Censorship Issues In High Schools

There has recently been a renewed interest and passion in the issue of censorship. In the realm of the censorship of books in schools alone, several hundred cases have surfaced each year for nearly the past decade. Controversies over which books to include in the high school English curriculum present a clash of values between teachers, school systems, and parents over what is appropriate for and meaningful to students. It is important to strike a balance between English that is meaningful to students by relating to their lives and representing diversity and satisfying worries about the appropriateness of what is read. This burden often falls on teachers. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss

The First Amendment gives the citizens of the United States their most important rights: the right to freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, and the freedom of assembly. Over time these rights have worked themselves into the everyday lives of United States citizens. However, there are still places where our First Amendment rights may be compromised. In the school system, finding a balance of respect and freedom of speech and press is as difficult as learning out to tightrope walk. One wrong step and you could be compromising the learning environment of the entire student body.

A group of student created “The Spectrum” and 2 pages of “The Spectrum” contain stories of of divorce and teen pregnancy. These stories were controversial because not everyone had the same opinion about them. Especially the principal who thought the 2 pages of the newspaper was inappropriate so he censored them. This caused outraged because the student thought that the principal’s action violated the 1st Amendment which is their freedom

The school principal deemed that the articles were inappropriate for the audience and eliminated their publications. The students sued, saying the principal violated their First Amendment right.

Carlos: Under the First Amendment, did Alpine High School offend the Constitution when it prevented Petitioner’s potentially disruptive and divisive opinion article for publication in the school sponsored newspaper?

School boards often do not adequately justify their reasons for denying High School Students their first amendment rights. Usually, the

The first amendment is; freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly. The first amendment should never be limited. If the first amendment was limited, then it would limit the beliefs of American citizens. When it comes to high school students, they should not have to worry about censorship. The first amendment proves that high school students have a right to say what they desire. That’s supported by freedom of speech.

Newspaper reporting is all about finding stories that will appeal to readers. Journalists try to uncover the real situations and problems that affect those readers and write the truth. What if writers were forbidden to write these articles? It may sound like something that could never happen in America, where citizens’ freedom of speech is protected, but the reality is that it is happening. In schools around the country, student newspapers are being censored and their stories yanked out or manipulated to reflect biased opinions. Uncensored journalism in school is necessary because it teaches the First Amendment, it allows kids to fight the wrongs in their world, and it keeps school faculty from having to fight for students’ articles.

Des Moines is an important case for free speech in the United States. It affirms that students don’t lose their rights when they go to school. However, it also affirmed that schools can limit speech that “materially disrupts classwork or involves substantial disorder or invasion of the rights of others” (Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969). However, the Court has ruled that there are times that the school can limit speech. In 1986, the Supreme Court ruled in Bethel v. Fraser that students can be disciplined for using vulgar and offensive language in school (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p. 25). This case differed from Tinker v. Des Moines because that case was about political speech or expression. Another example of where school can limit the First Amendment is school sponsored newspapers. This was affirmed by the Court in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988). That decision stated that schools can reasonably limit the content of school-sponsored newspapers (Gooden, Eckes, Mead, McNeal, & Torres, 2013, p.

Ellsworth, J. E. (1988). Censorship in secondary school newspapers: Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier. BYU Journal of Public Law, 2, 291–306.

I support the majority opinion of this decision because the school had sponsored the newspaper. This provides the school authority to eliminate anything they believe would be a distraction to the learning environment. The content of the articles doesn't help the case at all. The articles deliver a sensitive subject among the students that may make others uncomfortable. I believe everyone would greatly appreciate is they were removed.

In 1969, a group of students filed a lawsuit against their school district claiming that their First Amendment rights were violated because the school district wrote a policy that prohibited them from wearing black armbands in a silent protest of the Vietnam War. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969) ruled that students are entitled to their First Amendment rights as long as they are not causing a disruption to the school environment. This paper outlines the procedure and rulings in the case as well as other legal rulings that have expanded on when censorship of students is protected in public school settings as well as provides a personal reflection on how such matters can impact my future as a school administrator.

Reynolds, upon seeing this immediately withheld the issue. Cathy Kulhmeier and two other students soon took the incident to court. The case was resolved by the Rehnquist court in the years 1987-1988. The court gave a 5 to 3 vote in favor of the school. The majority opinion, given by judge White, stated that the school must retain the authority to not sponsor the newspaper in order to prevent the promotion of drug use and underage sex, which is considered inappropriate for a civilized setting, This was supported by Judges White, Stevens, O’Connor, and Scalia. The dissenting opinion, given by Brennan, accuses the majority of not seeing the difference between student-initiated and school-sponsored speech, they believe the school is able to strike this down in an act of “protection” of other students, this was backed by Marshall and Blackmun. This case comes in conflict with the first amendment’s “freedom of speech” due to the censorship of the newspaper. The main question is “was the school neglecting the students’ first amendment rights?”. Many journalist groups and media agencies, such as “The Seattle Times”, have clearly voiced support for the students, others have questioned if the first amendment

Kuhlmeier (1988) Holding: Administrators may edit the content of school newspapers. The principal of Hazelwood East High School edited two articles in the school paper The Spectrum that he deemed inappropriate. The student authors argued that this violated their First Amendment right to freedom of speech. The Supreme Court disagreed, stating that administrators can edit materials that reflect school values. Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that held that public school curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to a lower level of First Amendment protection than independent student expression or newspapers established (by policy or practice) as forums for student expression. The case concerned the censorship of two articles in The Spectrum, the student newspaper of Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis County, Missouri, 1983. When the school principal removed an article concerning divorce and another concerning teen pregnancy, the student journalists sued, claiming that their First Amendment rights had been violated. A lower court sided with the school, but its decision was overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, which sided with the students.(wiki) In a 5–3 decision, the Supreme Court overturned the circuit court's decision, determining that school administrators could exercise prior restraint of school-sponsored

Schools have very different policy's when it comes to what the 1st amendment says. 2 cases are proof of this, Tinker vs Des Moines is a case where a simple armband protesting the Vietnam war which shouldn’t be an issue gets into the supreme court. This is because schools can enforce things that are a distracting or disruptive to school activity. A similar case to this is Bethel school district vs Fraser is a case where freedom of speech of a student gets taken away from him. This is due to the fact the student was making sexual remarks in a school speech which the principle deemed inappropriate for some students. Both cases directly relate to the first amendment with Tinker vs Des Moines being freedom of expression and Fraser being freedom of speech. Tinkers case is the best