Research proposal
Censorship, or guidance? Education, or inhibition? These are two questions that no doubt seem to be at the core of the debate on censorship in high school newspapers. In 1988, the US Supreme Court in the case Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier established that a school district might censor a student newspaper for a variety of reasons (Rolnicki). According to this case, while students have some First Amendments rights in public schools, teachers, principals, and school district administrators retain the authority to censor student publications that are part of the curriculum. This has without a doubt caused enormous controversy in schools, and in order to further define the basis of censorship, the Supreme Court has made is clear that in order for a school to censor an act it must be, “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns” (Rolnicki). But are schools really censoring articles due to “pedagogical concerns,” or is it more of fear that these articles will put a stain on their own reputations?
However, I believe that schools are censoring articles that don’t actually impede with academics, for while it has been said that, “inappropriate content could range from a story about the existence of Santa Claus to information about teenage sex or drugs use,” these are the issues that are most relevant to high school students (Rolnicki). Due to a personal connection, I have chosen to focus on the censoring of articles having to do with teenage pregnancy, but my ultimate question and the one I plan to research is why schools find this topic to be worth censoring, and on what grounds they believe it to be, “a legitimate pedagogical concern” (Rolnicki).
First and foremost, to get a general overview of the whole issue of censorship, I plan on gathering a few interviews from high school students who have, or are participating in their high school journalism programs, in an attempt to gain more of understanding of just how much editing is taking place in high schools in the first place. For “it is difficult to study frames, without noticing people’s feelings about specific beliefs and understands, or collective identities without appreciating the sentiments attached to them” (9). I think it would be a good idea to have a general understanding of the issue of censorship before focusing on more concrete issue.
Next, and in order to really answer my main question, I plan on first asking the students I interview what they think about the issue of teenage pregnancy. I think it would be interesting to get the students perspective on this issue first, and to ask them if they believe this issue to be a “legitimate pedagogical concern” (Rolnicki). As Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta say in the first chapter of their book Passionate Politics, which focuses on social movements and the emotions behind them, “supporters may have preexisting sympathies, which predispose them to agree emotionally with the movement” (31). I believe that it is important to understand exactly the audience I am dealing with. I would then ultimately like to ask teachers, not only journalism ones, but others, and in various subjects what their views on the issue of teenage pregnancy is, and whether they find it an appropriate topic to be published in school newspapers.
As my last form of research, I want to conduct a survey on random students to see how many believe the topic of teenage abortion to be or not to be too controversial to be published. I believe that students are the ones being affected by this censorship, and as Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta say in their book Passionate Politics, “participation carries many pleasures, which may be great enough to motivate participation without relying on a cognitive belied that success is possible or likely” (18), so I want to inspire students to realize that they are being restricted and limited by this censorship. This censorship, and especially the topics that are being censored, abortion, drug use, divorce and many others, are topics that are most relevant to high school students, and therefore having them censored is only a disadvantage to students. I believe that publishing these stories not only raises awareness for the topics at hand, but also helps form a safe environment for students, where they don’t need to be afraid to share their stories. I believe that as Passionate Politics mentions in its third chapter, “social movements arise from a sense of grievance and/or of injustice,” and I believe this topic to be one of injustice. (67)
Through my research, I hope to not only answer the questions I have posed, but to also help students take more of a look at what is going on in their schools, for, “if a conscience constituency can be extended for enough, so that it encompasses the vast majority of a society, there is no privileged person who can stand against it, no authority who will not be delegitimated and deserted” (33). In my opinion, this topic of censorship has the possibility to really become a movement, such as the one that Passionate Politics addresses, for if the “innocent victims” or students in this case, begin to take more of a stand, they will without a doubt, “[mobilize] wide support” (32). In addition, in the first chapter, the authors focus on intellectual movements, and how they, “succeed because their energizing conflicts focus attention for the entire intellectual field, some players are transformed into actors, others into audiences” (36). I believe this issue to be an intellectual movement, and as students begin to fight back, “breaking with their teachers,” I believe that the intellectual community will get involved (35).
However, I believe that schools are censoring articles that don’t actually impede with academics, for while it has been said that, “inappropriate content could range from a story about the existence of Santa Claus to information about teenage sex or drugs use,” these are the issues that are most relevant to high school students (Rolnicki). Due to a personal connection, I have chosen to focus on the censoring of articles having to do with teenage pregnancy, but my ultimate question and the one I plan to research is why schools find this topic to be worth censoring, and on what grounds they believe it to be, “a legitimate pedagogical concern” (Rolnicki).
First and foremost, to get a general overview of the whole issue of censorship, I plan on gathering a few interviews from high school students who have, or are participating in their high school journalism programs, in an attempt to gain more of understanding of just how much editing is taking place in high schools in the first place. For “it is difficult to study frames, without noticing people’s feelings about specific beliefs and understands, or collective identities without appreciating the sentiments attached to them” (9). I think it would be a good idea to have a general understanding of the issue of censorship before focusing on more concrete issue.
Next, and in order to really answer my main question, I plan on first asking the students I interview what they think about the issue of teenage pregnancy. I think it would be interesting to get the students perspective on this issue first, and to ask them if they believe this issue to be a “legitimate pedagogical concern” (Rolnicki). As Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta say in the first chapter of their book Passionate Politics, which focuses on social movements and the emotions behind them, “supporters may have preexisting sympathies, which predispose them to agree emotionally with the movement” (31). I believe that it is important to understand exactly the audience I am dealing with. I would then ultimately like to ask teachers, not only journalism ones, but others, and in various subjects what their views on the issue of teenage pregnancy is, and whether they find it an appropriate topic to be published in school newspapers.
As my last form of research, I want to conduct a survey on random students to see how many believe the topic of teenage abortion to be or not to be too controversial to be published. I believe that students are the ones being affected by this censorship, and as Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta say in their book Passionate Politics, “participation carries many pleasures, which may be great enough to motivate participation without relying on a cognitive belied that success is possible or likely” (18), so I want to inspire students to realize that they are being restricted and limited by this censorship. This censorship, and especially the topics that are being censored, abortion, drug use, divorce and many others, are topics that are most relevant to high school students, and therefore having them censored is only a disadvantage to students. I believe that publishing these stories not only raises awareness for the topics at hand, but also helps form a safe environment for students, where they don’t need to be afraid to share their stories. I believe that as Passionate Politics mentions in its third chapter, “social movements arise from a sense of grievance and/or of injustice,” and I believe this topic to be one of injustice. (67)
Through my research, I hope to not only answer the questions I have posed, but to also help students take more of a look at what is going on in their schools, for, “if a conscience constituency can be extended for enough, so that it encompasses the vast majority of a society, there is no privileged person who can stand against it, no authority who will not be delegitimated and deserted” (33). In my opinion, this topic of censorship has the possibility to really become a movement, such as the one that Passionate Politics addresses, for if the “innocent victims” or students in this case, begin to take more of a stand, they will without a doubt, “[mobilize] wide support” (32). In addition, in the first chapter, the authors focus on intellectual movements, and how they, “succeed because their energizing conflicts focus attention for the entire intellectual field, some players are transformed into actors, others into audiences” (36). I believe this issue to be an intellectual movement, and as students begin to fight back, “breaking with their teachers,” I believe that the intellectual community will get involved (35).