Fall 2000 - Internet
Vol. XXI, No. 3 - Page 35
Legislation could hinder online student papers in N.J.
© 2000 Student Press Law Center
NEW JERSEY -- A bill passed by the state House of Representatives
in June that was meant to protect the privacy of students in the Garden
State also has the ability to greatly restrict the rights of the high school
student press.
HB 592, which is currently in the Senate, would make it illegal for
any personal information about students to be posted on a school Web site
without written consent from a legal guardian. This could include an online
student newspaper.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Barbara Buono and Assemblyman George
Geist, could require schools to prohibit student newspapers from posting
anything from students' names to photos on a school-sponsored Web site,
despite the fact that such material routinely appears in the print version
of student publications available in public libraries and other places.
Neither Buono nor Geist returned calls made to their offices by the
Report.
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