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We cannot protect our children from this world, which is a scary place. The only
thing we can do is help them develop an inner strength to meet the inevitable challenges
they will face. (Katherine Paterson) As Paterson so wisely says, it is impossible to
protect children from the obvious problems in our society today, but as a community it is
our civic duty to inform children on how it is they can prevent, take action, or simply
become aware of these problems.

Education in a democratic society requires developing citizens who can adapt to

changing times, decide important social issues, and effectively judge the performance of
public officials. However, rapid social, political, and technological changes have
escalated controversy over what and how schools should teach (Hull). Issues like
sexuality and profanity have raised questions for generations of parents and educators,
but they are even more complicated now, when most school communities are made up of
individuals with differing cultural traditions, religions, and often languages. With
students and parents bringing a range of expectations and needs to the classroom,
educators frequently face a daunting task in balancing the educational needs of an entire
student body while maintaining respect for others (Brown).

The First Amendment establishes the framework for resolving some of these
dilemmas by defining certain critical rights and responsibilities of participants in the
educational process. It both protects the freedom of speech, thought, and inquiry, and
requires respect for the right of others to do the same. Yet something that is supposed to
bring protection to students has not necessarily been doing so in the past years. When

surveying students on whether or not they felt as though their freedom of speech was ever
violated in high school, most answered yes.

An amendment that seems to be the foundation of our nation is without a doubt being
violated more and more every day.

Yet one may ask, since public schools and public libraries are public institutions,
arent they bound by the obligations imposed by the First Amendment as well as many
other provisions of the Constitution? The answer to this question is that First
Amendment applies somewhat differently in schools than it does in many other public
institutions (Brown). Public schools are the institution, which in some respects most
embody the goals of the First Amendment: to create informed citizenry capable of selfgovernance.

Recent Supreme Court decisions have made clear, the right to free speech and
expression can sometimes be subordinated when necessary to achieve legitimate
educational goals. A school is not comparable to a public park where anyone can stand on
a soapbox, or a bulletin board on which anyone can post a notice. While students and
teachers do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the
schoolhouse gate (Tinker v. Des Moines), speech is not quite as free inside educational
institutions as outside (Cheun).
Due to these changes, high school newspapers have begun to face a price. Before
looking at the issue of censorship, it is important to recognize just how important
journalism classes are in high schools. However today high school journalism is under
fire across the United States as educators face budget cuts and an increased pressure to
improve test scores. It seems to be that the first thing to go after the arts is journalism.
However, new research commissioned by the Newspaper Association of America
Foundation suggests that if student achievement is the goal, then schools would be well
advised to offer journalism classes. Journalism helps students become better thinkers,
better communicators, and, as a result, better citizens. Developing student writers are
expected to achieve an increasingly broad and deep knowledge and understanding of the
value of writing in their lives, of their own individual writing processes, of the range of
writing strategies available to them, and of the benefits of sharing and publishing their
writing for a wider audience. It is essentially that schools realize the importance of
journalism programs, as well as the benefit that they have on students. As one student
says,
"So starting off high school I never really knew what I wanted to be or what field
I wanted to major in, but I knew that I really liked to read and write and my dad

encouraged me to join journalism and I did (mostly to humor him) and its so
strange because now coming out of high school and into college, I know exactly
what field and subfield I want to pursue a career in all because of one class. But I
think the greatest parts of my high school journalism experience was being a part
of something that everyone really cared about and worked hard for. Every other
week we would come out with this 12 paged paper and a few days before
publishing, everyone would put off their social and academic obligations and just
focus on making this paper and writing and reporting about everything that was
going on in the school and community, whether it was photo slideshow on a
soccer game or an in-depth article on teenage pregnancy within our school. I think
thats my favorite part of journalism: the fact that the point of this field is to spread
awareness to people about concepts that really affect them, like genocides in third
world countries or financial crises in their state. And thats why I think, when
done correctly; journalism is a really noble field. And then personally, though the
class really helped me decide what I wanted to do, it also really helped me
become a more confident person. I was really shy freshman year, but having to
talk to new people for information, speaking at editorial meetings, fighting for the
papers first amendment rights, and later being editor in chief for the paper has
really helped me become a more confident person, which is an important life skill
no matter what field I go into."(Mabel Kabani)

