LAWMAKER: FREE PRESS APPLIES TO STUDENTS

The First Amendment rights of students involved with school publications should be protected, says a Missouri legislator.

Joan Bray, D-St. Louis, is sponsor of a bill filed in the Missouri House of Representatives that intends to strip school administrators of censorship power over school newspapers and place control of and responsibility for such publications in the hands of students and their advisers. The measure is similar to laws in six other states.

"It enables the teaching of good journalism to go on in the classroom and students involved in a publication to make decisions about content," Bray said.

While students would not be exempt from illegalities such as libel or slander, legitimate stories would be protected from administrators who censor items they don't want printed.

Bray said there are too many "horror stories" about administrators who have killed stories on upcoming school-related elections, school policies or issues such as drugs, divorce and teen pregnancy.

Administrators "hope they can teach citizenship and respect for the First Amendment ... but then they tell them, `We are not going to let you make those decisions; we will make them for you,'" said Bray.

Jessica McCuann, editor of the student paper at Jackson High School, The Squawler, said the principal, Vernon Huck, routinely interferes with that publication's content.

"On numerous occasions, Mr. Huck has said no to things like in-depth articles on teenage premarital sex and teenage pregnancy, even though it is an obvious problem at Jackson High School," McCuann said. "There are 10 to 15 high school girls who are bearing unwanted children, and even more who have had abortions. This is not an issue we need to ignore."

McCuann said Huck has also censored less controversial stories such as the removal of a well-respected wrestling coach and staff editorials on school spirit and perceived flaws in school programs.

Huck did not return phone calls requesting comment.

Rae Anne Albers, adviser for The Tiger, the student paper at Cape Girardeau Central High School, said she is not hassled by demands from the administration and has never been chastised for running a certain story. "I feel the freedom to print anything I want," she said.

However, she admits that she sets certain parameters regarding content and said "there are some things we would not run." Stories in The Tiger focus on good things occurring at the school, not the bad or controversial, she said, putting an emphasis on features rather than hard news.

The fact that The Tiger is distributed inside the Southeast Missourian in Cape Girardeau makes Albers even more prudent, she said. The Squawler is similarly circulated to Southeast Missourian subscribers in Jackson.

"Because the newspaper is in the Missourian, it is not just a learning tool. For the school it is a public relations tool," Albers said. "That is why I censor a little bit more and am expected to do so."

Tiger editor Bryn McDougall believes there are pressures from the administration and the school board to print only positive news and steer clear of certain types of stories. However, she doesn't view it as an undue limitation of freedoms.

"We are not professionals and can't be expected to be treated as such," McDougall said.

A number of people, including student journalists, the dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and one high school principal, testified in favor of the legislation during a hearing before the House Judiciary and Ethics Committee last week. The committee has not yet acted on the bill. Bray said several administrators and school board members testified in opposition to the measure.

Bray said the issue is one of control and that administrators fear allowing students to freely exercise their First Amendment rights.

"There are too many schools where students are not allowed to experience responsibility under that right, and what it shows them is that adults do not trust them," Bray said.