Exercising My Rights

Students learn about the groundbreaking 1969 Supreme Court case that protected student speech in public schools.

Critical debates reveal the foundations, flare-ups and frontiers of this First Amendment freedom.

Browse 20 front pages with coverage of the student-led rallies against gun violence on March 24 in the nation's capital and 800-plus other locations.

Should white supremacists be allowed to gather on the first anniversary of a deadly protest?

Explore significant dates, people and events in the fight for racial equality.

Students use their First Amendment knowledge to weigh in on a current First Amendment issue or controversy via multimedia response pieces.

See how advocates for — and against — change in the civil rights era leveraged the five freedoms of the First Amendment to make their voices heard.

Trace the history of the movement from the Declaration of Independence to the Equal Rights Amendment in a timeline with historical front pages, artifacts and interviews with historians.

In August, an estimated 200,000 to 250,000 people participated in a peaceful march to advocate for civil and economic rights for all Americans.

Students watch and discuss a Newseum-produced documentary about the role of the First Amendment freedoms in the civil rights movement and in protests today.

In this 10-minute video, Freedom Forum Institute president Gene Policinski explains how the First Amendment protections regarding assembly and petition apply to students.

The Woman's Journal reports on the Woman Suffrage Procession held in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 1913, to build visibility and support for the cause.

Students learn about restrictions to freedom of speech in public life, then debate court cases that determined when and why those limits apply.

Explore how the suffragists embraced the First Amendment as a tool to help achieve ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

Here are resources to examine current activism in the context of First Amendment freedoms and their role in a democracy.

Students create a multimedia project to document their class service learning project and share their results with the community.

Students go from news consumers to creators in this activity that allows them to respond to a news story or opinion piece.

Students prepare for a lifelong practice of civic engagement by identifying, analyzing and reporting about a contemporary civil rights issue.