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For liberty to be preserved, it must be nurtured in the hearts and minds of young people. The ACLU educates young people about the many important rights they have and supports those who exercise their rights. In doing so, we help to prepare the next generation of guardians of liberty.

Restorative Justice: Helping Kids Learn from Their Mistakes

Joseph Thomas
Apr 2, 2013
Kids can’t learn if they aren’t in school.  That’s why our state has a mandatory attendance rule that requires students to go school or give a good reason why they have missed a day of class time.  But our current discipline laws allow schools to expel or suspend kids as a punishment for breaking rules sometimes for even minor infractions. Read More »
 
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2013 ACLU High School Student Conference On Civil Liberties

Date: March 22, 2013 - 8:30am - 1:00pm
Location: The Vera Project, Seattle Center
Join the ACLU at the 2013 Student Conference on Civil Liberties! Students from all over the state will gather to learn about the Bill of Rights and share ideas about Civil Liberties. Read More »
 
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The Pledge of Allegiance in Washington Public Schools (PDF)

Many public schools in the United States ask students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Some students object to the practice for reasons of conscience. Both the Washington Legislature and the courts have developed a common-sense solution to the conflict. Read More »
 
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Book

Exploring Teen Dreams Shouldn’t Mean Sacrificing Privacy

Ashley Assemi, Policy Advocacy Intern
Jul 20, 2012
Teenagers need to be able to explore lots of educational and career possibilities – and to do so without having the military automatically know about their personal explorations.  When you’re in high school (not to mention older), you may not know what you want to be.  Personally, I remember that when I was 16, I dreamt of being a physician.  A fan of Grey’s Anatomy, I thought that a rebellious doctor who happens to find a Prince Charming in an all-white lab coat epitomized the perfect job.  Read More »
 
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“Dreamers” at a Seattle press conference on Obama’s announcement.

Administration to Stop Deporting “Dreamers”: A Step Toward Upholding Constitutional Ideals

Kathleen Taylor, Executive Director
Jun 15, 2012
The due process and equal protection clauses embodied in our Constitution and Bill of Rights apply to every "person," and are not limited to U.S. citizens.

But for the youth who are impacted by today’s announcement, their immigration status means that those basic principles of due process and equal protection are increasingly in jeopardy as applied to them. Read More »

 
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Student Rights with Technology

ACLU Publishes First-Ever Guide to Rights in the Digital Age for Students in Washington

Apr 13, 2012
Text messaging, chats, Facebook, blogs, YouTube, and a host of other new avenues raise both new and old questions about legal rights. Now the ACLU-WA has published the first-ever guidebook laying out the rights of Washington public school students in using electronic communications devices. Read More »
 

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Humiliated, But Not Beaten: Fighting Back for Pregnant and Parenting Teens in Washington

Linda Mangel, Education Equity Director
Mar 13, 2012

When eighth-grader Shantelle Hicks learned she was pregnant, she was determined to stick with her education. But the administrators at her New Mexico middle school said she was a “bad example” and told her she couldn’t remain in school. Read More »

 
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Facebook, blogs, cell phones: Learn the new ABCs of student rights

Sarah Davies, ACLU-WA Internet Operations Manager
Mar 6, 2012

Text messaging, YouTube, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter have joined books and pencils as part of the everyday reality of being in school. Online and mobile communications innovations raise new and old questions about the legal rights of public school students. Do you know the ABCs of student rights in the digital age? Take our quiz to find out. Read More »

 
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Student Rights and Responsibilities in the Digital Age: A Guide for Public School Students in Washington State

This guide provides information about legal rights online and the limits to those rights. It outlines your right to express yourself online and what kinds of speech can get you in trouble. It describes your privacy rights – and how you can respect the privacy rights of others. Read More »
 
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A Commitment to Learning: Russell Dickerson's Advice to Educators

Summer Robinson, ACLU-WA Communications and Events Coordinator
Feb 28, 2012

After enduring years of harassment in school, Russell Dickerson III offers his perspective on how educators can tackle harassment and bullying head-on. Represented by the ACLU-WA, Dickerson recently gained a major settlement from Aberdeen School District over its failure to take action to end the harassment.  He reconfirms that schools have a responsibility to provide a safe learning environment for all students. Dickerson gives some insight into how on the Journal of Educational Controversy Blog. Read More »

 

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