Student journalists need proper nurturing

By Warren Watson
J-Ideas Director

Feb. 15, 2007

The First Amendment, the foundation of American liberty,  is in peril in our schools.

If you have been watching this site, you know that J-Ideas has been serving as an information hub for Washington state HB 1307, which would give student journalists guaranteed rights for free expression.  We’re shining a light on the legislation as part of our mission to increase awareness of the First Amendment.

The bill has captured national attention, with major organizations such as USA Today, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and others coming out in support.

In Washington state, major news organizations have covered the issue, presented commentaries and staked their position through editorials. Many are in favor.  Many are opposed.

The most influential newspaper, the Seattle Times, has come out strongly against the bill, even as lawmakers in the House Rules Committee consider the measure today.

The Times’s Feb. 1 editorial “Young journalists, meet your editors” dealt a body blow to the interests who care about civic education, free speech, and the future of the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

We agree with the newspaper’s editorial writer on one point. Collaboration and cooperation is important in school-sponsored media programs.  That’s at the basis of good communication in a school.

We do take exception with the view that principals and administrators should continue to be in the position to censor legitimate news content in school media.  Since the landmark Hazelwood Supreme Court decision in 1988, administrators across the country have gone far beyond the parameters of the law, which allows for censorship in limited circumstances – that is, when they can demonstrate a legitimate educational reason for doing so.  In countless cases, principals have squashed material that is controversial in nature and/or might put a school in a poor light.  Imagine if professional newspapers such as the Times avoided issues that are controversial or might be viewed as offensive?

This is clearly not the way to teach students journalism, which is a proving ground for future professionals and a true application of civics.

Ongoing studies of the nation’s high school students, conducted on behalf of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, show that America’s high schools have left the First Amendment behind.

The latest study, released in September 2006, showed that 45 percent of high school students – almost one in two -- feel that the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.  And more than 75 percent surveyed said they either do not know how they feel about the First Amendment or take its rights for granted.

“The purpose of school,” said executive director Dick Johns of the national Quill and Scroll Society, an organization for youth journalists, “includes enlightening students and preparing them to be contributing citizens in our democratic society. Both educators and parents know that students best learn to do by doing.”

He added, “Arbitrary censorship and other devices of autocracy do not teach democracy, ethics or responsibility.  They teach hypocrisy, cynicism and tyranny. Too many administrators do not want students ‘to do,’ ” said Johns.

The net result? Students don’t effectively learn the First Amendment when they don’t practice it.

We agree with Dave Zeeck, the Tacoma News Tribune editor and the president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors, which has come out strongly in favor of HB 1307.  “Student media,” wrote Zeeck, “should be able to fulfill its mission as independent public forums for student expression, informing and engaging a community.”

Opponents of the HB 1307 would have young journalists learn the craft through the prism of prior restraint.  They would shunt them to underground newspapers and blogs, thereby denying those journalists the opportunity to learn under trained advisers in a supervised, school setting.  This is the way to teach critical thinking and social responsibility.

We must remember that student journalists are in the process of learning.  Student journalism is education in action.  The Times suggested that our kids should do as professionals do: engage in “constant head-butting” and “give and take” with administrators and principals.

Come on.  That might work with adults.  But a school is a different matter altogether. Let’s not eat our cereal with a fork.  It is simply not reasonable to expect that an adviser, let alone a 15- or 16-year-old, can effectively butt heads with a principal, often the source of arbitrary power beyond the schoolhouse gate.

Let’s give the First Amendment the benefit of the doubt.

(Warren Watson is director of J-Ideas, a national journalism institute based at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. J-Ideas encourages excellence in student journalism and First Amendment awareness.)

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