Teach kids free speech and let them exercise it
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 17, 2007
A bill introduced in the Legislature that would strengthen free speech protections for student journalists is a welcome development, reiterating as it does that First Amendment freedoms apply to everyone, regardless of age.
Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, wrote the legislation after being contacted by a former editor of the Green River Community College newspaper following the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision (Hosty v. Carter) that allows state universities to exercise prior restraint, or censorship, of student publications.
Here at home, Everett High School has made news since October 2005, when student editors decided not to publish its award-winning newspaper, The Kodak, rather than subject its contents to review by the principal. When the Everett School Board reiterated the district’s policy allowing prior review of the paper, the students sued, calling the action a violation of their free speech rights. A trial is scheduled in May in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Upthegrove’s bill would ensure that “no school officials, nor the governing board of the school or school district” will interfere with students’ free speech and free press rights, and that student media will not be subject to mandatory prior review. Making the students the final arbiter of what appears in print teaches them about the responsibility and rights that come with free speech. It frees schools, districts and officials from being sued over the content of the publications.
All students, not just those interested in journalism, need educating about the First Amendment. Upthegrove noted that a 2005 national survey by the Knight Foundation found that 49 percent of high school students agreed with the statement that “It is OK for the government to censor the news.” That’s much more disturbing than bad math scores.
“Civics education, especially learning about the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, is essential if we want our kids to grow up to be good citizens,” Upthegrove said.
The survey also found:
* Seventy-five percent of high school students erroneously think that flag burning is illegal.
* Half believe the government can censor the Internet.
* More than a third think the First Amendment “goes too far” in the rights it guarantees.
* More than one in five schools offer no media opportunities; of the high schools that do not offer student newspapers, 40 percent have eliminated them in the last five years.
Students must know their free speech rights, the basis of our free society, so that they can exercise those rights and defend them when challenged. Upthegrove’s bill has these invaluable priorities exactly right.
