10/08/2026
DID YOU KNOW? Teaching a child German once led to a criminal conviction in Nebraska.
A 1919 law restricted foreign-language instruction, including teaching modern languages other than English to children who had not passed eighth grade. Teacher Robert Meyer was convicted after teaching German reading to a ten-year-old. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed his conviction in Meyer v. Nebraska in 1923, holding that the restriction violated constitutionally protected liberty.
The Duolingo owl would have needed defense counsel.
An ordinary classroom lesson became a landmark fight over education and individual freedom.
The case still helps explain why parental choices about a child’s education receive constitutional protection. Those protections have limits, and a dispute with public officials calls for careful attention to the particular rule and facts.
When government decisions affect your family’s freedoms, contact The Law Firm, PC. We can help you put the right legal questions on the lesson plan.
Source note: Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 396–403 (1923). The statute also restricted teaching other subjects in languages other than English. Modern connection: Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390, 399–403 (1923), recognizes liberty interests in education and upbringing while acknowledging permissible state regulation.
