How to deal with harassment (for wearing your pro-life t-shirt) by public school officials

If you are a student at a public school, you have a right to wear a pro-life shirt to your school. In recent years, hundreds of pro-life students have been harassed for wearing pro-life shirts to class. Some have received detention, some even suspension. In most cases, students don’t know their rights or if they do, they do not know where to turn.

The Thomas More Law Center has been defending high school students that have been harassed for years. In every incident they have been involved in concerning the harassment of students for wearing their pro-life shirts, the center has been successful. The center looks over the school district’s dress code and determines if they have infringed on the student’s rights. If so, the center sends a demand letter to the school district to apologize to the student(s) and to make it crystal clear that their students have a right to wear pro-life shirts.

Click here to download a letter from the Thomas More Law Center written for school administrators, which outlines the free speech rights of students in public school. Make sure you are armed with this whenever you wear pro-life shirts to school.

What to do if harassed

1. Show the school administrators your Thomas More Law Center letter. Click here to download a copy. Keep with you at all times.
2. If you are 17 or younger, talk to your parents / legal guardian. Even if you want to challenge the school you need to heed the advice of your parents / legal guardian.
3. Take detailed notes of everything that has happened and who is involved
4. Contact us to discuss your possible case. You can reach us by clicking here or by calling 540-659-4171. The best thing to do is to send us your detailed notes. Make sure to include all your contact information and the name of the school you attend.
5. Contact the Thomas More Law Center. You can reach them at info@thomasmore.org or 734-827-2001. You can also fill out an online form by clicking here. Someone from Thomas More Law Center will contact you shortly to discuss the case.
6. Contact the media. Most likely the school administrators know that you have legal rights to wear pro-life shirts but assume you will not do anything about it. The last thing the principal or any school administrator needs is the local reporter calling and asking about what happened to you. Journalists are very sympathetic to our cause, free speech, so this is an interesting topic to them. If you wish to remain anonymous in the paper, make sure to let them know right away. In most cases, when the school does receive a call from the local reporter they will back down immediately. When our right to free speech has been violated, that is ultimately what we want in the long run, to have it restored.
7. When everything is finalized, check back with us. We’re very interested in your story and may even publish it on the web site.