NAME — Elisabeth Randall
AGE — 19
At Noblesville High School, student journalists were discouraged. They had tried for weeks to get a story about teen drug abuse published in the school newspaper without success. Administrators didn't like the story, but students couldn't understand why.
At Columbus North High School, it was a different story. The newspaper staff, with the approval of the principal, was able to publish a sensitive, well-researched story about the realities of oral sex among teens.
To find out what teen journalists think about freedom of the press, Y-Press spoke with a group of high-school newspaper editors about student press responsibility and censorship. The schools they represented were both private and public -- Cathedral, Columbus North, Culver Academy and Noblesville.
Many of the free expression challenges faced by student journalists are related to a 1988 Supreme Court decision. That case -- Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier -- gave public high school officials greater authority to censor school-sponsored publications, according to the Student Press Law Center. But the ruling doesn't apply to publications operating as "public forums for student expression." It also requires that school officials demonstrate a reasonable educational justification before censoring anything.
Nationwide, what high schools are permitted to publish varies a lot, because the Hazelwood decision is interpreted in varying ways.According to Mark Goodman, executive director of the SPLC, an advocate for student free-press rights, it is becoming more socially acceptable to censor high-school journalists.
"From the mid- to late 1980s, there were more schools embarrassed to be labeled a censor. Today there are more school officials who think that it's perfectly appropriate to censor," said Goodman in a phone interview from his office in Arlington, Va.For example, last spring a controversial editorial was published about immigration in the Ben Davis High School student newspaper. In response, the Wayne Township School Board unanimously passed a new publication policy that student newspapers could not express values contrary to those of the district, its curriculum and the Westside community.
Warren Watson, director of J-Ideas at Ball State University, said censorship of high school publications is more prevalent than it was a decade ago."The current political climate is to bear: We're in a post-911 world," he said. J-Ideas works nationally to foster and support high school journalism and media literacy education, and to increase awareness of the First Amendment.
Six states have passed free-expression laws that give student journalists the same rights as professional journalists, but Indiana is not one of them. A free-expression bill passed the Indiana House of Representatives on Feb. 11, 1991. The bill later died in a Senate committee.If Indiana had a law protecting student free expression, high school journalist Jennifer Marinaro, 17, of the Noblesville High School Mill Stream, may not have had so much difficulty publishing an article on drug abuse. She explained the tedious negotiations with administrators that had to take place before the newspaper could publish the article.
"Our superintendent pulled the story twice. He was never very specific about what he objected to," Marinaro said. "He was very nitpicky about it, changing words like 'many' to 'most' and petty things like that."Eventually, she said, they had to take the issue all the way to the School Board before they could reach a consensus.
The issue of censorship came up again when the Noblesville student newspaper staff reported and wrote a story about the dangers of oral sex.A panel of community members, students, the principal, Mill Stream journalists and their teacher/adviser reviewed the article and recommended its publication. But the superintendent stepped in and wouldn't let the article be printed until changes were made to the content. After changes were made and several months had gone by, the superintendent finally gave permission for the article to run.
Noblesville Superintendent Lynn Lehman wasn't available for comment. The district's public relations director, Sharon Trisler, referred Y-Press to the district's Web site, which contains school district policies regarding student publications. The policy states that the School Board reserves the right to prohibit publications that "violate the rights of others."The staff of Columbus North's The Triangle had a different experience when it published an article on the realities of oral sex. Though the administration fully supported the staff's actions, strenuous objections came from some students' parents and the local community.
Though Columbus North editors Ashley Narsinghani, 18, and Annie Smith, 17, were frustrated by the reaction, the girls felt proud of their decision. Annie said it's important to cover local, critical issues, even if they make people feel uncomfortable."We always want to make sure that there is a good angle to the story. . . . We want our stories to truly tell a story and not just feel safe."
At Indiana's private schools, where student rights are not clear-cut, it can be more difficult to publish an article about sensitive material. And in private schools, a freedom of expression law would have no effect.{mosimage}Emily TeKolste, 18, an editor at Cathedral's Megaphone, explained, "At a private school, you basically give up your constitutional rights. It's not the government taking them away from you; it's the institution that you choose to be a part of taking them away from you."
In spite of this lack of freedom, most editors from private schools have never had any trouble publishing articles. In fact, even administrators at military schools like Culver Academy don't preview articles before publication, editor Anna Mahalak, 16, said.Instead, many editors of private schools agreed that their staffs censor themselves. Though many critical, pertinent issues exist at their schools, the student journalists wouldn't cover them because they fear the reactions of the administration and community.
{mosimage}For example, at lunch one day, a friend suggested that the Cathedral Megaphone publish a story about teenage pregnancy. But TeKolste and fellow editor Amber Harding, 17, initially convinced themselves that they would never get permission to write such an article.Since then, Cathedral editors have given it more thought and are trying to figure out the best approach to the topic. They feel like they need to be cautious because the student paper typically doesn't cover controversies.
"For some reason, people at Catholic schools just don't want to know that bad things are going on," TeKolste said.In a separate interview, Cathedral Principal Dave Worland said he's not against the school's student publications reporting on controversial topics, such as oral sex. He merely emphasized that Cathedral is a Catholic school and stories should reflect the tenets of that faith. He said he has confidence that Cathedral teachers provide good oversight and that student journalists write responsibly.
So, how much freedom of the press do student journalists have at private schools? Laws aren't the only way to protect the rights of student journalists, said Goodman. Youth at private schools can make great strides simply by being good diplomats. For instance, the Student Press Law Center's Web site suggests journalists at private schools point out that censoring students violates fundamental democratic ideals. Free-speech advocates also can point out that stifling expression hurts education, which is enhanced by a free flow of ideas.ASSISTANT EDITORS: Chad Dyar, 17; Nicole Alabi, 18.
REPORTERS: Katie McDowell, 14; Keenen Brannon, 12._________________________
To learn moreFor more information, go to these student journalism Web sites:
J-Ideas: www.jideas.orgStudent Press Law Center: www.splc.org
Indiana High School Press Association: http://psj.franklincollege.edu/ihspa/ Indiana University High School Journalism Institute: www.journalism.indiana.edu/hsji
Copyright 2006 Y-Press
