BY KEN WINTER
When I learned a Northern Michigan school superintendent trashed some copies of the final issue of his high school newspaper last spring, I was in shock. His students never saw the final edition even though National Public Radio had recognized later one of the columns in that issue, written by a high school senior, for its excellence.
I flashed back to my own high school government class when we saw black and white footage of Nazi German solders under the orders of Adolph Hitler burning banned books in the streets of Berlin. They had also closed down or censored newspapers to control the news.
I was more in shock than most because I had actually seen the final page proofs before the school newspaper went to press during a classroom visit. I couldn't figure out what was so bad to warrant the superintendent's overt censorship. I learned later he did not like some of the quotes given during student journalist interviews of his faculty about a movie and another picture he thought was inappropriate.
I tried to imagine what the News-Review or Charlevoix Courier would have looked like during my 34 years associated with those publications as a reporter, editor and later publisher if every time I didn't agree with something it didn't appear in print. Trust me, there would have been some huge blank spaces. But as you and I know, that is now how the First Amendment works in this country for either free speech or free press.
One has to wonder what our schools are teaching students about the First Amendment when you hear a story like this. High school and college student journalists are restricted slightly more than professional journalists, but they still have First Amendment rights.
Censorship continues to rear its ugly head in various forms. Some districts are passing "boilerplate" nationally produced school policies that suggest ways to control and monitor publications, communication and Internet access to protect younger people without completely understanding the policy ramifications until someone calls attention to it.
Two very thoughtful area high school journalism newspapers are in serious discussions with their administrators and boards to protect student First Amendment rights as I write this column.
Several other northern Michigan districts have eliminated high school journalism and yearbook programs, not realizing they can satisfy state-mandated English requirements for high school, or because they believe eliminating their publication programs will save the district money.
What they don't appreciate is the hands-on practical learning experience high school and college journalism offers for badly needed writing skills, interviewing, critical thinking, technological and a host of other learning opportunities too numerous to list in this space.
These are life lessons never to be forgotten and ones I hope we never face as adults in our democracy.
About the author: Ken Winter is a newspaper consultant and journalism and political science instructor for North Central Michigan College and Michigan State University's Red Cedar National Writing Project. He is the former editor and publisher of the Petoskey News-Review and past president of the Michigan Press Association.
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