Students’ First Amendment rights were explicitly established through the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case in 1969, and those rights have only diminished since. The amount of literature relating to the courts’ applications of Morse is even more abundant, but cogent analysis and quality teaching resources related to these cases…

Three-day lesson plans

Three-Day Morse v. Frederick Unit Background Information and Description Basic knowledge of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) is important for both students and advisers. The first ten minutes of this lesson plan is devoted to a brief review of these three cases, which composed the original…

Two-day lesson plans

Two-Day Morse v. Frederick Unit Background Information and Description Basic knowledge of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) is important for both students and advisers. The first ten minutes of this lesson plan is devoted to a brief review of these three cases, which composed the original…

One-day lesson plan

One-Day Morse v. Frederick Unit Background Information and Description Basic knowledge of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) is important for both students and advisers. The first ten minutes of this lesson plan is devoted to a brief review of these three cases, which composed the original…

Ancillary: Anticipation guide

Morse v. Frederick Anticipation Guide Directions: Answer each question with a number, 1-5. 1 means you strongly disagree, 5 means you strongly agree, and 3 is neutral. Students like me deserve the same free speech rights as normal citizens. Just because I have the right to say or do something doesn’t always mean I should….

Ancillary: Media manual statement

Media Manual Statement Create a brief, 50-100 word statement for the media program manual. The goal of this statement should be twofold. It should: help staff members understand and work around the limitations of Morse discussed earlier this class period attempt to keep administrators from overstepping the reaches of Morse The first goal requires consideration…

Ancillary: Morse persuasive letter

Morse Persuasive Letter Through discussion with the students, determine the best recipient for a letter about the Morse decision—should it be administrators/school board? Judges? Someone else? Consider your publication’s needs as you make this decision. If the publication is or has already experienced legal issues with administrators, perhaps they should be the recipient of the…

Ancillary: Role playing

Role Playing Background: Students will engage in a roleplaying scenario based a fictional set of circumstances. Federal courts have not cited Morse in any student media cases yet, so the circumstances of this case are intended to provide a plausible example. Instructions (read aloud or provide to students): Students will play one of the following…

District & Appeals Court Decisions Citing
Morse v. Frederick (2007)

(above) U.S. Circuit Court map [pullquote] Key RED: Only broad interpretations of Morse YELLOW: Both broad and narrow interpretations of Morse GREEN: Only narrow interpretations of Morse BLUE: Incidental interpretations of Morse GRAY: No interpretations of Morse [/pullquote] Narrow, Broad, or Incidental? The following chart summarizes fifteen student First Amendment cases that cited Morse v….

Recognizing student media as public forums

The SPRC and the Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University are recreating an interactive map to showcase schools where student press freedom and editorial independence are protected. We want your school on our map! Public forums can exist by policy, practice or both.To be eligible, complete the form by downloading the rewritable PDF, saving it with your school’s name and…