Have students learn from history
as student journalists today
by Jackie Mink
As a high school student in 1968, I had friends and family members fighting in the Vietnam War. There were many protests across the country by young people against the war, but one in particular influenced student expression for the future and up to today.
That protest was when a group of students in Iowa decided to wear black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War. They were suspended, and legal challenges regarding the suspension led to the famous Tinker vs. Des Moines Supreme Court decision in 1969.
In 1983, as a young journalism teacher, I took a job at Hazelwood East High School. I was told by a school official that there was a “small problem in the journalism classes”. I learned that legal action had been started over an issue with the previous school newspapers printing something the principal found unacceptable and that I had two of the students in class who were involved.
Read MoreConstitution Day lesson plans, resources for 2011
Constitution Day Lesson Plans for Sept. 16, 2011
Our Constitution Day lesson plans provided here are designed to help students celebrate the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as mandated by Congress. Legislation requires schools to offer lessons on the Constitution and how it affects all Americans. Our lesson plans emphasize the First Amendment and particularly the freedoms of speech and the press.
The first unit has two parts. The first is intended as an overview of the First Amendment while the second applies Freedom of Speech as addressed in a Philadelphia Inquirer article by Michael Smerconish. A PDF accompanies this article (or you can download it as a PowerPoint) and there is an extensive list of additional resources.
The second unit includes a quick discussion of interpreting the Constitution and then explores off campus speech using real and hypothetical scenarios. Possible solutions for the scenarios will be available early this week.
The third unit examines a 2011 Washington court case that established schools are not liable for what student newspapers publish as long as the content is not reviewed by school administrators prior to publication. We will have more on this court decision in the coming months.
Lori Keekley
for JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission and the Constitution Day Committee
Constitution Day Committee:
Megan Fromm, Ph.D.
Lori Keekley, teacher, St. Louis Park High School (MN)
Jeff Kocur, teacher, Hopkins High School (MN)
Chris Waugaman, teacher, Prince George High School (VA)
John Bowen and Mark Goodman, Kent State University (OH) contributed resources