On Censorship

   "Fear not."  Easy to say, but bravery's not so simple when it comes to certain things, like dark alleys, growling dogs and censorship.

    I recently wrote a paper for my master's class on my fears as a high school journalism advisor. I'm not an adviser, but what came to mind was censorship. The following is an excerpt from my paper:

What are my most frightening fears?

1. not being able to find an adviser job at a school that doesn’t make me shed my “constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” (1)

2. teaching journalism students they have the right and responsibility to cover controversial, sad, pathetic and dangerous topics, but not allowing them to do so.

 (1) 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District court case on freedom of expression in high school.

Administrators need to give journalism advisers the freedom to teach their students  the craft of journalism, and that includes letting students learn from their mistakes.