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15 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 309 (1980)
The Manipulation of Consciousness: A First Amendment Critique of Schooling

handle is hein.journals/hcrcl15 and id is 319 raw text is: THE MANIPULATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS: A FIRST AMENDMENT CRITIQUE OF SCHOOLINGt Stephen Arons* Charles Lawrence III** I. INTRODUCTION Schooling is everywhere and inevitably a manipulator of con- sciousness, an inculcator of values in young minds. This article addresses the school's imposition of values and the school's relation to the first amendment's guarantee of freedom of expression. Some of the practical implications of the first amendment critique of schooling .are discussed. The emphasis, however, is upon examining the ways in which first amendment rights are threatened by the structure and ideol- ogy of American schooling, not upon the evaluation of particular strategies for change.I t Much of the research and writing leading to this Article was supported by a grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The authors wish to express their thanks for the support and confidence of the Fund and John Esty. * Stephen Arons, B.A. University of Pennsylvania, 1965; J.D. Harvard, 1969. Associate Professor of Legal Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. ** Charles Lawrence III, B.A. Haverford, 1965; J.D. Yale, 1969. Professor of Law, University of San Francisco. Throughout this Article we speak of imposition of values by the government or state because the government is the vehicle through which political power has tradi- tionally been exercised. We do not discuss the imposition of the same beliefs by corporations or private school proprietors, who are not normally considered agents of the government. We further limit our discussion of government regulation or inculca- tion of values to the school setting. In the final analysis, the presence of government intervention, or state action, is determined by the Court's willingness to extend the protection of the Constitution to a particular activity. State action is a flexible doctrine that has expanded and contracted with the Court's predilection for protecting civil liberties. Cf. L. TRIBE, AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL LAW 1173-74 (1978) (deter- mination of whether there is state action involves consideration of the reach of particu- lar constitutional provisions). We have not directly addressed the propriety of holding

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