Bear in mind please, that in no way do I intend to sound condescending here - I apologize if I do, but I believe that these are things that change drastically with different perspectives. I remember feeling the same way while I was in school.
But, when you think about it, this is a constitution interpretation issue. Bear in mind that there are people whose full time job is to TRY to interpret a document that was written a very long time ago for different circumstances. In these interpretations, many times, you have conflicting rights - how does one decide? That is a difficult question.
The question of a student's constitutional rights have been fought in courts for years. There are still many fights still going on in courts about this. If you feel that a constitutional right has been violated, your parents (or you if you are 18) have every right to bring the case to a court.
JKS, you name a right, I'll name a right we lose. Evrything, we lose it. We cannot protest, organize, have no right to a trial (like we were falsely acussed of smoking pot, it doens't matter, you cannot do anything about it), and so on and do forth. No rights what so ever.
First of all, if you violate a LAW, you will go to a real court. If you violate a school rule, they have every right to treat you as they see fit. That's the same way in the real world. If you violate a law at your job, you will be dealt with by the authorities. If you violate a company policy, they will handle you internally - however they see fit, according to the company policies and regulations. The same thing exists in a school and the SCHOOL has the right and obligation to keep order and ensure the safety of the students - most of whom are minors.
If you are accused of smoking pot in school and they deal with you internally - you are probably better off. Chances are you'll have a much more difficult time in the public court system and if they do try to punish you accordingly, you have every right to take it to the authorities, i.e. if you are wrongly accused. That is why school boards and local law enforcement exist. From what I've heard, most schools are simply bringing in the local law enforcement to deal with these issues to avoid liability. The days of "don't let me catch you doing that again" or "We'll just deal with it here and no one else has to know" are basically gone.
Your rights to organize and protest? First off, I would be curious what is being protested? School policies? Again, they have the right to maintain order. Look at this objectively, if students were allowed to protest anything that they wished on school property, what do you think the outcome would be? Most of the students are minors and not yet mature enough to handle such freedom. I am SURE that you know of classmates who would sit outside the office holding a picket sign instead of going to classes because they got a bad grade or don't like a teacher. Again, even on the outside if you are disrupting society or general order with your protest, chances are, you will be removed - again, completely within rights....you just have to think about WHOSE rights we're talking about. Basically your rights stop where mine begin. When your "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" impedes mine, then we have a problem....and that is why law enforcement exists.
So, at work (you are there JUST to get paid) you should not have any of the rights given to you in the Constitution/Ammendements? OK, lets explain the situation more fully. You and one of your co-workers are taking a break and talking about your new manager, who you guys don't like. You're not talkling about breaking the law, or even really insulting him. You're really just saying he isn't that great at his job. You're both told you aren't getting paid for a week because of it. They have no reason to give you a right to complain, or even talk amoungst yourselves. That is what you are saying.
First of all, in the real world, if this hypothetical situation were to happen and the company regulations and policies did not already allow for it, then you would have a VERY good discrimination suit against the company. Any company who DID have an open policy that any employee who speaks badly about their boss would be docked a week's pay, probably wouldn't be in business for long. Plus....everyone complains about their boss! You just be real careful not to let them hear it! If they do....you're in just as much trouble as you would be if you were badmouthing a teacher in school; except in the real world, it can affect your livelihood, not just a grade.
If your complaining or talking disruts the operations of the business, they DO have a right to stop you. If my employees stand around all day BSing, I go and stop them and get them back to work. If they spend all day complaining and not working, I try to address complaints and if it either doesn't work or is not possible, they get a warning and then they get punished. In school, you can complain all you want after school, between classes, etc....no one is stopping you there. You just can't do it in class! Same deal....at a job, you complain at home....on breaks, away from company property.
The bottom line is that your constitutional rights still exist, simply within a matter of interpretation. I personally feel that many people throw around the "violation of my constitutional rights" arguement too liberally. It takes some real objective thinking on the matter to determine 1) if your rights are truly being violated and 2) who ELSE'S rights are coming into play here. It is a complex game.
Honestly, when I look back at school I think "boy, it really isn't that different from the "working world. Just a different objective." You will be shocked at the similarities.
And on a side note - as a member of the military, you DO forfeit certain rights. You really CAN'T openly talk negatively against your boss. The Military is the ONLY profession that has its own legal system. We function by a different set of rules. Example: I can't talk negatively (ESPECIALLY publically) about the President, Chief of Staff, or ANY member of my chain of command. I can't attend a public protest for a great number of things; the issues that I can protest, I must do out of uniform and with no way to link me to the military. You are even withheld on certain beliefs and behaviors that you may or may not have.
