Censor Ship of a High School Newspaper

Censoreship of a High School Newspaper Students at Central High School have written an article called “Underage Drinking Rampant at Central High”. The article is in the High School newspaper called The Tiger’s Eye”. The article is about teenagers from the high school are underage drinking and it is out of control. The students want to distribute the news paper to the school. The School’s Administration is against the distribution of this article. The principal and superintendent believe the article should be censored from the school.

But the students believe that distributing the article will inform younger teenagers about underage drinking, and will prevent them from drinking. Although the Administration believes that the newspaper should be surpressed, it should still be distributed. The first reason the article should be distributed is because it’s the law. The Constitution contains all the laws of the United States. The First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution guarantees the right of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. According to the First Amendment “Congress shall make no law… abridging the freedom of speech or of the press…” (134).

Freedom of speech means that the students can write and publish whatever they want. In addition, the editor of “The Tiger’s Eye” pointed out that the principal and super intendent “want a community in which everyone obeys the law. Everyone but them” (134). In other words, the administration should also obey the law. However, the law does apply in some circumstances. For example, the U. S. Supreme Court decided that High School Administrations have the right to censor or forbid topics that can be sensitive to students.

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The Administrators believe that underage drinking is a sensitive topic and that they should forbid the distribution of the article. But everyone knows about underage drinking, so it is not a sensitive topic. Therefore, the right of freedom of the press should be respected. The second reason the article should be distributed is so the students learn about the what happens when you drink. The consequences that underage drinking can affect you are serious. Almost everyone at the high school kows about drinking. An anonymous person stated “First you drink a little. Then you dance a little. Then you find a quiet bedroom somewhere or go out ang nto your car. Everybody knows this. ”(133). He or she clearly satets the a majority of the high school students knows what happens. Furthermore, Juanita C. says “Sure I drink. Not a lot. Everyone I know does. ”(132). She has friends that drink and she stated that everyone she knows does. However, Trisha M. was one of the many people who said “I’m not ready to drink yet. Maybe when I get a lot older. ”(133). She and the other teens that answered a similar way don’t really know what’s happening with the drinking. Nevertheless, informing people about the serious consequences can save lives.

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