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Its all about whose rights we are thinking about.

Smoking is no longer allowed in restaurants because new health research has shown the dangers of second hand smoke. When you smoke indoors in a poorly ventilated area (like a restaurant) the smoke does not go away for a long time and it causes a health hazard to everyone inside, especially the workers.

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ped/content/ped_10_2x_secondhand_smoke-clean_indoor_air.asp

So in a way, the rights of the people eating and working at the restaurant are being protected because they are not being exposed to toxic chemicals. Smokers can smoke outside where the second hand smoke mixes with the air and does not stay inside of a poorly ventilated area.

A law that prevents repeatedly threatening, harassing, or assaulting other students protects the rights of the other students to learn in safety.

Bullying is two people calling each other names. Bullying is repeatedly harassing someone who is not doing anything to you, often using violence or threatening to use violence.

Free speech is usually taken away if the action would cause a "clear and present danger". One common example is shouting "FIRE" in a crowded theater. If you do that, people will panic and rush out, likely causing some people to be trampled and sustain injuries. If you shouted when there was no fire, you created the clear and present danger of people being trampled. For general safety of the public this is not protected by the first amendment.

Now, repeatedly harassing and threatening another student causes a clear and present danger to that student. For one thing, the bully may have actually used violence. Even if he has not, the student feels threatened and insecure, which severely impedes upon his ability to learn. While this last part is not exactly a "danger", the whole point of the public school system is for kids to learn. We cannot protect the rights of someone who goes about doing mean-spirited things that prevent someone from learning.

I disagree with you, OP.

First of all, taking away rights is not communist.

communism |ˈkämyəˌnizəm| (often Communism)
noun
a political theory derived from Karl Marx, advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs. See also Marxism.

However, about rights being taken away, these things are done for a reason. There aren't people going "Oh. So-and-so has too many rights. Let us take them away."

Smoking in restaurants can result in second hand smoking, which can lead to death. I think it is protecting rights, not taking them away, to not endanger innocent customers. Also, there is no right to smoke. It doesn't hurt anyone to stop smoking (it actually helps their health) but it hurts some people if smoking in public areas is allowed. See where I'm going with this?

Bullying is bad, just like you stated. As much as you may not like people getting tried for saying something hurtful, this is also for a reason. Simple words have caused teen suicides, something that I believe we all would like to prevent. Normal teenagers think bad things all the time, but if they voice them, they have to face consequences.

It's like this: If someone is planning to murder someone in their head, nothing happens. However, if they go and tell someone about it, they get in trouble.

If these teens were smart they would think about the effect their actions can have.

Like it's already been said, I don't view the no smoking rule as taking away the right of the smoker to smoke, I see it as giving the non smokers the right to be healthy and safe. Saying otherwise is akin to suggesting that enforcing a law against murder impedes on people's right to kill others; you obviously need to look at the priorities, and those will always be people's safety and not their need for recreation.

No bullying works the same way. People have to right to feel safe and there is a BIG difference between expressing a negative opinion towards someone and bullying them. Bullying implies ongoing, unprovoked abuse.

And with the healthcare thing.. we've had it in Australia for ages. I've never known anything else. I personally think it is appalling that there are still places in the world where people who need (avaliable) medicine are denied it because of their financial situation. Surely it is the responsibility of the community to look after the individual? (Incidentally THAT'S what communism is about; giving everyone equal rights so there are no monopoly's or insanely rich people next to people with nothing. In an (ideal) communist world we would certainly have public healthcare.