School Newspapers
They Should Have Limited Free Speech
Why Should They have Limited Free Speech?
If you let high schoolers, still haven't matured, if you give them full free speech you WILL see not newsworthy news. Titles may be "Cheerleader Gains pound", Do you really want your school newspaper to be a gossip magazine? To teach our nations next generation that GOSSIP is newsworthy? What kind if journalists will we produce?? What will they achieve in life as journalists? Get the latest scoop on who Justin Bieber's kissing? I don't know about you but I don't want to live in a world where only GOSSIP magazines exist. I do, however think that sometimes principals can take it a bit too far. In a Washington D.C. a principal confiscated a newspaper with an article about the off-campus fatal shooting of two students because he thought it put the school in a bad light. Some students do anything to avoid censors. But why? Do they have so much to hide? Do they want to put profanity in the newspaper? They publish their articles online, and where does that get them? In March 1995 a student posted a parody of the school newspaper online and high school officials decided to withdraw their recommendation for him being a national merit scholar. I think that is a very extreme case and that they overreacted. I think that if the principals just glance over it making sure everything is grammatical and there is no personal business (gossip), or profanity I think that whatever is in there would be okay. Principals have censored general information about teen pregnancy, say that it was innaproriate for the younger students, at a high school! Keeping your kids in a bubble, protecting them, you may think it helps but it actually hurts. Wake up! This kind of thing actually happens in the real world so why shield it from them? Dont think of censoring as the students writing and hoping for the best, think of it as adults showing them what is okay for the school newspaper, and what is appropriate. Think of it as us showing them how to adjust to the different atmostpheres of different newspapers, and overall making them better journalists. Thats why there should be limits to free speech, not complete control to make them better journalist, students, and writers.
Some Effects If we Don't Limit Our School Newspaper's Free Speech
Extra! Extra!
If we let our students have free speech in the newspaper, it might become a new form of bullying, the worst yet, one that everyone could see. Do you want that to happen? All because we didn't show them the ropes just a little?
This is a Gossip Magazine
Sometimes, sadly, kids get mean, rumors start floating around, and someone gets hurt. If you start to see similarities between this and your local school newspaper then maybe you should rein it in a little. But what if we could stop the chaos before it even starts? Wouldn't that be better for everyone?
The Newspaper Can Do Good Too.....
Although we might not be able to stop bullying completely, we can stop from adding a new branch on to it, and raise awareness. So we WILL be doing lots of good, and not just for that specific school, for the all around world! Who could resist?
The Best Way To Go
Happier students!
This might be a bumpy path but one that is worth it in the long run, leading to happier students, so don't be afraid to try it!
My Interview With Julia
Julia thinks there should be limits to freedom of speech in the newspaper because you don't want to have people other people. As I said earlier it might become a new form of bullying.
My Interview With Bella
Bella thinks that the newspapers should be censored because it's not fair for kids to put lies or rumors about kids and then there would be sadness and fights and it would turn into a rebellion and "Yada Yada Yada Yada".
My Interview With Codi (A.K.A Codiline)
Codi thinks that they should have limited free speech because kids can get stupid and be mean, and mature people should stop them.