] The issue of student anti-war protests in schools came of
] age during another controversial military action, the
] Vietnam conflict, when a trio of Des Moines, Iowa,
] students took their cause of protesting the war all the
] way to the Supreme Court. In Tinker Vs. Des Moines
] Independent School District (1969), 15-year-old John F.
] Tinker, his younger sister Mary Beth and 16-year-old
] Christopher Eckhardt fought for their right to wear black
] armbands as a silent protest against the war.
]
]
] The school board banned such protests, the students
] refused to remove the armbands and they were told to
] leave school and not return until they complied with the
] school's policies. The district was eventually found
] guilty by the Supreme Court of denying the students'
] First Amendment rights. As a result, students' rights to
] free expression were broadened following the decision,
] though many schools now have "disruptive" clothing rules
] in their codes of conduct.