tmchaleMy Journalism 1 class completed a project in which they interviewed school personnel and other experts on press rights through video recording and Skype (Unfortunately the Skype videos were not useable). The class edited down the videos to what you see here. They also created a wiki which contains full transcripts of videos, news and opinions, and other resources on press rights and ethics.
Please leave a comment on some of the viewpoints that were expressed in the video.
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Filed under: Class Projects
Thanks for helping call attention to this important issue. One of the most inspiring stories in the realm of student press rights is the work of Josh Moore and Brian Schraum. These two college students almost single-handedly got state laws overruling the effects of the Supreme Court’s terrible Hazelwood decision proposed in the Kentucky and Washington legislatures. Both bills were debated in 2009 and are expected to be taken up again in 2010. You can read about their outstanding work (and perhaps be energized to start a grassroots campaign of your own in New Jersey) here: https://www.splc.org/report_detail.asp?id=1481&edition=49
I like how the video turned out. I think it sums up the answers to some important questions that student journalists may have or may not have even thought of. It provides a lot of good information from people who know they are talking about it. To anyone who wants to be a journalist, it is a good video to see before he or she begins to write.
I liked the video. There were good questions that were asked, and the people answering them gave well and clear answers. You could learn from this video a lot, and it is a good teaching source to use to learn about this topic. They also used good adults that knew a lot about the topic itself and not just random teachers at the school.
I thought our class did a great job with this project and that it turned out a lot of important information. My favorite point of the video was a segment with Ms. Steffner where she talked about the differences between a professional journalist and a student journalist. I think it is important to realize that there are different restrictions for students and professionals. Student journalists have to play by the rules where as professionals have a much bigger area to work with.
this is a very important issue, and more people need to be aware of the topic. Schools need to create a set of rules and guidelines that they will use if a student violates the student press rights, but also the school needs to have a set of guidelines of what is and what is not printable.
The video turned out really well, I don’t have any questions, but I would have to say that my favorite point is when it says that the school has to make really clear guidelines so that students know when they are violating their student rights limits
i think that they made a pretty valid argunments on what should/ should not be in a school new paper. honestly i dont think that their should be any ‘real’ reason for a studnet to need to put such a hurtful article. i think it is fine if the teachers/ principles advise the news paper. i think if their aloud to search your car, they should be aloud to look at an article
Interesting. So you don’t believe that students should be making the decisions about what goes into a student newspaper? It’s fine if adults determine the content of the paper?
i think that students are aloud to put whatever they want in the paper. but in my opinion i dont think that the school should even be forced to look at the articles becasue it should be clean anyway. it is a school news paper it should be stuff about sports and accidemics. there should be no reasoning for an offensive article because students should understand what is appropriate and what is not.
I agree with the importance of letting the students know what they can and can’t say. The rules need to be followed, but it’s difficult when you don’t know what the rules are in the first place.
i enjoyed the video i agreed that the tights of a student run news paper and be very gray and unsure. It is a very touchy situation when its comes to these papers and the school has to be very careful if they think they should censor it.
When should they be able to censor it? There are some conflicting opinions offered here.
They should be able to censor it in my opinion under certain circumstances.
If the news is purely wrong, poorly written, mean spirited, spiteful or biased the school should be able to say know.
But if the paper is offensive its a very fine line. News is bound to offend someone but it depends on why the paper is offending this person is what counts. For example finding out that the teachers are deliberately and un thoroughly grading papers that is something that should be reported even if its offensive to the teachers. All it really comes down to is the truth being told.
The video was productive and presented an important issue that everyone is impacted by. They made it a point that the students should be educated on what their limits are. I agree because if students do not know what their limits are, then it can cause conflict and trouble. The video is successful in making students aware of an important issue.
What did it make you aware of? There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value. Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
I agree with Andi Mulshine. She states that teachers are teaching their students what the freedom of speech is about, yet taking their freedom of speech away from them. She believes that as journalists, the students should be able to state how they feel. I do not agree with Lisa Brady when she states that teachers and superiors should be able to take away those first amendment rights. I, personally, do not know who should be able to determine what goes in the school newspaper. When it comes to certain topics where the students’ perspectives are needed, I believe that the students should determine it. But when it comes to adult-like concerns, vise versa.
