Several court cases have been brought challenging the disciplining of students for Internet use as a violation of the students' First Amendment rights. Two of those cases are Missouri cases. Many of the challenges brought by students have been settled out of court and have not led to published opinions. However, student speech which causes substantial disruption or material interference with school activities or invades the rights of others is not protected. The Tinker case has since been applied in cases pertaining to different types of independent student speech including student demonstrations, symbols, and unofficial newspapers.
School districts have more control over student curricular speech than student independent speech.
There are only a handful of cases addressing whether a student may be disciplined for speech off campus. In Donovan v. Ritchie, a high school student and several friends spent a weekend night compiling a list of students names which crudely described their character, behavior, appearance, or social conduct. The list was brought to school and was discovered in a trash barrel by a staff member. As a result, the student was suspended for three days and was banned from participating in school social activities and athletics pursuant to the school handbook. The 11th Circuit agreed with the trial court's determination that the off-premises conduct led to the distribution of the list on campus and therefore the school did not violate Massachusetts law prohibiting suspension of a student for conduct not connected with school sponsored activities.