Children's constitutional rights: Interpretations and implications

Constitutional law, as it applies to children, is a new and evolving area. It is essential that school psychologists, educators, and others professionally involved with children have an understanding of children's developing legal rights. While school psychology is shaped by both education and psychology, in greater part its parameters are described in law. Thus, school psychologists, as consultants to education and advocates for children, require a working knowledge of law. This paper discusses a brief historical overview; children's constitutional rights as delineated in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments; and implications for the role of the school psychologist.