Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Kuhlmeier
POINT: Young journalists should have more specific and limited first amendment rights.
OUR SIDE: The girls cannot publish the article and it does not violate their first
amendment rights as it is an invasion of property and abuse of journalistic principles.
Catherine D’Jay:
1. The US courts uphold the policy of in loco parentis which basically means that
“while a student is in the custody of a school, the school can and often should act as
a parent. In this duty of the school, many decisions can be made that are outside the
normal governmental purview.” (usconstitution.net) It is the duty of a parent to protect
its children from sensitive topics and thus the school was justified in doing do for its
students.
2. Violations of students’ constitutional freedoms can also be justified if exercise to these
freedoms is potentially disruptive students’ ability to learn.
a. Quotation from the trial: “[Educators do not offend the First Amendment by
exercising editorial control over the style and content of student speech in
school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably
related to legitimate pedagogical concerns.”
i. The pedagogical concern is that the articles could emotionally affect
students, especially the younger students, in a way that could interfere
with their education.
3. The principle is ultimately in charge of the school as a whole and therefore the school
newspaper. Because the school newspaper is not a public forum, the principal has the
right to oppose and prevent the publishing of the school newspaper’s articles.
Makena Klinkowize
- Although the circuit court decided in favor of the students, a 5-3 decision by the Supreme
Court overturned the circuit court's decision, determining that school administrators could
exercise prior restraint of school-sponsored expression if the censorship is "reasonably
related to legitimate pedagogical (teaching) concerns". In this, school-sponsored
newspapers are considered limited public forums of expression.
- The majority opinion stated that officials had never intended the school paper to be a
public forum, as underground publications were in past cases.
- The court established that the student publication could be regulated by school
officials, and that they "reserved the forum for its intended purpose, as a supervised
learning experience for journalism students".
Ian Brown
● The students are not real journalists and this is not a real newspaper. This is simply
something for the students to practice journalistic skills. Therefore, they are subject
to the approval of the school for their work. In addition, they do not receive the
same first amendment privileges as an actual publication.
● The publication would violate the rights of privacy of the families of those
mentioned in the story. Although names were not specifically stated it was obvious
who was being discussed. It is not acceptable to publish this with the content of all
the individuals involved.
● The publication would distract the school from performing its primary objective,
educating the students. A story of this depth is not suitable for a school newspaper.
The school has the right to shut down, stop, or prevent, activities that distract or
limit learning, and the learning process.
● The newspaper belongs not to the students, but to the school and its administrator,
the students are welcome to contribute to the paper. However, it is only at the
service of what the administrator wish to publish.
● There are already acceptable limits to the first amendment, (IE: You cannot yell
there is a fire in a crowded movie theater), the school is well within the limits of the
law to limit the student's speech/publication.
Claire Filaski
● The father had no knowledge of this article being published about him, and no chance to
justify his actions or beliefs.
● The entire story may not have been acquired, and there may have been details about the
divorce that the article left out.
● The daughter was miserable at home- the last thing she needs is for public humiliation
and her secrets to be spread.
● If the girl’s story was influential enough, it may have impacted her father in court
custody arguments- could negatively impact the father and potentially ruin his
reputation.
● These stories aren’t important to the school community- they are mere gossip, and should
go against any journalist’s code of ethics.
● The girls had already gone through much humiliation, but a public posting of a
newspaper may allow the story to follow them around forever.
○ if a college/employer saw the article, they may decide to turn the girls away
Sarah Isaac
● The school’s journalists did not get all sides of the story (as they did not interview
the divorced dad) meaning some of the article could be inaccurate.
○ The dad was mentioned in the article but his side of the story was never
mentioned
● Some of the material in the article could be inappropriate for younger students who
may read the paper
● Families might want to have a discussion with their children about the topic
instead of them just reading it in a school paper
● Because it is a school run newspaper, the principal should be able to regulate the
articles published
● Is it possible for total anonymity to be granted considering that pregnancy is not
something easily hid? Is there any way in which this could affect the girl's chances
of getting into college/being employed
Luela Alexander
● Personal family matters are not for the public
● This violates the family’s privacy and the pregnant girls’ privacy. Not only is that
unethical, but it creates unnecessary chaos
● This will put a black spot on the school (school might gain a bad reputation)
● The family and the students had no idea about the article
● This can drastically affect the people in the near future (college, jobs, relationships)
○ Colleges are very strict about students who make poor choices in their high school
years
○ The writer of the article may lose the trust of her family, friends, etc.
