It’s funny how some students will grasp their education better than others. People tend to treat kids like their opinion doesn’t matter and figure they’re inexperienced.
Almost two years ago now, I recall when my high school administrators treated my newspaper staff and me just like that at East Bakersfield High School. They put us into a position that forced us not to print a section of the newspaper that we as a staff very much believed in.
It was the April edition of The Kernal, our high school newspaper. I was on the staff for four years by this time, and we had won first place for general excellence in Bakersfield for three years consecutively. I was editor in chief that year. It was my passion and usually the only reason I’d wake up in the morning to endure the long school day and the counterfeit friends.
I understood my rights as a student journalist thanks to my extensive journalism journey with my adviser Randy Hamm. I would attend workshops, read from stylebooks, and read the online Student Press Law Center’s page that always had great stories on censorship in other states and laws being passed.
I had always heard and read about censorship, but when it finally happened to me, I was shocked. It was a Tuesday morning, first period journalism, second day of our page- layout process. Mr. Hamm greeted me as he usually did and then informed me that the principal and dean were going to be in the classroom to read a few of our stories.
The administration had gotten wind of our feature focus for that month on homosexuality. I became concerned and I began to look through my notes and I met with the editor of that department making sure that all of our bases were covered. The stories were objective, well written and had both sides to every story. We had the facts right and had permission from the students and the parents to write about them being homosexual. They read the stories, said they were fine and left the classroom.
The next night, day three of our layout process at approximately nine o’clock, the principal walks in and asks to speak with our adviser. The next thing I know, my adviser tells me that he was just informed by the principal that if we printed our focus on homosexuality that the edition would be locked away before distribution. Our hearts fell to the floor, and everyone felt that sad tingle inside of them. Many of us began to cry.
After the principal left, the editors and I were all called to a meeting with the dean of students and a few other administrators. They bought us pizza and tried to address the problem. They pretty much told us to take out the names and pictures of the LGBTQ students.
We were ordered to do this even though we also interviewed a priest from the community and several straight students. We were in that meeting for over five hours; we missed our lunch and sat in a conference room debating whether we’d take out the names and pictures that we felt made the articles pertinent and more personal.
We decided to be sensible and take out the names and pictures. We went to class and started rebuilding the pages that were already laid out and ready to go.
At ten o clock that night, Principal Gibson walked into the room and again asked to speak to Mr. Hamm. Mr. Hamm came back into the newsroom with a bitter face. He told the managing editor and myself that we were not to print the articles at all because a LGBTQ student was harassed that day. We didn’t know what to do but take out the articles and deal with the censorship until we could figure out a way to fight it. The whole paper was not to be sacrificed.
The next day the features editor and I took action; we called the Student Press Law center, and we were given valuable information on how to keep records. We also planned a protest and a day of silence that Friday the paper was distributed. We made T-shirts that read, “Talk is Cheap. Free Speech Isn’t.” Students that were interviewed made newsletters and distributed them to all the teachers, and we passed out fliers to create awareness. At lunchtime that Friday, there was a march through the school and student center by all of our supporters.
By Saturday that week, we found out what student had been harassed and met with him. It turned out that he had gotten a piece of paper thrown at him in one of his classes. He laughed, and said he didn’t feel as though he was in any sort of harm. It was just teenagers acting like kids.
By Monday the next week, one of our writers got in touch with the American Civil Liberties Union, and the agreement to fight in the court of law was set. We were fighting for justice and freedom of the press. We were fighting against the administrators’ blatant discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and suppression of protected speech; it was an injury caused by ignorance and intolerance.
What preceded was a lot of paper work and press releases. The requests for interviews were never ending. The administrators’ attempt to silence us created awareness of our campus all over the United States and overseas. After nearly two years of depositions and much litigation, the board of education finally came to an agreement, and the case was settled.
What I hope students will realize is that they have rights, and they’re not just kids. We should always stand up for what we believe in. And that’s what we did.