Resources for working on student free press legislation
For Constitution Day, we created a resource for those working on state student free expression legislation. This resource can take stakeholders through the stages of the process. We hope this blossoms into a robust resource area. Samples are included for many items, but please remember, these are samples of what others have done. It is…
Read MoreJournalism Teachers: Five steps for a great start to the school year
The typical to-do list of journalism teachers during the back to school season often includes setting up the newsroom, prepping lessons, attending professional development days and coordinating with editors and staffers. Whether that list lives in a mobile app, Google Doc or pretty new notebook, it’s usually a long one. But adding these five things…
Read MoreSeems like you never know until it is too late
by Candace Bowen, MJE Your principal is a good one who answers questions for your news staff and encourages your yearbook staff to tell what really happened this year. Even Twitter and Instagram have not been a problem for your journalism students. Sure, you and your staff share stories with your principal when they cover…
Read MoreWhat to tell an administrator who seeks prior review
The Porn-worker and Bear Creek High School by Jan Ewell, MJE The district administration of the Lodi Unified School District demanded prior review of a story the paper was writing about an 18-year old student, estranged from her parents, who was working in the porn industry while finishing her senior year. The adviser, Cathi Duffel, and her…
Read MoreActivities based on media coverage of high school of student working in adult industry
by John Bowen, MJEIn my last blog we discussed the importance of fighting prior review, and noted its use is growing, even in states with state legislation protecting student expression. To emphasize the issue, we highlight recent review attempts with the Bruin Voice of Stockton, California, and related reporting about the student story. You have…
Read MoreWhen is free speech not so free?
by Candace Bowen, MJEIf it seems too good to be true, it probably is. That may be a cliché, but it’s often spot on. And no more so than news lately of various orders and state legislation and school policies seeming to promote free speech. That’s a great idea, right? Well, maybe not. And…
Read MorePart 3: Students in the forefront during #Tinkerversary
When anyone tells Mary Beth Tinker that students are the future, she firmly but politely corrects them: “No, they’re the present.” If the students participating in the #Tinkerversary events this week are typical – and it would seem they are –, the present is in good hands. These included: Marjory Stoneman Douglas students from Parkland, Florida,…
Read MorePart 2: Now things are different in Des Moines
Des Moines schools, how you have changed since early winter 1965. That’s when a high school principal got wind of a pending Vietnam War protest – reportedly when his school’s newspaper adviser showed him a story about it for the next issue. He and his fellow principals decided suspensions would be the punishment for anyone…
Read MorePart 1: Let’s celebrate a #tinkerversary
“I had no idea our small action would lead to something so consequential,” Mary Beth Tinker told Smithsonian.com recently. Now, 50 years after the Supreme Court ruled in Tinker v. Des Moines students and teachers don’t “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,” it’s clear Mary Beth, her brother…
Read MoreCelebrating Student Press Freedom Day, 50 years of student rights
by Lori Keekley, MJE SPRC members have been working to amass several resources for you as we kick off our celebration of the Tinker anniversary with Student Press Freedom Day. The goal is to keep celebrating Student Press Freedom Day daily leading up to the 50th anniversary of the Tinker decision. What’s new Need a…
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