Can a public school require students to submit campaign materials for prior approval?
Student Speech in School
A high school student campaigned for junior class president. He passed out condoms to accompany his slogan "Adam Henerey, The Safe Choice." School rules provided that students must obtain prior approval for their campaign materials. The student did not obtain prior approval before passing out the condoms. School officials disqualified him from the election even though he had received a majority of the votes. The student claimed a violation of his First Amendment rights. After a district court rejected his claim, he appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Can a public school require students to submit campaign materials for prior approval?
A. NO — By censoring a student’s speech that is advocating for responsible behavior, the school violated the First Amendment and made a poor pedagogical decision.
B. NO — Officials may censor student speech if they have a legitimate educational reason for doing so. However, that standard is not met in this case.
C. YES — The school has a legitimate interest in divorcing its extracurricular programs from controversial and sensitive topics, such as teenage sex. The student's actions in distributing the condoms, therefore, ran counter to the District's educational mission.
Learn More & Cast Your Vote
A high school student campaigned for junior class president. He passed out condoms to accompany his slogan "Adam Henerey, The Safe Choice." School rules provided that students must obtain prior approval for their campaign materials. The student did not obtain prior approval before passing out the condoms. School officials disqualified him from the election even though he had received a majority of the votes. The student claimed a violation of his First Amendment rights. After a district court rejected his claim, he appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Can a public school require students to submit campaign materials for prior approval?
A. NO — By censoring a student’s speech that is advocating for responsible behavior, the school violated the First Amendment and made a poor pedagogical decision.
B. NO — Officials may censor student speech if they have a legitimate educational reason for doing so. However, that standard is not met in this case.
C. YES — The school has a legitimate interest in divorcing its extracurricular programs from controversial and sensitive topics, such as teenage sex. The student's actions in distributing the condoms, therefore, ran counter to the District's educational mission.
Learn More & Cast Your Vote
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The Soapbox
November 2009 Question of the Month
Should there be limits on student journalism? If so, what should they be? If not, why?
Tagged: journalism
Started by Kim Carter in Question of the Month Nov 2.
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© 2009 Created by Sam Chaltain
