Originally posted by geeogree

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freedom is not the right to do ANYTHING


freedom of speech is not the right to say anything you want. Freedom of speech is to ensure that people can speak out against the government if they feel it is doing a bad job.

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Originally posted by Crayola

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To condone censorship of/over anyone is limiting a persons freedom.

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Originally posted by Rom Manic

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Social Libertarianism is the only way for some. Others are content with the ability to sue for verbal assault :)

But I agree with you, in all seriousness. I wanna say fuck you to whoever I want, but I will be prepared for the ramifications such a statement will incur.

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Originally posted by Crayola

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so then it is not true freedom of speech it is only partial.
Is that not important?

Freedom of speech-is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship

What the constitution says and what the government does are two different things.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

use the above url for references.

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Originally posted by Arwon

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No. Freedom of Speech is not an absolute. No right is an absolute, because rights clash with one another and you can't maximise them all simulteneously. For example, you're not allowed to yell "fire" in a crowded room because that impinges other people's rights to safety and so forth. Hate speech is often punished in many places because it violates the right of certain communities to live free of fear. Even as an adult, swearing at people aggressively, in certain situations, can potentially get you in trouble for anything ranging from threatening/intimidating someone to disturbing the peace. After all, even as an adult, it's not your right to escape the consequences of your behaviour when it impacts on other people.

It's not enough to say "it impinges on freedom of speech", that isn't an argument in itself. Many things impinge freedom of speech. You have to demonstrate why it's excessive, and frankly, schools punishing students in fairly minimal ways (ever get the cane, for example? they do in Singapore) for disrespecting teachers does not constitute any meaningful restriction of freedom of speech.

Firstly, minors in schools are, simply, not entitled to the full gamut of rights within the grounds of that school. This is because they also do not have the full range of responsibilities. Societies accept that children must be limited in the rights they enjoy because they are not ready to have them all. We as a society accept the principle of limiting minors in ways that are unacceptable when applied to adults (see also: alcohol laws, sex laws, work laws, etc). Kids aren't treated like adults.

Moreover, you are NOT being fucking persecuted. I actually find it offensive that you would whinge and complain that schools exercising an appropriate level off basic discipline can be equated to the ACTUAL deprivations of basic freedoms that occur all over the world, even in your own country with its long tradition of freedom and democratic values. There are people in jail for expressing their ideas in countries from China to Turkey, there's been a dozen journalists killed in Vladimir Putin's Russia for criticising the government and there are worries even in America that new laws being passed currently which define "enemy combatants" as people who "purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States" (to be defined soley by the president, of course), could more or less destroy the ability of people to criticise wars and foreign policy without fear of reprisals and arrest... and you're complaining about not being allowed to SWEAR AT TEACHERS being a deprivation of liberty? Sorry, but grow the fuck up and get a clue, sir.

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Originally posted by MathOnNapkins

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How about expressing your opinion in a more intelligent manner to your principal, rather than giving him the 'bird?

I think if you actually did go to court over flipping off your principal there is more to this story than you are telling us, but if not then that is a bit excessive. Probably something to do with public obscenity, but meh. You can get arrested for wearing a T-Shirt that says "fuck you" or other such things.

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