Principal wrong in pulling Iowa student newspaper

By Gerry Appel
Commentary

The Little Hawk is facing big problems.

The student newspaper at Iowa City High School, which has received oodles of state and national journalism awards, finds itself in First Amendment crossfire, after Principal Mark Hanson pulled copies of the newest edition out of students’ hands.  Hanson said he was concerned that three separate verbal arguments between students would have escalated into violence, with a Little Hawk front page story serving as the catalyst.

The offending story reported a newspaper survey taken by 250 students, revealing that 2 percent of respondents have an unfavorable view toward white students, and 13 percent view black students unfavorably.  Student editor Adam Sullivan told the Gazette newspaper that Hanson did see the story ahead of time, and asked for the story to be removed. Sullivan also told the Iowa City Press-Citizen that Hanson “didn’t tell anybody” when he pulled the papers.

If you are a supporter of the First Amendment, then this incident is another example of a principal silencing the student voice. What makes this particular instance so scary is that Iowa is one of seven states boasting student free expression laws, yet the directive was not enough to protect the student newspaper. While these laws do not make it impossible to censor the student media, the law requires administrators to abide by several requisites.  Administrators can step in if student expression is obscene, libelous or slanderous. In Iowa, student newspapers also cannot encourage students to “commit unlawful acts,” “violate lawful school regulations,” or “cause the material and substantial disruption of the orderly operation of the school.”

In plain English, the law says, “there shall be no prior restraint of material prepared for official school publications except when the material violates this section.” So, what happened in Iowa City?

Did several verbal altercations between students really fall under the “material and substantial disruption” clause in the student expression code? Hard to say for sure, but perhaps Hanson overreacted.  Calling the students into his office to mediate the problem would have been a good alternative to silencing the voice of the student newspaper. And that seems to be the issue with many situations of censorship—school officials attack the newspaper instead of the issue at hand. Does Iowa City High School have a problem with racism?  That’s not for me to say.  But looking at race relations would certainly be a more appropriate response than confiscating the student newspaper.

John Bowen, of the Journalism Education Association Scholastic Press Rights Commission, agrees that Hanson is misdirecting his efforts.

“It is not the papers or the student journalists or their comments that created the situation,” Bowen said. “It seems they did nothing to heighten any tensions or make any threats.”

Iowa City High School should now take advantage of this situation and use recent developments as a learning opportunity. With dialogue, the administration can develop a better understanding of students’ expression rights. An effective student newspaper only works if everyone is on the same page.

The school itself would benefit from a free press; an outlet which will illuminate problems within the school, and then act as a community builder to bring teachers, students and staff together.