I disagree with the standpoint the principles took on the matter. I think that by limiting what students can and can’t say by different guidelines than normal newspapers, you are stunting the students creativity and learning experience. I think we are in high school, and many of us are 18 and should be able to speak our minds publicly. Though, if the school needs to put in a few guidelines, then they should be made very clear for students. I think they rules should be few and detailed so there is no confusion.
Based on what you learned about your rights, what “rules” should a school be allowed to institute?
I agreed with the part in the video where they said that if outside material is offending someone or affecting someone else, then it is the right of the school to get involved.
I also agreed that “disruption” is very subjective. If what a student does disrupts the school day, then it is the right of the school to get involved, but what qualifies as disruption?
My favorite part was when they said that the administration needs to educate the students on their rights and limits, because if they don’t know that they’re breaking the rules, it is not fair to punish them.
Great points! What do you believe the Supreme Court meant by “substantial and material disruption’?
I think that the what the Supreme Court meant by “substantial and material disruption” is something that is going to affect the curriculum, school day, and ‘impact the learning process.’ The disruption would keep the days from going regularly and prevent students and teachers from meeting their goals and staying focused.
I agree with Alyssa C that Ms. Steffner had a good point about the differences between a professional journalist and a student journalist. Not only are there different restrictions, but professionals surround themselves with news and current events and students in school aren’t that involved with it. Professionals spend all day studying news and they can go even farther than we can (talk to leaders of groups, travel, etc.) and since we can’t do that, we have to stay much more school based. And since we talk about the school alot, teachers get involved and that could cause conflict. And then in the end, administrators could pull stories from the publication.
I understand your point about professional journalists knowing more about the news, but does that mean they should have more rights? Doesn’t an ingnorant citizen in a democracy have the same rights as an educated one?
You don’t have to remain more school based, but since you readers are other students, it makes sense that you are. I don’t understand your last two sentences. Could you explain this further?
It is the responsibility of the school to teach the students who are producing the articles, what their rights are. This means, the would be tought about what would be acceptable to write about and what would not be acceptable. If the students know what their rights are when they are starting a story, then there would be no need for punnishment once the story is published. If students end up writing something unacceptable even after they know what their rights are, then, I believe, that a punnishment would be within the schools rights to give.
OK. What is unacceptable to write about? Is it the school who determines this?
You can basically write about anything that is within the student’s rights, unless, there is something that the student writes that will actually disrupt the school day. The school would determine this if this article or story disrupts the school day in a negative way and effects the way students can learn. But, the school would need to reflect on the student’s press rights and analyze whether or not this article or story is acceptable to write about.
This video was helpful because it showed what a lot of the school staff thought of the right of journalism. I liked that Ms. Steffner talked about the differences between a professional journalism and student journalist. I also like how Dr. Brady said she was “very hands-off” because that shows she has faith in the writers that they will make good, appropriate choices for their articles. I agree with how they said students should become more informed about the rules and rights they have so they know their limits.
There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value. Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
On the other hand, some of them thought that the school should have more control in what is published, for example, Mr Comegno. One reason is because it might be disruptive to the school environment. I personally think this is a judgment call for the most part because “disruptive” can be interpreted differently.
I think the students should be able to use common knowledge and best judgment to decide what goes in the paper, but have a supervisor there to make sure they are making appropriate decisions.
I agree with what has been said by the principals. I agree that the school should be responsible for teaching students what there rights are and aren’t. This is is a good thing to say however its seems very idealistic from the principals. They say they try to say out of student business however practically when an article opposes a schools view point i feel that the principals wont be so strong on the stance for Student rights.
Great point! Do you agree that the adviser or principal is the editor of the paper and that the BOE has the final say in what goes in the paper?
