The Baraboo School District wants to start punishing students for hate-speech, and the school board is already considering a proposal to do just that.
The proposed policy would define hate as “any form of communication that attacks, threatens, degrades, or insults a person or group based on their race, color, national origin, ancestry, creed, age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender variance, or any other group. It includes, but is not limited to: Language, gestures, or other actions such as using racial slurs; Displaying, writing, or wearing items; or Communications on social media or other technology.”
The school board gave the proposal its first reading at its September 23, 2024, meeting.
One board member questioned the excessiveness and redundancy of the proposal, asking “Do we feel that we need to add the anti-hate policy also in addition to the discrimination and harassment policies?”
A separate board member responded, “Yeah, ‘cause I think sometimes there is a divide between harassment and hate. Not every situation is harassment when it relates to hate and vice versa.”
In general, “anti-hate” policies are on shaky legal grounds, because freedom of speech is protected by the First Amendment. In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Brandenburg v. Ohio that the government cannot ban speech simply because it is offensive or hateful. That doesn’t bode well for Baraboo’s anticipated anti-hate policy, especially given its broad scope that’s open to subjective interpretation.
Baraboo School Board’s free speech restrictions wouldn’t end on school grounds. The Board proposes that “no student shall engage in hate speech while not on school property, or not under the supervision of a school authority…no employee shall engage in hate speech while engaged in the performance of their job duties while representing the District in an official capacity or while off-duty…”
Whatever the school board’s intent, the anti-hate policy is unlikely to achieve it. Research has shown that these types of mandates are often ineffective in reducing intolerance.
The proposed anti-hate speech policy will get its second reading at the school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 28th.
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