SCSU student chapter tackles high school censorship

by Mackenzie Hurlbert
Southern Connecticut State University SPJ chapter president

High school newspapers have commonly been a place of intense censorship and
debate. Like a parent to a child, many high schools use the simple justification of
“Because I said so…” to cut, mold, or manipulate their student newspapers. The
Southern Connecticut State University Chapter of SPJ took an opportunity to ask
high school journalists about their thoughts on censorship in school media.

On Friday, Oct. 24, Southern Connecticut State University hosted their annual High
School Journalism Day and invited schools from across Connecticut to spend the day
attending journalism-oriented discussions, panels and guest speakers. Southern’s
SPJ set up a table with a big banner paper banner and asked high school students to
practice their freedom of speech by commenting on how censorship has affected
their student papers.

Some responses were specific complaints about experiences with censorship while
others were more broad statements about First Amendment freedoms.