The article is about a high school newspaper that was printed but the principal did not allow the students to read it. One of the articles in the paper written by a student was about legalizing marijuana. The principal read the article and did not allow it to reach the students because he believed it was inappropriate. This leads to a big debate on whether the principal did the right thing or not. Was this a violation of the students right to free speech and free press? If you were the principal how would you have handled it and also as a student how would you have reacted? Also, let it be known that this blog argument is about the principal withholding the paper and not about legalizing marijuana.
I think that the article should have been printed. It is a violation of that students right. Providing at least that the article was taken seriously and not just some big joke about smoking weed. If it was taken seriously then the student does have a right to voice his opinion. If he didn't like where the article was going he could make the whole thing into a debate about whether to legalize marijuana or not. This would give each student a voice on the subject and make the article more two sided.
ReplyDeleteTo start, I am a strong believer in the first amendment. However, the right to free speech says that someone has the right to say whatever they want, granted they are not infringing on other people's rights. In a high school, there are minors as young as fourteen that will be reading this article. In this modern day and age of the caring(overprotective) parent, somebody is going to be angry about it since marijuana is a bit of a "taboo" subject especially in high school. From that, I believe the principal was right in playing on the side of caution. It was easier to pull the article and deal with the student backlash, than to print it and deal with the parents (who really have the power). There is a time and place for everything, and an article about marijuana in a high school is not one of them.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan. While I do believe people have the right to free speech and all that, i think it's kind of different when in a high school. I don't think marijuana is really an appropriate subject for a school newspaper. Like stated before, dealing with the students would be a lot easier than dealing with parents.I can understand if the student had to do a research project or a debate paper and decided to write it about marijuana. However, a newspaper is for more or less informing the school about issues. Not debating the legalization of marijuana. As for the teacher quitting...that's just kind of ridiculous.
I feel the actions taken by the principle were just and did not break any of the student constitutional rights. Although there was one bad article the whole paper should not have been withheld from the school. The reason this is not breaking his rights is because he is a minor and the principle is acting in the best interest of the school. Also, he is covering himself from parents complaining about an article about marijuana in the hands of a 14 year old.
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ReplyDeleteI agree too. I think since there are minors in the high school the principle does have the right to choose what should and shouldn't be printed. It is his/her job to make sure the students are in line, learn, and are in a safe environment. I think parents may get upset with having articles about marijuana in the school newspaper and that it would cause conflict. I think that if it was something assigned in the classroom that the student would have the freedom to write about it. Also, I agree with Cody that the whole paper should not have been banned from the school.
Prompt 2
ReplyDeleteThe principal decided to pull the magazine out of distribution at a really bad time and now he is paying for it with the school being blown up in the news and also he now needs a new Journalism teacher. It is his fault that he did not see what was in the newspaper in the first place. I can understand people getting upset over taboo subjects like smoking but if I was the principal I would of just let it rock, and let the newspaper be distributed. Ideas and topics stay under the “taboo” category because it is not talked about or people are afraid to talk about it. I think some issues need to be addressed and things like the first amendment helps us do that. In my opinion it is good to provide information on a topic then allow the audience to perform their own opinion on the topic. To me, taking back the paper is like sheltering the students. Also I respect the Journalism teacher for quitting his job that really shows he believes strongly in the first amendment or that he just don’t care about that job that much.
I believe that the principal of this school had absolutely no right to censor this newspaper staff. I spent two years on my high school's newspaper team and I know that I would be upset if my article was prevented from others to read. I do think this censorship is a violation of free speech and free press. It is our right to share our opinions and we should do so. I do not believe that anyone has a right to censor anyone else's opinion.
ReplyDeleteAlthough students do have a right to express themselves in a learning environment, I believe the principle did the right thing. Some people may look at this comment and think that I am for censoring and communism and all that negative stuff, but free speech has limits and this is clearly written in the constitution. Speech no longer becomes free if in promotes "clear and present danger". The pirnciple probably saw that article in the same light and was afriad that maybe this would spark a revolution or a protest, something that would clearly take away from the learning evironment. The students had the whole other magazine and even previous editions to express themselves, but an article so controversial could have stirred things up within the school walls, taking away from the ultimate goal of the school in the first place - education.
