The state of California has the strongest laws protecting student press freedom in the country. This means that student journalists have almost all of the same rights and privileges as professional journalists.

So why is censorship of student journalists still so rampant?

The answer is simple: no one knows the law.

Why no one knows

In short, school administrators are not trained in student press law. Advisers are usually faculty members –– an English teacher, say –– who shows an interest in journalism. There is no requirement or incentive for them to understand the law. And students are, unfortunately, the most oblivious of all.

So what?

I’ll begin with my own experience. 

I joined my school newspaper in my sophomore year of high school without a clear idea of what it meant to write, report, or edit for a newspaper.

It wasn’t long before I began noticing little things in the world of high school journalism that just didn’t seem to add up.

During a meeting for our newspaper, a classmate of mine and I floated the idea of an article on school shooting protocol. My adviser nodded and said it would make an interesting article, but that the dean of students wouldn’t be very happy if it were to be published. The idea was forgotten.

Similarly, during another meeting, the news editors asked about writing an article on my school’s “senior assassin” tradition. My adviser said that students had wanted to write about that in previous years, but administration had always pushed back against it. She said the same had happened when students tried to write an article about the issue of sports gambling among the student body. In both instances, the stories were not published.

Additionally, when I applied for editor-in-chief, I was called in for an interview. During the interview, the editors explained that part of the job was to be called into the dean’s office and be reprimanded if something were published that administration was unhappy about.

What gives?

In all three instances, the prior restraint of student expression is extremely present, which is banned by California law because it would be protected by the First Amendment off campus. But because no one fully understood the law, there was no action taken to prevent the suppression of student voices.

I became more and more uncomfortable with these instances of censorship, and one day, an email appeared in my inbox. It was from my adviser, and it was for a program called the New Voices Student Leaders Institute run by the Student Press Law Center (SPLC). She said, “SPLC is the leading national organization protecting, advocating, and supporting student press rights” and urged me to apply.

A call to action

I am currently enrolled in the program and working hard to learn and understand the law to keep future student journalists in California from being censored.

But it can’t be just me. Whether you live in California or not, make it a point to learn about student press law. SPLC is a perfect place to start. Students’ First Amendment rights should not be limited because of ignorance by figures of authority in schools. The way to protect their voices is to learn and teach the law, and anyone can play a part.