Why do you believe they are punishing you for not talking? When they punish you, do you receive a letter describing the reason for punishing you?
Do I receive a letter describing the reason for punishing me? Funny you'd ask. In Massachusetts, I'm legally entitled to a 'written notice of charges' before being suspended or expelled
If my school suspends me, they're obviously going to tell me why, why wouldn't they? I was interested about what others had to say about this because just recently, the assistant principal asked me if I made a web site about a student, I refused to answer whether or not I had, and she said it was 'insubordination' and I could be punished for that. I cited Tinker v. Des Moines, she had obviously heard of it. I pointed out that just because the persons filing the lawsuit was suing because their first amendment rights were violated, didn't mean the ruling that 'students do not waive their constitutional rights at the school gate' only applied to the first amendment... that was just a common misconception.
I also pointed out that in that ruling, it said that school officials did not have absolute authority over me. Based on that, I said that I could not be punished any more for respectfully refusing to answer a potentially incriminating question than I could be for refusing to take off an armband or voicing a controversial opinion. I didn't get suspended - and I was ready and willing to fight it if I had been.
