Tinker cautions that students must also recognize the effects of self-censorship.

FIRE reports.

From Black Armbands to the Supreme Court: Mary Beth Tinker and Student Free Speech Rights

Her journey started with wearing a black armband to school and proceeded to the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969), but it by no means stopped there: Mary Beth Tinker, namesake of the Tinker decision, continues to be a free-speech icon.

Interviewed by Robert Corn-Revere, the eminent First Amendment attorney who represents FIRE’s Stand Up For Speech Litigation Project plaintiffs, Tinker sheds light on her case and the state of student speech rights today, connecting the past with the present.

Tinker sets the scene by noting that she and her siblings were raised in Iowa, where their father was a Methodist minister. Both of her parents believed in “putting faith into action,” she explained, and were actively involved in the social gospel movement. This led them to take part in the civil rights movement and the fair housing movement. It made sense, then, that all of the Tinker children were influenced by their parents’ advocacy and social consciousness.