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Info for
High School Journalists

By Randy Swikle

The wellness of the First Amendment in America’s high schools is in jeopardy, according to a million dollar survey sponsored by the John A. and James L. Knight Foundation. Few students understand or appreciate the significance of the First Amendment, according to the study, and that’s causing deep concerns among many educators and proponents of individual liberties. Seventy-five percent of the 112,003 high school students surveyed mistakenly

thought that burning or defacing an American flag as a political statement is illegal. One in three students said the
press ought to be more restricted. More than a third thought that newspapers should get “government approval” of stories before they are published.

Nearly three-fourths said either they don’t know how they feel about the First Amendment or that they take it for granted.
The study revealed that students who participate in student-run newspapers are more likely to believe that students should be allowed to report controversial issues without approval of school authorities than are students who do not participate in student newspapers.

But the trend seems to be a reduction in the number student media experiences in high school. More than one in five high schools offer no student media whatsoever. Of the high schools that do not offer student newspapers, 40 percent have eliminated them within the past five years. Of those schools, 68 percent now have no media.

Supporters of the First Amendment are taking action. The day the survey was made public, Jan. 31, The Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va., hosted a two-day summit conference of 60 of America’s top educators, journalists, attorneys and First Amendment scholars, representing a wide variety of journalism, school, news, legal and First Amendment-support organizations.
Participants discussed the significance of the Knight Foundation survey and shared strategies for advancing awareness of the First
Amendment in high schools. One target for improving the status of the First Amendment was school administrators, who many think should take greater initiative in allowing students to practice First Amendment freedoms in school.

“I find students are really not very informed,” said Marilyn Weaver, summit participant and chairwoman of the journalism department at Ball State University in Indiana. “They have a very narrow view of what the First Amendment is, perhaps. I think that is because in many cases they have not enjoyed First Amendment rights yet in their lives. And it’s very hard for them to understand what the First Amendment is all about when they haven’t been given that freedom yet. Schools don’t encourage and nurture free thinking and free expression.

Charles Haynes, the senior scholar at the First Amendment Center of The Freedom Forum, pointed out obstacles to a more First Amendment-friendly school culture.

“The biggest obstacle to practicing First Amendment principles in schools is the undemocratic, repressive way in which many schools are run,” Haynes said. “If schools want to take the First Amendment seriously, they must give students and all members of the school community a meaningful voice in shaping the life of the school. The biggest obstacles to teaching student media are budget cuts and the myopic focus on high-stakes testing.”

Conference participants vowed to keep in contact as they pursue strategies to promote the First Amendment in schools.
In Illinois, the Illinois Press Foundation and the Illinois First Amendment Center began taking initiatives to promote the First Amendment before the Knight survey was concluded. A First Amendment curriculum was developed along with a set of four First Amendment posters, all available free through the Illinois First Amendment Center. Two full-time employees were hired by the IPF to work on First Amendment projects for the First Amendment Center.

For access to the Knight Foundation Survey, “Future of the First Amendment – What America’s High School Students Think About Their Freedoms” visit www.knightfdn.org or firstamendmentfuture.org.

NINA Board member Randy Swikle retired in 2003 after 36 years of teaching journalism and advising student publications . He taught 34 years in Johnsburg School District 12 in Johnsburg, Ill. In 1999, Randy was named National Journalism Teacher of the Year by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund. For help in getting a journalism curriculum and a student newspaper started in your school, contact Randy Swikle, Illinois state director of the Journalism Education Association, at randyswikle@comcast.net.