There are some very different opinions offered here. Watch it again and then tell me who you think should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
This video was well organized and put together. They chose good people to interview and got a couple of different answers. I have no questions about this video. The questions asked were well chosen and got good answers in the interviewing process. Students should not feel restricted in what they right, and they should be taught about free expression within certain boundaries. As long as what they are writing about is not harmful to the school or learning enviroment it should not be a problem. One answer explained that if its a school owned paper then the school can allow whatever they want in, but this does not promote freedom of expression and could be harming a students learning experience in a long run. I do not agree with schools having that power over what could be published or realeased, it does not create a comfurtable learning enviroment.
How do you define “harmful to the school”? If a student criticizes the school or a school official couldn’t that be seen as harmful?
I would define it as, disrupting the normal school day. If students are not learning or classes are not operating correctly then i would consider that harmful to the school. Also unless everything published is 100% true, saying things that would harm someones reputation or even the schools reputation could be harmful to the school.
This is a very insightful video. Schools could really benefit from having a set of rules that govern student press. I am also in agreement with Ms. Steffner on how High school journalists differ from real world journalists.
There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value. Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
Beyond your first amendment rights, what rules are needed?
Personally I agree with the idea that students can say whatever they want in their articles as long as It doesn’t cause a substantial disruption or impede on anyone else’s rights. However, I don’t like the concept of a school having full control of what their students publish. By hindering students freedom of expression your keeping them from their full learning potential. In the long run these types of school papers are actually preventing students from becoming the journalists they could be. Beyond the first amendment rights students should not be allowed to cause disruptions in the school, and this is all that should govern student publications.
I agreed with them when they said that students should be taught their rights.
I don’t think they should care about what we do outside of school because our parents are also responsible for us.
I agree with the part where we are allowed to say what we want as long as it doesn’t disrupt the school.
How do you (and the Supreme Court) define “disrupts the school”?
The video was very well done. It shows the main difference between school journalists and regular journalists. School papers are funded by the school board, so they have the right to censor what is put in the paper, as long as they have a valid reason. Also, it is a good thing that young journalists are learning what can be put into a newspaper. However, school journalists should know that they will have more freedom in their actual proffesion. While students do have 1st ammendment rights, they are limited when it comes to puting things in the school newspaper, as it should be. Students need to learn their limits. In the video, it’s obvious that the administrators of the school feel this way. Both Ms. Steffner and Dr. Brady both said that it is the school’s right to censor the paper because the school board funds the paper.
You’re right. Dr. Brady and Mrs. Steffner believe that since the BOE funds the computers and software that the paper used (and pays me to be the adviser) that they have the right to censor the paper. That’s very different than what the Supreme Court has said.
There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value. Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t.
I also think that the video was really well done. I think it was interesting that Dr Brady said that ultimately the school administration and the board owns and publishes the Lamp, and has the right to control what is put into the paper. I think that this differs with what a lot of other people say. Mr McHale said that the paper wasn’t published by the school, but is actually done by an independent extracurricular club that doesn’t receive funding from the school. Meaning, that the school administration doesn’t function as an editor as Dr Brady suggests, but really only has the limited provisions from Tinker.
Very good. The Board does pay for some things: the computers and room we use, and my salary.
So under Tinker what kinds of things shouldn’t students be able to publish?
I guess so, the board does pay for some things. But the paper does have a disclaimer that it is an open student forum, so your salary isn’t that big of a factor. The room and computers are also paid for by the board, but its not like the paper couldn’t be published without them.
I think the students have a lot of freedom when it comes to what they should be able to publish. The school doesn’t have a right to act as an editor, they can’t just delete what they chose. The administration would have to prove that the article legitimately and significantly disrupts the school, I would argue to the point when learning cannot take place. Dean v Utica also establishes that the administration cannot just censor articles because they disagree with it.
I agree with most of the infomation in this video. I believe that the school should teach thier students to what is the right way to use thier rights. The school should stay away from student writings to allow students express themselfs said Dr. Brady. overall I agreed with the video.
