Harassment
If you are a student at a public
school, you have a right to wear a pro-life shirt to school.
Our experience is that most young people who wear a pro-life
shirt to school on National Pro-life T-shirt day do not have
any problems. Occasionally a misguided school official may
ask you to remove the shirt. This is a violation of your
rights.
Click
here to download a letter from
ALL's legal department,
which outlines the free
speech rights of students in public school. Make sure you
have this with you whenever you wear pro-life shirts to school.
In recent years, some students have been harassed
for wearing pro-life shirts to class. Some have received
detention, some even suspension. In many cases, students don’t
know their rights—or where to turn for help.
To prepare for the unlikely event that you may be
challenged, we suggest:
1)
Print out a copy of ALL's
legal department's letter–your right to express yourself–and
show it to anyone who claims that your right does not exist.
2)
Take detailed notes of any incident
in which you are told you cannot express yourself. Pretend
you’re a reporter and jot down the answers to the six major
questions: “Who?” “What?” “Where?” “When?” “Why?” and “How?”.
3)
Call us; we’re here to
help. Call the American Life League office at 1-888-546-2580
and ask for Erik. If he’s not available, ask for Andrew.
4)
If you would rather not
call, you can contact us at
EWhittington@all.org. Please include your detailed notes in
the message. We will get back to you as quickly as possible. If you
really need help quickly, you should call.
5)
If you’re 17 or under, talk to your
parents or legal guardian! They are important parts of your life
and should be included in this. You will need their support
before pursuing legal action.
What will happen
next?
1)
We will discuss your options
regarding the local media. Your school administrators will be
squeamish about news coverage of this. Journalists,
however,
strongly rely on freedom of speech, and will be eager to hear
your story.
If you wish to remain anonymous, let us know when
you call (1-888-546-2580) and be sure to make it clear if
you speak to (or already have spoken to) any reporters.
2)
We will help you to pursue legal action if
you wish to do so. Making a stand will help prevent this
kind of issue in the future.
3) In any case, we want to hear your story whether
you have an incident or not. You can post it here
and share it with the entire pro-life community. There are
millions of us out there.
We may also feature your story in future Rock for Life or American Life League
publications, mailings, blogs, videos or podcasts! Why not
participate?
