Judge Turns Down Girl’s Bid to Display Condoms at School

An eighth-grade girl, who was prohibited from wearing condom packages on her clothes to promote safe sex, lost her fight Monday to resume the campus campaign after a federal judge ruled that principals “must be given great latitude to govern schools attended by children.”

Astrianna Johnson, 14, a student at Mary McLeod Bethune Middle School in South-Central Los Angeles, pinned colored condoms in clear packages to her shoes, pants and blouse three times last fall. She sued the district, accusing it of violating her free speech rights after her principal said her behavior was inappropriate for middle school students and could disrupt the school.

In a ruling that school officials praised for its broader applications on issues such as student dress codes, U.S. District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. said that it is in society’s interest to place greater restrictions on pre-high school students when it comes to teaching the boundaries of socially acceptable behavior.

“Educators--not children--should be given the right to choose which values to emphasize and the means by which those values will be instilled in their students,” Hatter wrote. “The 1st Amendment does not require school boards to surrender control of the American public school system to public school students.”

Astrianna, who had hoped to pin condoms to her middle school graduation gown next month, said she “felt like I was stripped of my rights,” but will continue her condom crusade when she is off-campus. She decided to make the statement last fall, concerned about friends who had gotten pregnant and the spread of the AIDS virus.

“I learned I have no rights when I am at school,” she said.

Her attorney, Amos D. Dyson III of the American Civil Liberties Union, said he has not decided whether to appeal the case.

Hatter ruled that Bethune Principal Edith H. Morris, who has been an educator for 30 years, “is better qualified than the court” to decide what kinds of actions will provoke pre-adolescent boys and girls to cause classroom disruptions.

Morris also believed that Astrianna’s condom-wearing could be interpreted as encouraging sexual promiscuity among students or could endanger Astrianna because the condoms could be viewed as an invitation for sex.