Advising: not a 'litigation minefield'

Like the Mr. Yuk sticker for poison control when my children were toddlers, the Student Press Law Center contact information is visibly posted in my journalism room. In fact, in my 16 years of advising, we have consulted the non-profit for guidance, reassurance, or wisdom at least 10 times.

Once, after calling Disney to request use of an image to accompany a movie review (and getting a flat-out “no”), we called the SPLC and celebrated just the opposite answer. What a great ego boost for young journalists to realize that there was someone in Washington DC advocating for them in the fight against the Anaheim mogul.

So, for me, meeting Frank LoMonte, the executive director of the SPLC, was like finally connecting with a never-met friend.

Frank assured us that by advising a school publication, we’re not “walking on a litigation minefield,” but that we advisers have fewer First Amendment Rights than our students. Battles over censorship should be between the student and the school administration.

“I got to be the big man on campus eight times a year when they opened the school paper,” he told us, adding that he he been censored that would have been an "exercise in disempowerment.”

But let the students ( and their parents) advocate for their stories if administrative concerns arise.

“Because at the end of the day, you are a loyal school employee,” he said.

Lucinda Hogentogler

Central York High School

York, Pa.