There are some very different opinions offered here. You’ve told me about some of what you agree with. Watch it again and then tell me what you don’t agree with. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
I don’t agree that the school should censor things that students do outside of school on their own time. Students should be able to publish anything online when not on campus grounds. I agree that the board has the right to say what goes in the school newspaper.
I agreed with Dr. Brady’s statement that her involvement in school press should be mostly “hands off.” I respect that the Board of Education has a right to determine what can be published by a school newspaper, but educators should understand that part of learning about journalism is giving students the opportunity to make decisions about what they want to write. If students are limited too much in what they can write, then they are not free to write creatively and learn journalism to its full extent.
Very good. What can students learn by having this freedom?
When students have the freedom to write what they want, then they have to face the moral challenge of what they should wrtie themselves. In a way, giving students more freedom helps them to develope their ethics. It’s also important to encourage free speach, because many students are afraid or unacustomed to challenging convention. As American citizens, it is important for them to understand what their first amendment right encompasses.
Overall the video provides a very good baseline for understanding where a student journalist stands from a legal standpoint. In my opinion I feel that the restrictions and guidelines students have to abide by are much too broad and open to judgment than is acceptable. The fact that students are held to a standard that their work “cannot disrupt the school” is a very general statement that allows for varied interpretation. What one person feels is acceptable can easily be seen as a “disruption” in the eyes of another and there is very little students can do about it. Student journalism is at the mercy of the interpretation from the “higher ups” in their respective district and can deeply affect the freedom these students have in their news writing.
Good points. But there have been many court cases that have helped to define “material and substantial disruption”. That doesn’t mean that schools won’t continute to define it in whatever way they please and that occasionally a judge will agree with them. That’s why we have an appeal system. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help the students who are involved at the time.
While my initial post stated that the standard of substantial disruption is very vague, the fact of the matter is that there has in fact been some definition from the courts that substantiates this standard. There is still plenty of room for schools to make it mean what is convenient for them at the time but as an increasing amount of cases occur involving student rights, the term slowly becomes more solidified and a standard is developing that provides students with a slightly increased level of protection for their rights.
You guys did a nice job making this video because you had very accurate information from people who really new a lot about the topic. This is a good video for students who are writing for their school newspaper and for students who dont really no much about freedom of speech in school. I never really knew that you could get in trouble by the school while outside the school. I always thought it was strictly the local authority’s job to protect that.
There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value.
Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
I agree with schools monitoring newspapers because if it causes disruption, then it shouldn’t be in a school environment. Sometimes certain ideas can cause conflict which could be avoided by not publishing it, things like teen pregnancy, drugs and alcohol, etc. For things online but not on the school website, I feel that the school should not step in because its outside of school. If it is very bad, then local authorities should take action
I think that this video was pretty helpful and outlined the student press laws very well. I found the part about professional vs. student writing the most interesting and helpful. Since most students get their news from professinally published sources and artciles, like cnn.com or msnbc.com, it’s easy to make an example out of professional writing. However, while the news can cover almost any subject matter, no matter how controversial or disturbing, students can only publish things that do not disrupt the school day. This narrows subject matters down very much for student, but also creates a sort of double-standard. The video points out that “disrupts school” is a pretty vague statement, and is up to administrator’s discretion (which may turn out to be biased).
It depends on how you interpret “disrupts the school day.” How does the Supreme Court define it and how would that limit what students can write? There are court cases that help define this. It’s not totally up to school officials. List to again what Andi Mulshine says in the video.
In the video Andi Mulshine states that “speech is unprotected if it materially disrupts the day.” For example if the speech leads to the break out of a fight or riot, it is not protected. The court cases of Tinker and Hazelwood helped define this.
I think its good they discussed educating people and letting them know what the laws and rules say, but I think it shouldn’t be just the students who are educated. I think that parents and teachers/ administrators need to know the standards too and need to know what they and students can and cannot do. Also from this it seems to me that the students think that outside of school we could probably say whatever we want, but the adults seem to think they have more power outside of school than we think they do.