That being said, today high school journalism programs are facing an even greater
issue: censorship. Today topics such as teenage pregnancy, divorce, drugs, and many
others are being censored by high schools due to their disturbance. Due to the ruling of
Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier, administrators now have a great deal of leeway in determining
what is and isnt acceptable material in school-sponsored publications and events (First
Amendment Center).
But topics such as teenage pregnancy, drugs, divorce, and many others, are those
that are most relevant to students in high school, and yet they are the topics that are
constantly being censored by high school. We have nearly seven times the teen
pregnancy rate of the Netherlands, seventy-four times the adolescent gonorrhea rate of
France, eight times the teen abortion rate of Germany, and young people in these
countries commence sexual intercourse later than U.S. teens. According to high schools

the reason for this censorship has to do with providing for a safe learning environment.
Yet when students were asked whether or not the topic of teenage pregnancy should be a
topic addressed in high school newspapers, an overwhelming amount said yes.

Mike Rose argued that many schools, in spite of good intentions, actually deny
students the opportunity to develop intellectually: "Our approaches to language and
literacy as often as not keep us from deep understanding of differences and problems
and possibilities" (128). While the attempt to keep children pure for as long as possible is
admirable, it takes the form of leaving gaping holes in their education, if not
academically, then about life. Censorship is not simply an attempt to control what is
taught in our schools; it is also an infringement on the legal learning rights of students
(Brown). A growing majority of Americans (68%) agree that public school students
should be allowed to report on controversial issues in their student newspapers without

the approval of school authorities, while only 27% disagreed. As one student says in an
interview, " Administrators should realize that the world young people live in is not a
fairy tale. Allowing students to write about their experiences can mean a world of change
for them, and at the same time educate those in need. I've seen it happen. It's important
now more than ever to have students educate each other, because many young people
can't talk with their parents or other adults about personal issues without fear."
As Judy Blume, a world renowned childrens author, says, "In this age of
censorship I mourn the loss of books that will never be written, I mourn the voices that
will be silenced writers voices, teachers voices, students voices and all because of fear.
How many have resorted to self-censorship? How many are saying to themselves, Nope
cant write about that. Cant teach that book. Cant have that book in our collection. Cant
let my student write that editorial in the school paper.
Is it constitutional for schools to censor newspapers? Yes. Is it fair? Well that is a
question that has proved to be quite controversial, especially among students. It goes
without saying that students, in contrast with administrations, have quite a different view
when it comes to censorship. High school students continue to find that their First
Amendment rights are invisible to school administrators, despite years of struggle against
censorship. While most administrations choose to see censorship as a way to conserve a
distinguished learning environment, most students see censorship as an act of injustice
against their first amendment rights. As Rachel Schneider, a student from Fond Du Lac
High School, We are the students that know what is happening, what is going on at
Fondy (high school), and we heard this (rape jokes) was one of the issues, Schneider
said. If we know it and the staff knows it, why arent we saying it? We are the voice. If

they censor it, we dont have a voice.

This censorship has brought up many questions, one of which being what is a
legitimate pedagogical concern. This seems to be the main reason to why articles are
being censored today, but what does this even mean? The phrase "legitimate pedagogical
concerns" is not defined by any court or federal statutes, so basically it becomes up to
the administration to decide what they find to be a "legitimate concern." This
gives administrations a huge deal of power. Topics such as drug use, teenage pregnancy,
abortion, divorce, and many others are some of the most commonly censored articles
in high schools, but the question still remains are they really "pedagogical concerns," or
is this just a way for schools to protect themselves?
However, I believe that schools are censoring articles that dont actually impede
with academics, for while it has been said that, inappropriate content could range from a
story about the existence of Santa Claus to information about teenage sex or drugs use,
these are the issues that are most relevant to high school students (Rolnicki). Due to a
personal connection, I have chosen to focus on the censoring of articles having to do with
teenage pregnancy, but my ultimate question and the one I plan to research is why
schools find this topic to be worth censoring, and on what grounds they believe it to be,
a legitimate pedagogical concern (Rolnicki).
This brings up a topic that I find to be rather interesting, is teenage pregnancy
really a legitimate pedagogical concern? According to a survey that I conducted, students
do not feel that to be true.

