Thecensorship of student media in the United States is the suppression ofstudent-run news operations'free speech by school administrative bodies, typicallystate schools. This consists of schools using their authority to control the funding and distribution of publications, taking down articles, and preventing distribution. Some forms of student mediacensorship extend to expression not funded by or under the official auspices of theschool system orcollege (for example, confiscating independently producedunderground publications or imposing discipline for material posted on off-campuswebsites).
Currentlegal precedent implies that students are not responsible enough to be trusted with constitutional rights, writesFrank LoMonte, and school faculty are allowed to suppress student speech that is deemed to provoke controversy or disrupt learning.Scholars maintain that this type of censorship violates the constitutional right of free speech that young people are afforded under theFirst Amendment.[1] Opponents of this legal censorship, such as theStudent Press Law Center, anon-profit that tracks and provides pro-bono legal aid to student-run media organizations in the U.S, point to thecivic andeducational value in student expression that is used to organizereform movements and developpolitical opinions as reasons to encourage unimpeded student journalism.[2]
In 1988, theSupreme Court declared 5-3 inHazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier that student newspapers do not have the same freedoms and safeguards as professional media. The case was the result of the school administration ofHazelwood East High School inMissouri forbidding the publication of two newspaper stories regardingabortion anddivorce in 1983. Cathy Kuhlmeier, a student reporter, claimed that the move violated herFirst Amendment rights. The Court decided that student newspapers were never meant to bepublic forums and as a result, administrators began to regulate high school and college periodicals.[3]
In response to the Supreme Court's decision on theHazelwood, several states have enacted legislation to counteract the ruling and protect school publications from interference.[4] TheStudent Press Law Center started worked with student journalists to lobbystate legislatures to adoptNew Voices, a law intended to fortify student journalists' right to free expression. By 2013, the states ofArkansas,California,Colorado,Illinois,Iowa,Kansas,Massachusetts, andOregon had all passed the legislation.[5]
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, 1988 – ASupreme Court decision that held that public school curricular student newspapers that have not been established as forums for student expression are subject to a lower level ofFirst Amendment protection than independent student expression or newspapers established (by policy or practice) as forums for student expression.[9]
Morse v. Frederick, 2007 – ASupreme Court decision in the case of 18-year-old Joseph Frederick, punished for displaying a banner reading "BONG HiTS 4 JESUS" across the street from a school during the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay, concluding that speech promoting illegal drug use during school-sanctioned events is unprotected.[11]
The First Amendment protects the people to exercise their rights of free speech as well as the freedom of the press in journalistic practice.[12] Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1988 decision inHazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, schools been allowed to censor speech in student media for “legitimate pedagogical concern”.[1] Because pedagogical concern lacked a clear definition, it was interpreted differently by different people. Some states have passed legislation that strengthens the free speech rights of student journalists by clearly defining when and where school administration can censor student media and protecting school employees from retribution for supporting the free speech rights of student journalists.[13]
Student journalists forThe Telegraph atHerriman High School published a story in January 2018 about a teacher at their school who was fired for allegedly inappropriately texting a female student and school administrators subsequently deleted the story and shut down their website.[16][17][18]
In 2019,Bear Creek High School's student newspaper was met with legal disputes from their school district when they attempted to publish an article covering pornography. The district also threatened to block the story and fire the paper’s longtime faculty adviser, but ultimately allowed its publication after pressure from the attention their actions had generated in nationwide press.[21][16][22]
ThePearl Post, the independent newspaper atDaniel Pearl Magnet High School, reported in 2022 the impact of theCOVID-19 vaccine mandate on school staff and noted that after the vaccine mandate was put in place, the school librarian did not show up for school. The former librarian and school administration demanded that any reference to her be removed from the story, but after receiving legal counsel that their reporting of the librarian's name was licit, they chose to keep it in, and the newspaper's advisor was issued a three-day suspension in retaliation.[23][24]
Work such asstudent activism andprotests are heavily obstructed by the censorship of school newspapers. Often when student media, news, or other outlets are challenged or removed without cause other than to censor, the student body suffers a lack of cohesion as the sharing of opinions and information is attacked. This delegitimizes democracy by way of removing the belief that the government, or the school in this case, is responsive to their wishes.[12]
States with laws protecting the free speech of student journalists
As of 2022, sixteen states have passedNew Voices legislation in order to provide some protection of theFirst Amendment rights of student journalists.[28]
Student Press Freedom day is a national day of student journalists and their contributions celebrated annually since 2020.[29][14] It has been endorsed by the following organizations:[30]
