Protect Advisers so they can do their Jobs
by Angela Thomas

Student publications advisers need protection. Period.  We believe that Oregon’s HB 3279 bill should include language that affirms this. There are countless examples that support our assertion.  Several miles up the road here in Indiana (Allen County), a highly publicized suspension of a journalism teacher for refusing to censor an editorial submitted by one of her students illustrates the need for adviser protection.

Amy Sorrell was suspended and then transferred to a new school after she allowed a student’s column supporting tolerance of gays to run without administrative approval, even though the district had no written policy requiring prior review. School officials gave her an unpaid, five-day suspension, re-assigned her to another school to teach English, and have disallowed her from teaching journalism in her new school for three years.

The situation Sorrell and her students faced are becoming increasingly common.  Here are more examples: A student editor in Texas filed a formal complaint against his administrator for prohibiting distribution of his high school paper that contained articles on sexually transmitted diseases. A Florida high school principal demanded student newspaper staff members physically cut out an article from every issue of the school’s paper before distribution. 

Why?  Because the article reported an achievement gap in the state’s standardized test scores between white and minority students – particularly at that school.  Interestingly, the student journalists obtained the information by searching public records.  As with the Sorrell case, each adviser in the above situations experienced corrective action, or were reprimanded or disciplined. 

Civics lessons can be best learned and conveyed through student media, which is not subject to administrative censorship, but under the guidance of a well trained, qualified journalism adviser.  The adviser’s role is not to censor or encourage “public relations” articles from the student publications they oversee.  Their role is to serve as a sounding board, provide guidance, and teach their students the accountability and responsibilities they, as journalists, have to their peers. Student publications provide forums for student expression.  It’s the true application of civics. 

An adviser should not be afraid of being terminated or facing disciplinary action because he or she encouraged student free expression as guaranteed to all U.S. citizens through the First Amendment.

Angela Thomas, Deputy Director
J-IDEAS, Department of Journalism
Ball State University