What to do if school officials
threaten censorship after legislation

Posted by John Bowen on Sep 5, 2016 in Blog, Hazelwood, Law and Ethics, News, Scholastic Journalism, Teaching | 0 comments

What to do if school officials threaten censorship

Even though state legislation can provide protection, sometimes others do not understand that and need further education. Use a friendly and informative approach and help them understand. Here are some steps we recommend.

• Share a copy of the law and explain the language and meanings in educational civic and legal terms and benefits to the various communities.
• Use your Talking Points, bill terminology and other supportive arguments to emphasize key points and arguments for student free expression.
• Ask challengers to state their specific arguments in writing so you can respond
• Contact SPLC, use the SPRC Panic Button for legal, ethical and educational advice and support.
• Contact the legislators who proposed the bill and seek their involvement.
• Respond to challengers’ arguments with logical and documented points and seek further time for discussion.
• Contact additional legal and educational sources for support and resources.
• Share print and online resources like New Voices Facebook pages.
• Keep the dialogue meaningful.
• Invite questioners to journalism meetings, including editorial board meetings, so they can see how student decision-making works.

If the educational approach does not seem to work, try other approaches.

• As necessary, share the story of the censorship and legislative background with local and state media. Ideally, you have already shared information and explanation about the legislation with media after it passed
• Enlist community and parental booster groups of your student media for their active intervention