I read with interest the St. Petersburg Times’ story on Hillsborough High principal William Orr’s censorship of the student newspaper, The Red and Black. As a former rabble-rouser in my own high school paper, The Challenger, I take interest in perceived threats to student journalists’ freedom.

Last week, I interviewed the two candidates for the Hillsborough County School Board. One of my questions asked how the candidate felt about administrative censorship of high school newspapers, since these issues occasionally make their way to school board meetings.

April Griffin, whose candidacy is defined by her own anti-establishment perspective, told me teachers should “guide” students, but not censor them. “I raised my children to challenge the establishment,” she said, adding she always stressed, “be respectful.”

Ken Allen, who acted as “publisher” of Armwood High’s student newspaper, claimed he never proofed the newspaper before it went to print. Perhaps it’s Allen’s past foray into journalism (he earned his bachelor’s in English/Journalism education) that led him to these wise words: “It was very important to instill with these students who work with the paper a responsibility to press freedom,” he said. “Instruct them [in proper ethics] before you have a problem.”

“You’ve got to give student writers the liberty to be creative,” he continued. “If they work in an environment where they aren’t censored, they won’t feel they need to [cross the line].”

— Alex Pickett

This article appears in Oct 25-31, 2006.