Good points. There are some important differences of opinion here. Who do you think should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
I think that the teachers and students need to callaborate and compromise when it comes to what is published in the school paper. Neither party should be stubborn or bossy but should rather be willing to listen to the other side and work it out to come to an agreement. When it comes to what the student does at home, it is the parent’s job to monitor and punish the kids, not the school’s.
I liked the video and it was intersting about student rights. I agree that students need to know their rights because if they get in trouble for something they will need to know what they did wrong.
I also agree with Mrs. Steffner when she says that if a student acts a certain way out of school they will tend to act that way in school.
What can students can in trouble for (as far as writing and speech goes)? Demonstrate what you learned about student press rights through this unit.
There are some very different opinions offered here, but from your response it seems that everyone on the video was agreeing and should be taken at face value. Watch it again and then tell me what you agree with and what you don’t. Who should determine what goes in the school newspaper and what you should be able to publish online?
First I would like to say that I never knew that students can still get in trouble outside of school. I always thought that it was always the local authority’s job.
Also I agree with the idea that students have the freedom to say what they want in their articles but as long as its appropriate.
While the school district does have some authority to control what you are writing, they can only do so if it disrupts the schooling process. I agree that, in some ways, what students are able to write should be limited. But the school can not go too far in what they limit, or else they are taking the education out of the journalism process. Controversy is part of what news is all abo0ut. The school should not be able to take that out of a newspaper, school sponsored or not.
I found this video to be very interesting and helpful in understanding what rights a student press group has. I personally believe that the school should only intervene if the action committed outside the school directly relates to school or causes a disruption in the school. I also agree that student newspapers and news groups should have some limitations in what they print. However, this censorship should only be used in extreme cases. In the end, the phrase “it depends” is the only way to describe answers to these questions.
I agreed with many of the thing that was said in this video. I feel that Mrs. Steffner’s points about having certain things that happen off school should be dealt in school as well. I feel that certain things such as bullying happens on and off school grounds and as shown in many cases the past couple years it can lead to horrible things and the school could have potentially helped the situation. She also stated that certain things that should not be published are if the article offends someone. I think in certain situations that may be an ethical issue. John Comegno believes that the students should know what should and should not be written and I think that is true. As John Bowen also said, students should be taught about what a professional journalist would do and know. Frank LoMonte said that students need to know when they are protected under the first amendment and as long as they know what they can and cannot write about the rest is up to them and I agree.
I did not like when Lisa Brady said that the Board of Education owned the school newspaper, and that in the end they have the final say in what goes in the paper and what doesn’t. It felt to me the way she said it, was like she was going on a power trip. Almost felt to me like a gestapo, that only news they like will go in the paper, and everyone should know that if it isn’t news they approve of, there is no way it will go in the paper. It sort of gives everyone in the Lamp staff a false hopes, that the rights they think they have, they really don’t because Brady, and the Board are ready to step in at any time and stop whatever they want, whenever.
I don’t agree with Dr. Lisa Brady’s statement that the Board owns the paper. I don’t think it should be up to the Board of Ed. to make the final decision on what is published in the newspaper. Since it’s the student’s who put together the newspaper and write the stories they should be the ones who have the final say, not the BOE.
I thought that Dr. Brady’s comment which stated that, ‘The School Board owns the paper so therefore they have overall say in what goes into it’, made it seem as though the School Board has control over the students freedom of expression, which of course it cannot. I had always thought that Dr. Brady was reasonable and fair towards students and their rights but after viewing this video it made me see her in a slightly different light.
I disagree with Lisa Brady when she decided to say that the Board of Education owns the paper and they have the Final say in what goes in the school paper and what doesn’t. Just because she does not like something does not mean she can just decide to get rid of it from the paper. She is looking at the question she was asked from a point of high power over the school and not from a position of the law and what is says her and her board can and can’t do.
