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Keep up-to-date on news in the world of free speech and censorship! You can even sign up to be notified of changes as they are posted on the kidSPEAK site! |  |
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2003 kidSPEAK! News Suspended for Criticizing Teacher, Students Sue Two high school students in Snellville, Georgia, are taking their school administrators to court. The students were suspended for criticizing one of their teachers in an online posting. After an anonymous student brought these postings to the attention of the school, administrators decided they were violent threats and disciplined the students. With the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, the students filed a lawsuit charging school officials with violating their right to free speech. more>> Judge Sides with Student's Political Wardrobe Choice A federal judge has ruled that Bretton Barber, a high school student in Dearborn, Michigan, should not have been disciplined by school officials for wearing a T-shirt calling President Bush an "International Terrorist." "Students benefit when school officials provide an environment where they can openly express their diverging viewpoints and when they learn to tolerate the opinions of others," the judge declared. more>> "Dear Diary . . . Today I Was Expelled" Rachel Boim, a high school freshman in Atlanta, Georgia, was expelled for writing a story about a student who dreams she kills a teacher. Rachel wrote the story in her private journal, which was confiscated when she passed it to a classmate. Rachel was taken from her classroom the next day by school police and expelled. The expulsion was later temporarily lifted, allowing Rachel to return to school while the school board reviews her case. more>> Students Stage Book Giveaway to Protest Censorship High school students in Baldwin, Kansas, used a school football game to rally for more than just school spirit. They took the opportunity to voice their opposition to their school's ban of a Robert Cormier novel, We All Fall Down. The students protested by passing out copies of the novel at the game. The novel was removed from freshman English classes because of its depiction of alcoholism, violence and use of foul language. The school board is reviewing the decision. more>> Stuck in Neutral Under Review Terry Trueman's Stuck in Neutral, an in-depth look at a 14-year-old boy's struggle with cerebral palsy, has been removed from the eighth grade classrooms of a middle school in Evansville, Wisconsin. Parents objected to the book's use of foul language and candid exploration of the sexual thoughts of the main character. Teacher Kim Stieber-White defends her choice of the book, saying it provides her students with a unique, intimate perspective for her classroom discussion of disabilities. The school board is reviewing complaints about the book. more>> Check out the author’s website for a complete list of news articles about Stuck in Neutral. Newspaper Sues to Open Hearings of Blume Book Ban The St. Petersburg Times in Florida has filed a lawsuit against a local school board in an effort to force it to open to the public meetings of a committee that will decide whether Judy Blume's Deenie should be returned to the library of an elementary school. The book was removed after parents complained about the book’s sexually explicit content. The committee has been forbidden to meet until the suit is settled. Attorney Penelope Bryan of the Times told reporters, "I'm looking forward to a positive resolution. I think it's the right thing to do." more>> Back-to-School Brings Burst of Book Bans Since the school year began in September, kidSPEAK! has been tracking a bunch of book bans in classrooms across the nation. Book banning could be going on near you - maybe right in your own school! Book: When Dad
Killed Mom by Julius Lester
Book:
It's Perfectly Normal and It's So Amazing by Robie Harris Book: Extreme
Elvin by Chris Lynch and Double Date by R.L.
Stine Book: Fallen
Angels by Walter Dean Meyers Book: The Perks of
Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Book: Of Mice
and Men by John Steinbeck School Club Banned, Students Harassed for Participating in a Peaceful Protest Stickers were forcibly removed from student's clothing and a student political club was banned after school administrators at Luther Burbank High School in San Antonio, Texas sought to end a silent protest and punish its organizers. The day long silent protest was meant to raise awareness of the silence with which many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered people suffer violence and discrimination. The school administration ordered the student Amnesty International club not to sponsor the protest but individual members of the club acting independently continued to organize. Later, school administrators banned the club. During the protest, students say the principal forcibly removed the stickers the students wore to identify them as protest participants, in one instance ripping a female student's shirt. The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the school administration demanding the reinstatement of the Amnesty International Club and insisting that student’s rights be respected. more>> Captain Underpants Survives Challenge Pam Santi was appalled when her seven-year-old grandson started drawing Deputy Doo-Doo, a living piece of well doo-doo in Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series. She was outraged to find out he got the book from his school library. Santi filled a formal complaint with the Riverside School District in Riverside, California. Santi’s complaint was reviewed by a school committee of parents, teachers and administrators. The committee decided by a vote of 5-2 to keep the Captain Underpants series in school libraries. The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked numerous challenges to the book last year and ranked it sixth on a list of 2002 challenged books. more>> A Student and a School Sue to Overturn Pennsylvania’s Mandatory Pledge of Allegiance Law The Circle School, a private school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and a high school sophomore from suburban Philadelphia have sued in U.S. District Court to overturn a state law requiring students at private and public schools to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or sing the national anthem every school day. The law also requires the flag be displayed in all classrooms. Schools are not required to comply if the rule violates their religious principles. Students may also be excused for religious or personal reasons but their parents must be notified. The American Civil Liberties Union says the law violates the students’ right of freedom of speech. It is assisting the school and student with their lawsuit. more>> Student Council President Suspended Over Sign Controversy Froilan Rellora a senior and the student council president of Dobson High School in Mesa, Arizona, was suspended from office after parents complained that a sign he carried to a swim meet -- "DHS swimmers know how to stroke it in the water" -- was inappropriate. Sixty students held a sit-in in the school’s lobby to protest disciplinary action against Rellora. Students called the punishment too harsh and said it put too strict a limit on students' free speech rights. more>> and more>>
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