As one student says, If anything I felt as though my article was informational to the
students, it didn't promote or object anything, so why was it controversial?
(Anonymous). I understand that some parents may see this topic as one that is too mature
for a certain audience, and that discussing this topic may in fact promote this idea that
teenage pregnancy is acceptable, but I also dont necessarily agree with this. As another
student says,
I think that is appropriate for teenage pregnancy to be discussed in high school
newspaper articles. I believe that this is a topic that is extremely prevalent for
high school students, and I think that it is important for safe sex to be encouraged.
I think that the school should be allowed to review anything that is being
submitted to the school, but I don't think that they should be ultra protective and
not expose students to certain topics. I think that ignoring the topic, teenage
pregnancy is indiscriminate and failing to expose students to something like this is
just not really the right way to go about things if their concern is awareness and
safety for their students. Also many students might not see this as a bad thing if it
happened to them, so censoring these kind of articles would essentially make
some people feel as though they are doing something wrong, even if they agree
with teenage pregnancy" (Daniel Elchediak).
I agree with this standpoint, and the fact that teenage pregnancy is a topic that is
extremely relevant to high school students, and one that is essentially only relevant to this

age group, so why should it not be addressed. I dont think that by having articles written
about this topic that we are encouraging any sort of behavior, and I definitely do not think
that it is a legitimate pedagogical concern.
Yet this interview was one done with a non-journalism student, so what do
journalism students think about the whole issue of teenage pregnancy being addressed in
high school newspapers? Well that is a simple answer for it is obvious that student
journalists are against censorship. The main goal for students is to learn the ways of the
journalism world, and when their articles are being censored, they are not being given
this opportunity. As one student said,
I think that teenage pregnancy is one topic that is extremely prevalent in high
schools, so when I tried to publish an article on the subject that was censored I
was shocked. "How could the school do this to me," was the first thing that came
to my mind. I truly believed that the school had my best interest at heart, as well
as my journalism teacher, but after the censorship I started to doubt all of that. I
spent months working on this article, hoping that it would be one that I could later
submit to select college journalism programs, and even send
to journalism competitions, but when I was told that I could not publish the article
my whole world seemed to shatter before my eyes. I had done everything right,
and yet all I kept hearing was how the topic was just too "mature" for certain
students. I just couldn't make sense of it, we were all high school students after
all, it's not like we were oblivious to the pregnant high school girl walking around
the halls. If anything I felt as though my article was informational to the students,
it didn't promote or object anything, so why was it controversial? I really don't
think that the topic of teenage pregnancy is one that should be considered a
pedagogical concern, for it is one that is going to be brought up in high schools
anyways. I think it is important for students to be familiar with the topic, and to be
kept updated with what is going on in their schools. It's not like we can just ignore
a pregnant student that we see walking around the halls everyday, so I'm not sure
how writing an article on the topic is too mature, or controversial. In the end I still
ended up submitting the article to select colleges, and received positive feedback
from those schools. I think that high schools need to start realizing that we aren't
oblivious, and that these topics are a part of our lives no matter what. I also think
that censorship is just wrong, and that by enabling censorship schools are just
stunting our growth as journalists (Anonymous).

It is clear that students feel restricted by this censorship, so as to how administrations can
argue that this censorship is due to a legitimate pedagogical concern, is beyond me, for
it seems that censorship itself is a legitimate pedagogical concern.
As I previously mentioned, parents too have had many concerns with the topic of
teenage pregnancy. As someone mentioned in my tactical media project, when she
brought home the school newspaper, and her parents saw that there was an article on
teenage pregnancy, they threatened to withdraw her from the school. It is clear that some
parents are extremely sensitive to the topic; for they have never addressed such a
controversial topic with their children, and do not believe that there children should be
exposed to topics such as these. However, it is also evident that some parents do not
believe that there children should be restricted in the topics they are allowed to write
about, or in some cases hear about. I think it goes without saying that most parents want
their children to grow in high school, and to start finding a path in this world, and by
restricting what topics they can learn about, they are impeding this growing. As one
parent said,
"I think that is a touchy subject for while I don't really want my child exposed to
this kind of subject, I also don't want to shield him from the truth. Having a boy, I
knew that I would have to teach my son to make good choices early on, for it is so
easy to become caught up in the high school social life, and peer pressures. I
wanted my son to know that he could come talk to me no matter what the
situation, and that he should think of every action as having a repercussion. I can
say that my son has done a wonderful job of making good decisions, but I know
that some boys in high school don't necessarily make the best of choices. In
regards to teenage pregnancy being written about in high schools, I think that it is
appropriate and that schools should not be want to shield their students from this
kind of exposure for if it is not talked about then students don't necessarily see the
result of certain actions. High school is a time in which students should learn from
one another, and having an article written about teenage pregnancy is only one
way in which students can learn. I would not want my son to have his article
censored because it was on teenage pregnancy especially if he was just informing
others, and I think that the justification to why these articles are being censored if

