Kern Schools Drop Censorship Attempt Against Students
East Bakersfield High School journalism students enjoyed a victory on Nov. 4 when a series of articles about gay students finally saw print in the school newspaper – several months after school officials suppressed the stories.
The censorship battle over the articles in The Kernal, the school’s student-run monthly newspaper, began last school term. Journalism students put together a series of profiles featuring LGBT students at the school who agreed to share their experiences in the hopes that putting a human face to the issue of homophobia would help the student body better understand the need for tolerance. The Kernal’s staff obtained written permission from students interviewed and the parents of participants who were minors. When pressured by school administrators, they agreed to blur the faces of the students photographed for the series, and to use pseudonyms in place of real names. But despite those compromises, administrators reneged and axed the stories at the eleventh hour, claiming that the articles had the potential to incite violence on campus.
The journalism students and their parents then turned to the ACLU of Southern California. The resulting lawsuit, which also named the Gay-Straight Alliance as a plaintiff, garnered wide media attention.
Without the intervention of the ACLU/SC, the articles would not have been published, said Maria Krauter, 17, a senior and current editor-in-chief of The Kernal.
“The ACLU gave us the voice that we needed. It’s hard to stand up to people and have them take you seriously when you’re young,” Krauter said. “It’s too bad that we had to have a lawsuit, but it was clear this is what needed to be done. I’m not a troublemaker. I believe freedom of speech and the press is important for all people. After this experience, I feel more hopeful that we live in a place where people are allowed to speak and write about important issues.”
Christine Sun, a staff attorney for the ACLU/SC, said basic freedoms must always be defended.
“Often when people speak out on controversial topics, the government will try to suppress that speech under the guise of protecting the speakers,” Sun said. “But the Constitution and our fundamental right to free expression demands that the government provide protection against those in the community who might disagree with the speaker’s message. High school is exactly the type of place where these conversations should be happening.”
The case doesn’t end with publication. Plaintiffs are seeking a court order clarifying the role a school must play in protecting the free speech rights of students, so that future journalism students in the district will not face censorship.
DECEMBER 2005
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