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What you don’t know COULD hurt you

by Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE Recent applications for the First Amendment Press Freedom Award revealed some knowledge gaps. Perhaps it’s not surprising that school principals couldn’t define unprotected speech on the forms each school submitted. So often media advisers and student publication staff members have to do a little educating of their administrators. But a…

What does your social media strategy say about your publication?

By Megan Fromm, CJE Today’s student journalists are increasingly taking to social media to promote their work and network with other publications. However, many scholastic publications do not have a social media strategy that is both ethical and effective. We’ve covered the basics of an ethical social media policy, and I would encourage students to take this policy…

Ferguson incident sparks youth summit documentaries

Living in St. Louis, Mo., during the past year has been very difficult, especially if your school is near Ferguson, Mo., the site of much violence and after the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen in that community. Student journalists at Ritenour High School, have chronicled how the community has risen up…

Making points; not just giving them

by Stan Zoller, MJE A recent series of posts on the JEA Listserv piqued my interest more than others. The topic was news quizzes. What intrigued me was the discussion about not the quality of the news quizzes, where they are available and how they are being used. There was also discussion about using them…

Developing reporters
who are more than note-takers

by Candace Perkins Bowen, MJE “Question authority” is my favorite button, something I have worn proudly on my jacket, a message to both students and administrators. True, questioning in a snarky or defiant way isn’t a good idea. My approach is more like “Make sure authority isn’t leaving out information we need to know.” But…

District & Appeals Court Decisions Citing
Morse v. Frederick (2007)

(above) U.S. Circuit Court map [pullquote] Key RED: Only broad interpretations of Morse YELLOW: Both broad and narrow interpretations of Morse GREEN: Only narrow interpretations of Morse BLUE: Incidental interpretations of Morse GRAY: No interpretations of Morse [/pullquote] Narrow, Broad, or Incidental? The following chart summarizes fifteen student First Amendment cases that cited Morse v….

Introduction to Morse v Frederick lessons

Introduction by Peter Barringer Students’ First Amendment rights were explicitly established through the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case in 1969, and those rights have only diminished since. The amount of literature relating to the courts’ applications of Morse is even more abundant, but cogent analysis and quality teaching resources related to these cases…

Scope & Sequence: Morse Teaching Units

Introduction Before you begin working through this document, I’d first like to thank you for trying this unit in your classroom. This unit’s main emphasis is on customization because every media program is different. You may find that all the activities in these units are applicable to your media program, or you may find them…

Instructor’s background:
The Morse Decision (2007)

The Morse Decision (2007) In 2002, a high school in Juneau, Alaska, allowed its students to leave class to watch the Olympic Torch Relay as it proceeded in front of the school building (Kozlowski et al., 2009). Kozlowski et al. (2009) stated that during the ceremony, student Joseph Frederick displayed a large banner proclaiming, “BONG…

Five-day lesson plans

Five-Day Morse v. Frederick Unit Background Information and Description Basic knowledge of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) is important for both students and advisers. The first ten minutes of this lesson plan is devoted to a brief review of these three cases, which composed the original…

Three-day lesson plans

Three-Day Morse v. Frederick Unit Background Information and Description Basic knowledge of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), Bethel v. Fraser (1986), and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) is important for both students and advisers. The first ten minutes of this lesson plan is devoted to a brief review of these three cases, which composed the original…

Ancillary: Role playing

Role Playing Background: Students will engage in a roleplaying scenario based a fictional set of circumstances. Federal courts have not cited Morse in any student media cases yet, so the circumstances of this case are intended to provide a plausible example. Instructions (read aloud or provide to students): Students will play one of the following…