So, I've been concerned with my school lately. I've been colliding with this inevitable cases I just can't ignore. See, the school council's president is a great friend of mine and he's been telling me that the projects he have passed to our principal was just thrown away and instead, my friend was given a project thought by the principal for him to do. I, both as a friend and a concerned editor-in-chief of the school paper (not to brag), am concerned on what is happening. My school is a total bore: a private Catholic school facilitated by nuns, taught in by teachers that keeps all relations away from students, lacks activities, lacks some advancement in lessons and quite uncomfortable to be at. I have some pretty good suggestions to tell and honestly, if ever they'll be expressed, it'll make great improvements. Since I have some power and I make major frequencies at the principal's office for a good reason, I think I can do something about it. Through the paper, I can make an article which can provoke other students to feel the same; it's our freedom of expression. But don't you think that'll be kind of an abuse of power? What do you think can I do? Need help please, for my friend and school...
First of all, you need a little dose of reality: your freedom of expression is pretty much null when you're in school. Just like it can be in the real world, too. If your principal doesn't like what you're printing, he call pull you off the school newspaper. Just like if a publisher of a real newspaper didn't like something the editor was printing and decided to fire them. Your freedom of expression allows for you personally to express yourself however you want, but doesn't give you the right to bulldoze over everyone else's rights. Second, I believe you should write about something that you care about, especially if you're feeling oppressed, but there are better ways to go about it. Instead of organizing the students through something extremely public, do it by word of mouth and have private meetings until you have enough support to present a case to the school board. Extend your reach beyond the students and get parents involved, since their opinion weighs significantly more than your--no offense.
I believe and trust your answer will do good. -nods- More opinions will be better than just one, and it will also be better if I get my opinions thought of by everyone else before acting, quite reckless of me ,yes. ^^ I actually am thinking to tell my other fellow members if they could conduct some sort of survey around their usual environments about what they think of the school. I think that'll be a good chance to see if what others can say about the school. With the collected information, I can make something about it. I guess I can request that the school paper staff be a separate entity from the faculty and staff, before I do anything. They somehow interfere with the publication and they control whatever is in it. Shouldn't we, the school paper staff, be only of control to the principal and no one else? We're a body of freedom of expression, we can pretty much make everything because of our given liberty but so we shouldn't be held by some sort of outer influence. That's what I think of it.
If you're in the US, I believe there are some pretty strong precedents on free speech for students on the staff of a school newspaper. So particularly if you're writing about oppression by the administration of things like anti-bullying or tolerance efforts, that's just the sort of thing the ACLU would love to take on because it's the very kind of speech oppression they are trying to prevent. So I'd talk to your advisor for the paper, and publish whatever you feel is important... but do it in a respectful tone and without any hyperbole or call to action that could give the principal incentive to argue you were acting irresponsibly. If you get any action against you, or your article is censored, then most likely the ACLU will help.
I did my part...I hope. I wrote this submitted it to the school newsletter and it got in. It got teachers thinking and some stopped letting homophobia carry on in the class. Written by me:
