Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District

During the turbulent 1960s the civil rights movement and the largely student-led Vietnam War protests expanded the ways of communicating political messages. Traditional forms of speech and press gave way to demonstrations. Sit-ins, marches, black arm bands, draft card burning, and flag desecration graphically presented the protester's political message.

The student protest movement began in 1964 at Berkeley, California. In what became known as the Free Speech Movement, students pressed issues against an academic bureaucracy out of touch with the problems of contemporary society. Students staged sit-ins, strikes, sang folk songs, and created slogans to identify the targets of their protests. By 1965, with escalating events in Vietnam coming to the forefront, students rallied in opposition to the war. "Make Love Not War" became a new slogan. The draft system of the Selective Service was the most visible target of the government war policy spurring draft card burnings, sit-ins, and picketing of local draft boards. From 1965 to 1967 the nature of the student protests slowly changed from peaceful demonstrations to more aggressive tactics including calls for outright revolution. During this time period student activism and protests dramatically increased on college campuses nationwide.