Internet foils high school censors...maybe

ctucker writes "According to this article at MSNBC, students working on school newspapers are using the internet to publish stories that are too uncomfortable for their school administrators to allow to appear in the paper." I'm skeptical of these claims. There's a big difference between being able to put up a webpage which some students might see sometime and being able to publish something in a paper distributed in school. One is not really a direct substitute for the other. Plus I've seen plenty of students get "in trouble" at school for things done entirely on their own time.

Comments

Here we go again.

[blameless]

From the article:
In the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings in Colorado, the irreverent and sometimes off-color underground newspapers are haunting reminders of the Web pages created by the student gunmen, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, in which they spewed their anger.

That is why they are a good thing. If school officials had successfully pulled Harris & Klebold's rantings off the Web, it wouldn't have done a thing to prevent what happened later. While those two obviously didn't counsel themselves to sanity, there are plenty of people for whom expression - whether it's art, music, or writing (even Web pages) - has done just that.

Re:Here we go again.

[nezroy]

Unforutnately, it doesn't seem that any schools have learned the lesson so clearly pointed out in the parent comment.

Humans are violent creatures. Anyone who doubts that can leave now and get a job in a burger joint (if you're lucky). What makes us "civilized" is the ability to redirect our violent tendencies into actions and channels that use up the energy without actually having to physically harm anyone. You start plugging these outlets up one by one, and you are going to increase the chance that someone flips out and resorts to a gun -- you sure as hell are not going to stop it.

We've gone back to holding our under 18's responsible for their actions (more and more trials as adults, etc.), but we've forgotten to give back their priviledges. Would this be an issue if an employee at a business had a personal/non-profit website? Would we even bother to argue this point? Not a chance. This violates the First Amendment is so many ways it's scary that it gets any consideration at all; yet here we are, having to speak up just to defend a right that is so innate in this country.

Sadly, this entire issue boils down to a familiar theme, and it has nothing to do with the First Amendment: it's discrimination. We're questioning the RIGHT of this group to be defended by our Constitution. We're uncertain as to whether or not they QUALIFY as people. No wonder so many children are growing up fucked; try treating them like a HUMAN BEING. You might be surprised.

yawn

[griffjon]

BFD. woohoo. so it's cheaper than going to the copy-shop and making 100 one-side copies of the underground paper. it's not particularly revolutionary as a concept.

one idea, tho--use the cuecat to provide links from the newspaper to the website! hide them in images and whatnot. it'll be cool.

(side-note: you can daisy chain cuecats for the ultimate rave experience (...within 3' of your keyboard port, at least!)

Good for them!

[Cyclopatra]

Admittedly, this is nothing new, it's just been moved into a new medium, but I have to cheer (well, quietly, at least while I'm at work) whenever student papers stand up in some way to administrative censorship.

My highschool paper had the good fortune to be headed up by an advisor who also was a professional journalist, so whenever the question of "prior review" came up, he told administration where they could stick it. Not many school papers have the benefit of an advisor who realizes that his students have first amendment rights, though - in fact, right after I graduated, he went on sabbatical and was replaced by a nice, compliant, tenured teacher who knew which side her bread was buttered on - she practically fell over herself agreeing that of course the principal should be able to read the paper before it came out, just to make sure there wasn't anything "inappropriate" in there...

I'd love to see the schools try to force removal of an online "underground" paper - the ACLU would be all over it in a second.

Please don't make it them and us

[Kris_J]

"...the hands of teenagers LONG before it becomes popular with adults. Grown-ups tend to ignore..."

The line you're drawing here is arbitrary. Stop it.

The problem isn't "those darn kids" v's "Grown-ups", the problem is with people in a position of power making up arbitrary rules simply to advantage them or disadvantage those below. Arbitrary rules are usually poorly defined and easy to work around. Enforcing them becomes a game of whack-the-mole. The problem comes when those in power at a place with a high percentage of unexperienced people go off on a power trip, or overreact to a natural or predictable decision.

• Students: We want to say this
• Teachers: We will stop you
• S: We will say it somewhere else
• T: We will have you arrested and your stuff confiscated

Woah, hold on there. Who's displaying their ignorance now? Children are just proto-adults -- treat them as equals on each issue until they prove themselves to be something else.

Re:What can schools do in response?

[B. Samedi]

I say put it up and find out what happens. Make sure the articles are correct, that you don't lie and they really can't touch you as long as you don't use their material or their computers to do it. Try and be even handed. Tell both sides of the story. Remember that a good reporter is unbiased (or is supposed to be).

Discuss it with your parents, let them know what you're doing and the reasons you feel it should be done. Make them understand so they will be able to back you if and when it all hits the fan. If they are the kind of parents that would be completely against this and you feel it still needs to be done then go right ahead and do it anyway. But be sure you feel strongly enough to go it all by your lonesome.

Keep backups of all your data in a safe place so that if the site gets taken down for whatever reason you can start anew somewhere else. If you want to go the route of printed material then do so. I suggest you find a way to distribute where you aren't on school grounds when you're handing it out just to avoid a confrontation on that issue. And just because they're a private organization doesn't mean they can do whatever they want. Chances are if they have any kind of a decent reputation then they have a accreditation. Find out who it's with and make complaints (and get others to do so also) if they pull the jack booted thug routine. Have the number for the ACLU on speed dial. Find out how to contact the local newspaper so that you can get a story of it out if you get slapped around (figuratively).

And above all, without question or exception don't do it anonymously! If you feel strongly enough about it to publish then you should be willing to put your name on the material.

Remember that if you believe in what you're and you believe that it's right then don't back down. Good luck.

According to a lawery I talked to on this

[bluGill]

In high school I was an editor (Layout, not grammer, nor reporter). I went to a seminar on the law and school newspaper (accually I wanted a different one, but that one was cancled so I took what I could) According to him, a private school can censor their school sponsered newspaper. A public school cannot, and this lawyer would love to take your case if you go to a public school and the school or principal trys to censor you or your paper in any way. (There are probably limits, but they would be language not content).

Remember americans take the first ammendment more seriously then any other. This works to your advantage, typically you will win any case before you enter a court room. School lawyers know this and will typically settle. The school however is hoping you don't make a legal stink about it, but you should. Most school newspapers are members of a journlism convention (I forget the name) who would love to put you in contact with the right people to help.