In this post, I shall continue down the free speech as autonomy-enhancing path, contending that engagement in freedom of expression activities (and its effects) in public schools can be politically educational, helping to prepare students for the public deliberation that a democracy like ours requires. It is not unusual for commentators, including judges, to associate public schools with civic education and democracy. In his recent majority opinion in Mahanoy, Justice Stephen Breyer characterizes them as "nurseries of democracy."
The relationship between free speech and civic education takes center-stage in what follows, with emphasis on the importance of trying to bring a certain kind of person into being, namely an autonomous one. A good democratic citizen will have adequate critical thinking skills, be open-minded, listen, and interact with those with whom they disagree in a manner that treats everyone as an equal member of the diverse political community.
