From criticism of America’s gun culture to marches for women’s rights, teenagers throughout the country are finding and sharing their voices. Now, the Washington Legislature has taken a step to assist in that endeavor.
Lawmakers have passed Senate Bill 5064 and passed it along to Gov. Jay Inslee to bolster the rights of student journalists and place them in charge of content for school publications. The “New Voices Act” would largely prevent administrators from censoring information in print and online publications while holding students to established journalistic standards.
As bill sponsor Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, said: “Practicing journalism in its full capacity better prepares students to pursue a career in journalism and equips them with the critical thinking, research and writing skills that lead to more engaged citizens.” The second part of that sentence is the most important. Regardless of whether student journalists eventually pursue a career in the profession, teaching them to explore complex issues and present those issues to the public in a clear and fair manner is essential to the future of democracy.
With people of all ages increasingly bombarded by information that might or might not be accurate, the skills required to discern fact from propaganda are more essential that ever. Encouraging students to be engaged and to understand the world around them will help to create informed voters and community leaders for the future.
As student Haley Keizur of Puyallup High School said while testifying in support of the bill: “We’re students, but that doesn’t prevent us from reporting like adults. If articles are written journalistically and ethically sound, there’s no reason why students shouldn’t be able to hear the news from their peers.”
Washington is wise to embrace that philosophy. In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier that school newspapers are subject to regulation by administrators, but states may grant students additional latitude. Since then, 13 states, including Oregon and California, have adopted such legislation.
The Hazelwood decision involved a case at a Missouri high school in which the principal removed articles related to divorce and teen pregnancy prior to publication. It spoke to the issue of prior restraint, which was the subject of the recent movie “The Post” and which stands at the heart of a free press. If government — or, in this case, school administrators — can prevent publication of information it doesn’t like, our democracy and the marketplace of ideas is diminished. As Tom Hanks says in the role of Washington Post Editor Ben Bradlee: “The only way to assert the right to publish, is to publish.”
Equally important is the fact that great freedom for the press brings with it great responsibility. Like professional journalists, students must understand that just because they can publish something doesn’t mean that they should, and that there is a difference between salacious information and that which benefits the public. Conscientious adult advisers can help them distinguish between those concepts and to understand that truth is the ultimate defense.
As Fain, the bill’s sponsor, said: “I think it’s pretty clear that as students are finding their voices in other parts of the country, there’s never been a more important time to give them the forum and freedom.”
That freedom will help create better citizens for the future.
