The Five Freedoms Project

In June 1998, Antonio Peck and his classmates at a Baldwinsville, N.Y. elementary school were given an assignment to create a poster about the environment.

The five-year-old turned in a poster with religious images and written references to God and Jesus. School officials rejected it because they said it promoted one religion over another and could offend others.

Westside High School has always been a place where its students could join all kinds of after-school clubs. Yet when one student asked to start a Christian-themed Bible club, the school said NO — because the First Amendment will not allow it.

In February 2006, an Indiana middle school principal learned that a student’s web page was critical of the school’s body-piercing policy. The posting was littered with vulgar language and harsh criticisms of school officials. The student contended that her message was protected political speech.

At home and after school hours, a Middle School student sent an instant message on America Online to a friend. Included in the message, “Kill Mr. VanderMolen,” was a picture of a pistol firing bullets at a person’s head.

Members of the Old Order Amish and Mennonite religions ran afoul of Wisconsin’s compulsory education law when, for religious reasons, they withdrew their children from public schools after the 8th grade. Three families brought suit, arguing that the compulsory education law violated their right to freely exercise their religion.

In one Texas town, students were chosen by their classmates to give pre-game prayers at the high school’s football games over the public address system. Some students sued, arguing that the prayers constituted an endorsement of religion, and violated the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.