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FIRST VOICES



Little things mean a lot at the Newseum
Indianapolis Star column
by Warren Watson

J-Ideas Director Warren Watson blogs regularly for the Indianapolis Star. Here are his latest offerings:

Landmark First Amendment Research
with School Principals launched at Ball State

Ball State’s First Amendment institute has launched a landmark research project with 5,000 high school principals nationwide.

J-Ideas, a 5-year-old effort to support student journalism and First Amendment awareness, is reaching out to 5,000 principals to gauge their knowledge level and support for the First Amendment of the Constitution. The research coincides with Sunshine Week, a national effort to support Freedom of Information, an important principle of the First Amendment. <more>

-Campus free-speech thrives

-Ignoramcer in Palin, Dowd free-speech remarks

-Plainfield pays respect to First Amendment

-Banned Books Week

-Palin-tology

-Author creates First Amendment 'primer'

-New President must revive Constitution

-Traditional news misses Edwards escapade

-Protesters' rights fenced off

-Social networking pitfalls

-Bad year for traditional news gatherers

-Baseball and the First Amendment

-Principals and the First Amendment

-Remembering a crusader

-Photo ID law bad for voters

-Thoughts from the annual U.S. editors convention

-Need for print journalism remains

-Sunshine:now more than ever

-Mean-spirited fans

-Peter Jennings' legacy

-The First Amendment at the Alamo

-A New museum for news

-Author creates First Amendment 'primer'

-Unlikely First Amendment hero

-Harrison represented Hoosiers proudly

-Online course wraps for the fall

-Religious freedom for all

-Reading is FUN-damental

-Nothing negative

-Blogs grow in influence, but beware of anonymity

-Parent rides the bench after blog posting

-Student journalist's actions serves profession poorly

-Examining free speech online

-Remembering the courageous Elijah Parish Lovejoy

-First Amendment protects unpopular speech, too

Student journalists scoop professional press

By Gerry Appel

In an era where student journalists are often criticized for poor decision-making, one student newspaper should receive praise after scooping its professional counterparts. <more>

-Principal wrong in pulling paper

Mile high with the First Amendment...

By Randy Swikle

We were north of the Mile High City near the Rocky Mountains. The principals were voluntarily descending—not from the tall peaks but from their position abutting the summit of school hierarchy. When they reached level ground, we could see each other more clearly. And clear sight leads to insight. <more > 

Social networking pitfalls
Posted by Warren Watson

July 28, 2008

If you've been on another planet for the last three years, you missed the latest blossoming of the Internet -- Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace that link millions of users, serve as a source of news, information and just plain fun. Many believe these sites enrich public education.

Many young people can't get enough of a good thing, and sometimes they take things a bit far.
When I was a teenager, friends kept personal diaries where they expressed their deepest, sometimes darkest thoughts. They contained criticism of friends and teachers and even clones of evil Principal Rooney, the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" villain.

Kids now use social networking sites for that venting. Problem is: Critical words don't stay in the top drawer of the dresser anymore. On Facebook and MySpace, words are there for all the world to see. Images too. Some even a little naughty.

The latest issue: an increasing number of college athletic coaches and others are monitoring the social networking habits of players, concerned that information critical of the school or team may be published, according to a July 28 article in USA Today. Some athletes have been punished.

At the same time, a high school in Lamar, Miss., enacted a policy forbidding public school students and teachers from contacting each other through social networking and text messaging.

The two developments illustrate the power of digital speech. They also indicate the lengths to which officials seek to censor free speech through policy.

In the end, it would be wiser to spend more effort educating students about the challenges and dangers of the Internet than to squash their efforts at learning how to express themselves.

Let's give education a chance.