2002 kidSPEAK! News

Armstrong School District in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, has placed Judy Blume’s book "Forever" under restricted access in their school libraries. Parents had complained that the book may not be appropriate for school libraries due to its content. The book is currently being reviewed by the school district to determine its appropriateness. more>>

The book Breaking Boxes has been removed from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, elementary school libraries and is currently under review by a school committee. Breaking Boxes by A.M. Jenkins is an award winning young adult book about a loner's quest for friendship. Betty White, a grandmother of a nine-year-old at Tuscaloosa’s Rock Quarry Elementary school believes the book's language and discussion of sexual issues are inappropriate for the school library. At White's request, a group of school administrators, teachers and parents are reviewing the book to determine if it is appropriate for Tuscaloosa's Elementary and Middle schools. The committee says they will attempt to balance the First Amendment rights of students against the appropriateness of the book. more>>

President Bush has signed into law a new Internet domain name for kids. Unlike the .com domain name, .kids.us will be administered by the NeuStar company to make sure material on it is "child-friendly." Instant messaging and chat rooms will be banned from the domain name unless they are certified as "safe for children." The Center for Democracy and Technology protested against the new domain name saying it will be ineffective at protecting children. The group also questions how NeuStar will handle material that may be inappropriate for young children but may be appropriate for pre-teens. more>>

School administrators weren't laughing when eighteen-year-old Caitlin Mills-Groninger presented funny awards to her favorite teachers during a commencement speech. Her diploma, from Whiting High School in Whiting, IN, was taken away because her speech deviated from the proposed speech she had submitted to school administrators. Caitlin and her parents believe the punishment violates her free speech rights. more>>

Twelve-year-old Jesse Doyle, of Norview Middle School in Norfolk, VA, won a battle with his school administrators over his blue hair. Jesse's mother had dyed his hair as a reward for his good grades, but the school said that Jesse would cause a distraction and placed him on detention. Jesse and his mom fought the detention as a violation of Jesse's right to free expression. They pleaded their case on news programs and contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, an organization that fights for peoples right to free expression. School administrators finally relented, and Jesse was readmitted to class. more>>

School administrators in two Houston area schools have forced students to remove gay content from their publications. At Hastings High School in Houston, TX administrators gave no reason for making students remove an article about the abuse gay and lesbian teenagers face. Student editor Askari Mohamaed appealed to his local ABC affiliate which placed the article on its website.

At Cinco Ranch High School in Katy, TX student yearbook editor Robbie McMillan was told by administrators to remove a story on gay and lesbian teens "coming out." McMillan may seek legal action. more>>

New York State has pledged to no longer edit literature passages in tests to delete references to race, religion, disability and other subjects after complaints by civil liberties groups including kidSPEAK! sponsors' the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the National Coalition Against Censorship. The tests are required for all New York state public school students to graduate from high school. more>>

A three judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has declared that the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment, which provides for a separation of church and state. According to the court, the Pledge constitutes an endorsement of religion. Therefore, when the Pledge is recited in schools and other government facilities, it violates the separation of church and state.

The decision has been stayed pending a ruling by the full circuit court. If upheld, the decision would make it illegal for public schools, in the nine western sates within the Ninth Circuit, to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance exercise. The case was brought by a parent of a second grader who says the pledge is a violation of his family's freedom to not believe in god. If the decision is upheld by the full Ninth Circuit court, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on the constitutionality of the Pledge. more>>

In a 5-4 decision the U.S. Supreme Court declared that public schools may require students whom participate in after school programs to submit to a drug test. The case, Board of Education v. Earls was brought by Lindsay Earls when she was a high school student in Oklahoma. Civil liberties organizations condemned the decision as a violation of student privacy. The American Civil Liberties Union has created a guide for students who oppose random drug testing programs in their schools. The guide can be found at here.

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School officials at Robinson High School in Tampa, FL and 17-year-old student Nikki Youngblood are squaring off in federal court over the school's yearbook picture polices. The school requires female students to wear a dress and male students a suit. Nikki has not worn traditional female clothes in years and objected to the rules as discriminatory. School officials said that Nikki could place her picture in the back of the yearbook with the advertisements if she did not want to wear the dress. Nikki declined and instead filed a lawsuit charging that the restriction violates her right to free expression. more>>

Sarah Jones was surprised when her song "Your Revolution," which criticizes musicians who present women as sex objects, was banned from the airwaves by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for being sexually explicit. The FCC declared the song indecent and fined a radio station $7,000 for playing it. Both the radio station and Sarah Jones are suing the FCC. more>>

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