Alex Imbrogno
● While these topics are important to cover, it was inappropriate for a school paper to
publish an article about these sensitive topics.
● Young journalists should be more aware of how the more personal stories are going to
affect the people who share their views.
● Adult and professional journalists are the ones to give more exposure to these types
of situations and the school should cover more topics that are “up and happening”
in the life of a student.
Kyra Linekin
● The Spectrum is a school funded newspaper and therefore the school has the authority to
determine whether material is appropriate or not.
● The Hazelwood school principal, Robert E. Reynolds, feared that The Spectrum had
violated the privacy of the students spoken about in their stories and that the
identities were not protected well enough. The principal of the school had been
protecting the students’ reputations and futures even if the students weren’t asking
for protection.
● The court stated that public settings, such as schools, will differ based on their location.
As a result of this variance, the public school and their rules will govern over what can be
produced by any publication associated with the school. Therefore, a school may not be
entitled to completely follow the 1st Amendment.
Desmond McGoey
● While the school is a public institution, the students at The Spectrum are subject to the
editing of the newspaper by the school administration and its ethics, thus, content can be
removed or added by the school whenever there are certain pedagogical concerns.
● Due to the journalists of The Spectrum being minors, they are subject to being in the
custody of legal citizens/legal adults. In this case, the parents willfully gave temporary
custody over their children to the school, which, in turn, makes them subject to rules that
may not be in line with government procedures, purviews, and even rights, that would
normally be available to an independent legal citizen.
● The content of the article, that being a story about a girl in the high school who got a
divorce, certainly raises pedagogical concerns, which gives the administration the power
to, at the very least, edit the article or, at most, remove it entirely
Ryan Maguire
● Because the school is opening up the opportunities for the journalism students to write
the newspaper, I believe that the school should be able to deny any articles.
● Although these topics are important to cover, it was inappropriate for a school paper to
publish an article about these sensitive topics.
● If these newspaper articles were published, more problems could start, especially for
those negatively involves.
Mia Rizzo
● Although the pregnant girl was okay with having her personal information in the school
newspaper, her parents/other family may not be okay with the school knowing (her
pregnancy would have been severly obvious even if her name was anonymous) because
they may have not been okay with their daughter being pregnant in the first place.
● The dad who is getting divorced has a right to know that his information is being
published, and since he didn’t know, the newspaper shouldn’t be published
● The story would have been kept and would impact the students jobs/life later on
Final Remarks/Argument:
● The Hazelwood school principal, Robert E. Reynolds, feared that The Spectrum
had violated the privacy of the students spoken about in their stories and that the
identities were not protected well enough. The principal of the school had been
protecting the students’ reputations and futures even if the students weren’t asking
for protection.
● Adult and professional journalists are the ones to give more exposure to these
types of situations and the school should cover more topics that are “up and
happening” in the life of a student.
● Personal family matters are not for the public
● Is it possible for total anonymity to be granted considering that pregnancy is not
something easily hid? Is there any way in which this could affect the girl's
chances of getting into college/being employed
● The school’s journalists did not get all sides of the story (as they did not interview
the divorced dad) meaning some of the article could be inaccurate.
● If the girl’s story was influential enough, it may have impacted her father in court
custody arguments- could negatively impact the father and potentially ruin his
reputation.
● The court established that the student publication could be regulated by school
officials, and that they "reserved the forum for its intended purpose, as a
supervised learning experience for journalism students".
● The girls had already gone through much humiliation, but a public posting of a
newspaper may allow the story to follow them around forever.
● The US courts uphold the policy of in loco parentis which basically means that
“while a student is in the custody of a school, the school can and often should act
as a parent. In this duty of the school, many decisions can be made that are
outside the normal governmental purview.”
○ if a college/employer saw the article, they may decide to turn the girls
away
○ `If the girl’s story was influential enough, it may have impacted her father in court
custody arguments- could negatively impact the father and potentially ruin his
reputation.
○ The Spectrum is a school funded newspaper and therefore the school has the
authority to determine whether material is appropriate or not.
○ The principal is ultimately in charge of the school as a whole and therefore the
school newspaper. Because the school newspaper is not a public forum, the
principal has the right to oppose and prevent the publishing of the school
newspaper’s articles.