I feel that many of the points made in this video were very well put in the means of “keeping peace” with what gets published at school and who has the final say. I was disappointed when Dr. Brady said that she doesn’t like to get involved with the school publications because i honestly feel like the teachers should have the final say, not the students. Students will focus in on themselves more than the whole issue, meaning teachers would understand more what is “right and wrong” for publication. On that note, i enjoyed hearing Mrs. Steffner say that teacher advisers and the school principals have a final say as to what is published. It’s a relief to know that because if something inappropriate or unnecessary is in the writing, it will be removed, regardless of what the student editor may have said.
I thought the video was very informative. I really liked how they had different types of people in the school answer the questions, not all counselors or superintendents. I really appreciated how Dr. Brady said that she tries to be hands off on the student newspaper because she believes it is our right. I highly respect that and her consideration for the students and their potential passion for writing like a professional journalist.
I was really surprised when Dr. Brady talked about the school board owning the school paper. I do not agree with this at all. The school board may feel that they own the paper because it is a part of their school, but I think that the paper is really owned by the students who produce it and the students and teachers who contribute to it. Rarely do I see the school administration playing a huge role in our paper; the students do the majority of the work. I think that it should be established that the students own the paper, and they have the right to publish whatever they choose to publish.
I disagreed with our school principal when she spoke about how she believes that she is the newspaper’s “editor” and what she says goes. I believe that since the student journalists are being taught like professional journalists, they shouldn’t be told what to do, or write, or say. I believe that unless language is directly explicit in nature, what we choose to go in the school newspaper shouldn’t be censored by her or any other school official.
I agree with a lot of points that were made in this video. I agree with Mrs. Steffner when she said that things outside of school, should be censored sometimes. I agree with this statement because there are many incidents where great harm has come from outside of school bullying. And I feel that the school should be allowed to interfere in a severe case, and stop whatever the incident is. But I did not like the fact that Dr. Brady said that the Board has the final decision in all publications run by the student newspaper. If the school newspaper is an extra curricular activity, the students involved should be treated like professional journalists and not like students that need supervision.
I agree with Doctor Brady in the sense that if nothing noticeable is caused within the school then the students should be able to express themselves without the school interfering. Frank Lomonte also defends this fact that a student should be able to express themselves as long as he is within school conduct. Andi Mulshine i especially agree with. It is unreasonable to have a newspaper and teach student to be journalists and then tell them they cannot publish how they feel. The education should be unable to punish a student unless it directly affects the education of the school
There were many strong points made in this video that I agree with. I liked how John Comegno spoke in a non-biased tone and didn’t express his opinion too much. He simply stated the laws that applied to each question and added just a little bit of his own view. I also agreed with Frank LoMonte when he said that students need to know their press rights. It is really important for students to be aware of what they can and cannot say as to avoid any controversy. If they know what is off-limits, it helps to create a better student publication.
It surprised me how Dr. Brady approached school newspapers. She said that she likes to stay “hands off” when it comes to student writing because it is our own publication and we should be able to write what we want.
i was very surprised that Dr. Brady said that because the school owned the paper that they had the final say in what goes into it. It seems like this goes against everything we were taught about the standards that determine if a story can be published in a student newspaper. Brady dismisses this saying that her word is what determines what is published. I would like to see what would happen if a story was written that Dr. Brady did not like, but did not have the potential to be substantially disruptive.
I agreed with a lot of points that were made in this video. It was nice to here John Comegno talk about how the students should know and understand what they are allowed to write and not write about. Student journalists need to understand that they are allowed to cover certain stories because if they just wrote about everything type of issue, there could potentially be a lot of problems for both the school and the writer themselves if the article offended someone or was incorrect.
I also liked when Mrs. Steffner said that students who act out outside of school tend to act out inside school as well. I do feel that the school does have the authority if something is happening outside of school that is potentially harming a student, the school has the right to step in and take notice. There are so many cases now about students being harassed in and out of school by peers and the school just stood by because it was not happening specifically on school grounds. The school does not realize that they could have helped a lot of people until it is too late and something such as what happened to Phoebe King occurs; schools need to take action when it comes to what is being said about their students if it is harming them whether it is newspaper rights or people’s rights.
