Most Recent Articles
Having supportive administrators is not a fairytale
by Teresa Scribner, CJE, Cleveland STEM High School Seattle, Washington
Once upon a time, there were three administrators. These warriors stood for racial equality, social justice and making sure all students in their school felt safe, seen and heard. They were champions of student voice, advocates of the school’s journalism program and defenders of student press rights.
Read MoreVoting: the meaning of being a citizen in a troubled era
These lessons and activities about covering elections can help journalism students plan a path to understanding issues, providing for civic engagement and developing leadership
Election Day this year is of monumental importance whether it might be a person’s twentieth time to vote or another’s first.
Given the pandemic that allows medical and health issues to impact political, social and economic phases of society, Nov. 3, 2020 will be a harbinger of things to come.
Read MoreTeaching law and ethics so it MEANS something
by Candace Bowen, MJE
Teaching law and ethics isn’t easy. Most beginning teachers have discovered the hard way that some methods just don’t work. JEA members taking the MJE certification test often have spent far too much time wrestling with the question that asked for a three-week lesson plan on the topic and not having enough time to answer the rest of the questions.*
For instance, dividing their journalism class into groups and having each research a scholastic media court case is one that sounds good at first but often bombs. Sure, they can report on the armbands the Tinkers and Chris Eckhardt wore and end with the famous line: “Students (and teachers – they often forget that part) don’t shed their constitutional rights … at the schoolhouse gate.”
Read MoreHate speech and its protection
by Cyndi Hyatt
This fall’s upcoming presidential election has created a national climate where people are politically polarized, and their speech is often incendiary. Perhaps now is the perfect time to revisit with student journalists how speech is protected and unprotected, particularly with a focus on hate speech.
My own students alerted me that hate speech is often misunderstood when they wanted to write an opinion piece calling for the ban of the KKK. Naturally the topic of protected speech came up and led to a discussion on how even when speech is hateful, it is still protected under the Constitution.
Read MoreEssential to find accurate information is … context
by John Bowen, MJE
The 2020 election looms less than two months away, and conflicting, sensational and hateful information force themselves into the news, the rallies and, sadly, people’s fears. Looking for information to help protect your reporters and audience alike from mis- and dis- information? We have some suggestions:
First, lessons and activities that already reside on SPRC’s site but for whatever reason have slipped off the top levels of our site. They offer a myriad of ways to offer some clarity to this whole year of political obfuscation and outrageous claims:
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