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ReplyDeleteI support the first amendment and believe that every person has his right to free speech and press. This scenario is a bit different though, it is a high school newspaper. Many students are under the age of 18 and not an appropriate audience for an article about legalizing marijuana. The principal made the right decision to pull this article from being printed. If the article would have been printed, I feel that the parents of the students at the school wouldn't like this and cause a greater controversy than what was really done.
Prompt 2
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read this article I thought that the principal was in the wrong for banning the article. However, after thinking about all the reasons behind their decision, I believe that the principal made the right decision in not allowing the article to be read by the students. At this young of an age, the students still need supervision and rules. They are not adults yet and reading an article on the legalization of marijuana would be inappropriate. The students need to be focusing their attention on their education and not about some article that should not even relate to them. The student who wrote the article had the right to freedom of speech when writing the article, but it was just not shown to other students. I think the principal handled this situation in the right way because if he had not banned the article, then parents may have come back at him saying that if he is allowing the article to be read, then he is promoting the legalization and use of marijuana. Although there is still controversy over whether the principal did the right thing or not, I believe it was for the betterment of the students and the school as a whole.
I think this is being blown way out of proportion and I don't believe what the principal did was wrong. When you attend high-school you give up some of your rights and you have to attend to the schools rules. High-Schools have a duty to mold children into adults as well as educating them. Taking an article away because it talked about legalizing an illegal drug is completely okay for the principal to do. It would start a much bigger uproar from angry parents learning that their child's high-school is teaching them to legalize drugs.
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ReplyDeleteI think in this instance, the article should not have been printed. Although in high school kids should learn about debate and making strong arguments, arguments about the legalization of marijuana should not take place in high school. The principal had every right to do what he did. It's high school, the students are all still minors and they need to learn about more important things. Later in life they can worry about arguing such points. The students have right to free press, but as minors their points are restricted when it comes to academic writing. In public high schools, the students are at the mercy of the school, they are able to restrict and control what they deem necessary. I would've done exactly what the principal did.
Prompt 2
ReplyDeleteWhat the principle did was completely fine. The last thing that schools need to worry about is their students wanting drugs legalized. The principle should have the right to stop an article that he believes might disrupt or cause an outrage over at school. Outside of school or in a different situation would be fine to talk about a subject like this, but in there is one main purpose of school and that is to learn.
The principle did nothing wrong. If you put the school in place of a company, such as The New York Times, then the principle would be similar to the chief editor in having the final say in what is printed and what is not. The newspaper belong to the school and therefore represented the school. The principle has every right to keep something from being printed.
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ReplyDeleteAlthough the fact that principle prohibited the accessibility of the newspaper that contains a student’s article about legalizing marijuana violates the student’s right to freely speak in the public, the principle made a right decision that may prevent some young people from making big mistakes. In high school, students are still too immature to keep themselves away from dangerous things like marijuana. If there is something about legalizing marijuana on school newspaper, students will decrease their precaution toward marijuana and let their strong curiosity lead them to try new things out. Based on the concern of students’ immaturity and the topic’s impropriety, principle did a right thing to not allow students read the newspaper.
In another perspective, the article points out the importance and influence of decisions in people’s lives. A decision may totally change one’s destiny and life. Therefore, making decisions is very hard, especially under a conflict situation such as whether to limit one’s freedom to talk or allow an impropriate article to be prevalent and bring bad consequence. When the choices are tough and each of them will cause a huge influence with different outcomes, how are you going to make your decision? What is more important factor to lead you making up your mind?
Prompt 2
ReplyDeleteWithholding the school newspaper should be up to the principal for the sole reason that he is ultimately the one held responsible for what is printed in it. If the principal believed that he would be penalized for an article about legalizing drugs, I believe he shouldn't even be questioned. If it were a city newspaper article with primarily adult readers, it may have been more appropriate to publish the story. If I was the principal I would have undoubtedly done the same thing, regardless of whether the students agree with me or not.
It is a violation of free speech and free press. Just because the principal thought it was a good idea doesnt actually make it a good idea. The principal might think its right to dress a certain way but to students it might not be the same. Also it is a different era, things are less intense then how they used to be, for example talking about marijuana. If the students did see it im sure they would just talk about it and then when something else came up that got their attention then they would pay attention to that.
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