I thought this video was very clear in stating how Hunterdon Central thinks about how much freedom they give their students in terms of student press rights. I agree with Frank LaMonte, director of the student press law center, who stated that students have the right to express their individual opinion on political positions or other controversial issues, even if teachers or administrators are upset by the students’ expression. According to the Tinker case and Frank LaMonte, students have the freedom to express themselves however they want as long as they do not create a material or substantial disruption in the school. This statement allows students to say or do anything they want to the extent that it does not cause harm or a disruption to a normal school day.
I enjoyed this short video and think it is a very good insight on the opinions of our schools staff on what gets put into the newspapers. I also think the subject itself is very touchy there are a lot of “Grey Zones” in it, but in general i lean toward students choosing what they put in the paper and the school having as little control as possible on there censorship.
I think this is a neat little video. I found it particularly informative on the subject of what should be considered censored or not.
I think that it is interesting the Dr. Brady(The superintendent of Hunterdon Central) that she thinks that anything that goes on outside of school on a website is the right s of that person and school can’t punish them for it unless it directly impacts the school. I agree with what she said.
While I liked that Dr. Brady said that she tried to be hands-off the newspaper, I was surprised that she said that the school board has the most control over the paper. I feel that since the members of the school board aren’t in the school day in and day out, they should have the least control. I would understand it if Dr. Brady believed she could monitor the paper since she is our superintendent, since she witnesses the students’ school life. Also, since students can’t elect the school board, they are unrepresented there, so it is unfair that the school board can monitor the paper.
The video was very enjoyable and very informative. it showed well thought out opinions and answers to common “grey area” questions regarding student press law.
I thought the video was very critical and on subject.
However, the school should treat the journalists as the real thing, as that is what they aspire to be. They should be hands off when a subject does not apply to them.
I think that is is great that Dr Brady took a hands off approach and said it is like a real news paper and people have a right to say what they want.
I do agree with what Dr. Brady and Mrs. Steffner said about how they are hands off with what we the students do outside of our school day. I like the fact that they do give us that cushion as one may say to let us be our own person and not always restrain us.
This video was informative and made me think about the different ways my school can or cannot be involved and effect my personal ideas and decisions.I do not think documents should be censored based on “whether or not it can offend someone” as Mrs. Steffner brought up. Everything has potential to offend someone and based on this policy nothing would ever get published. Different opinions should be expressed in the most appropriate way possible and worked through in a respectful manner, but as long as it is truthful and informative i don’t think the school should be so worried. Where do you cross the line is the big question here. Overall a good video, interesting to see how our school officials feel about the subject.
As long as you dont affend someone else or other students rights, you have the right to freedom of speech. If its appropriate, doesnt affend people and doesnt effect other’s learning environment, you can express yourself any way you want. I think this video give a good insight of how Cnetral determines how much freedom they give their students and what gets published in the school newspaper. Also, it is a very general idea of what is acceptable and what isnt.
I think that it had a lot of different view points which helped answer important questions that a lot of people need to know when dealing with press rights. From what I learned press rights can be tricky and can have gray areas so getting different interviews will help maybe determine those areas a little bit. I feel that this video helped show what hunterdon central thinks about press rights and there interpretations.
I think this video explains well that there are agreements that invading the students rights is wrong, but the school has rights to that. When such disruptions occur, they punish the students mainly to educate them on responsibility and growing up as a person. I was shocked that Dr. Brady expressed how she did not like to be so hands on with what students write because we should already determine what we think is right. Its also important for students to know what they can and cannot say as to avoid any problems
I agree with the last 2 questions that were asked about the differences between student journalists and professional journalists. There aren’t that many differences except for the rights that professional journalists have in comparison to student journalists and i think it is a good thing that students articles and rights are a little more censored than professionals because it teaches students to be open to criticism and to make their tailor their articles to be appropriate.
I find nothing wrong with the school having the ability to censor material because it is published and owned by them. I think it is also okay to censor material if it has the potential to disrupt school and education.