A Note to Private School Students

The First Amendment applies only to laws made by the government and its agencies; private schools are not covered. Therefore the administrators of a private school have, with some important exceptions, significant leeway in punishing even off-campus speech. Unfortunately, a detailed discussion of the rights of private school students is beyond the scope of this article. Additional information is available in the SPLC packet, Press Freedom and Private Schools, available from the SPLC, or on our Web site.