not right. It is not a "legitimate pedagogical concern," as you have mentioned to

me, for it is not taking away from the learning environment, instead it is just
enhancing it, and making it more well versed" (Anonymous).
Clearly this parent has the standpoint that most parents should have, and while we cant
force people to see eye to eye with us, I believe that parents who believe in censorship are
only stunting the growth of their children. It is obvious that teens are going to be exposed
to topics such as teenage pregnancy no matter what parents try to do to prevent it, so why
not hear it from other teens?
So what about administrations? What is their view on all of this? I think it is safe
to say that most teachers are against censorship, but are not really allowed to express their
views for they are held accountable to the administration, and more importantly dont
want to lose their jobs. As Tammie Peters says, an English teacher at Golden High
School, I stand with my fellow teachers who are 'sick' of the board majority's actions.
While we need some reforms in Jefferson County, the board majority is not providing the
reforms we need or want." Teachers, in this case journalism teachers, want to prepare
their students for the real world, and teach them about what working for a real journalism
company will be like, but with issues such as censorship, teachers are not allowed to do
this. As one teacher said in an interview,
"Having been a teacher who has dealt directly with this issue of censorship, and
more specifically directly with the issue of teenage pregnancy censorship, and has
many times been on the verge of losing her job, I can say that censorship needs to
stop. I want to encourage my students to write about whatever they see fit, and if
that be a topic that is rather controversial well then all the better for them, but I
also know that the administration is always looking over my shoulder. Last year I
was forced to agree with the administration's censorship on one of my students
articles on teenage pregnancy for I knew if I didn't I would risk my job. At first I
saw no problem with the article being published, and did in fact make sure that all
privacy rights were in order, but when the school collected all the newspapers
right after they had been distributed I knew that I had made a mistake. Today as

a journalism teacher we are extremely restricted in what we can and cannot do,
and I feel as though I am never really doing my job" (Anonymous).
It is clear that teachers do not feel as though these issues are legitimate pedagogical
concerns, so why then do these articles get censored.
In conclusion, through the surveys and interviews I conducted, it is clear that both
students, and parents do not see a problem with addressing teenage pregnancy in high
school newspaper articles, so I do not understand why administrations would. It's not like
teenagers don't know about what is going on around them, and by trying to shield them;
schools are only promoting these acts more. While researching and reading on
censorship, I realized that there is really no basis on to how schools decide what to
censor, and what not to censor, for it seems to be almost rather subjective in my opinion.
While some schools do censor articles on teenage pregnancy, others do not, so if it is a
"legitimate pedagogical concern," in one school, how is it not in another? There is clearly
a lack of clarification on this idea of a "legitimate pedagogical concern," and one that
needs to be addressed within the near future, for until school find a legitimate reason as to
why teenage pregnancy is a disturbance, then there should be no reason as to why it
should be censored. If we look at the Hazelwood case, "the principal objected to the two
articles because pregnant students at the high school had been interviewed for a survey
and the principal was afraid that their identities would be disclosed; the principal also felt
that the references to sex and birth control were inappropriate for the younger students at
the school" (Bittner, 113). However, if the students consented to the article how is that a
problem? In regards to the age problem, going into high school students are around 14 to
15, and are obviously already aware of topics such as teenage pregnancy, and so forth. In

a generation where some of the most popular shows have to do with teenage pregnancy
(Teen Mom, 16 and pregnant, etc.) it is clear that these younger students are not oblivious
to the topic. In the end I believe that this censorship has more to do with schools trying to
protect themselves, rather than trying to protect students. Having a pregnant student may
not be the kind of advertisement a school wants, and having an article written about it
only brings more attention to the topic, attention that the school definitely does not
want. Therefore my conclusion is that no, teenage pregnancy is not a "legitimate
pedagogical concern."