Should Instagram posts be considered a 1st amendment right?

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 December 30th 2019, in Bay City MI-

The father of a local high school teen has filled a lawsuit against the Freeland Community School District in regards to his son receiving expulsion for creating an offensive instagram making fun of a current biology teacher at the school. His lawyer claims that his son is within his constitutional rights and therefore shouldn't be punished for his actions. As well as punishment should be implemented by his guardians  not the school. He defends his actions as a "parody" account and was only created out of amusement and fun, not to be offensive. and the child claimed he has no other intentions with the account. The principle Traci Smith claimed that the posts "deemed as inappropriate" as well as used the biology professors name within the username, therefore disrupting his privacy as a teacher. While no pictures or direct references were made regarding the teacher, it was still deemed a problem by the school board.  It was also noted that the student was obligated to know the student handbook guidelines which were not abided by in this case due to respect for higher ups such as teachers.

After deliberation the court decided a hearing wasn't necessary for the magnitude of this case. Due to the student handbook misconduct  the expulsion of the student remained to be 10 days due to school policy. While the court is still deliberating whether the father has the right to file for these 1st amendment rights and take it further, it is taken into consideration that the child performed this act outside of school, and did not cause any disruptions to the school directly. However, again referencing the student handbook is a conflict of interest on the students behalf. 

In my opinion I think that this case could go either way. The fact that the kid used the biology teachers name within the account could be considered him taking his identity and possibly acting as a "catfish" in a way. However, i also think that because this didnt happen within the school and it didnt ruin the teachers reputation or creditability, there was no harm done in making the account. Thus he is able to use freedom of speech but im not sure if this also plies on social media platforms. I especially think that because none of the posts were offensive or highly inappropriate that the childs intentions were nothing but out of fun. Therefore im not sure how this case will turn out but i can see both sides. 


Related Articles- 
https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2020/01/school-violated-students-1st-amendment-rights-over-parody-instagram-account-lawsuit-claims.html