FOLLOW THE FIRST AMENDMENT

In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled, in Hazelwood School District v.
Kuhlmeier, that high school students didn't have the right to publish
stories on divorce and pregnancy in the school newspaper over the
principal's objection. With that judgment, every principal in the land
turned into a dictator to keep his or her students in line.

Enter Ed Yoder, the self-appointed publisher of Woodlan Junior-Senior
High School's Woodlan Tomahawk newspaper, after he suspended
journalism teacher Amy Sorrell for running a sophomore's editorial
advocating tolerance for homosexuals.

At a school board meeting Monday night, parents and teachers were out
to support Sorrell but weren't allowed to speak. This little
dictatorship is about 10 miles east of Fort Wayne.

Yoder mandated his name be in each newspaper as publisher and that he
review all contents. Two students quit the newspaper because of the
actions of this pint-sized Bonaparte. Public opinion should be loud
and continuous against this stifling of free press. When the Supreme
Court opens the door to suppress speech or press, as it did in
Hazelwood, every censorious and cowardly administrator rushes in to
keep students in their place, that is, the place where administrators
want them to be.

How are students to learn about the importance of the First Amendment
when school officials use their power to silence them? Shouldn't a
school be the one place where a free exchange of ideas takes place?

It seems almost beyond belief that an official, regardless of what
capacity, would object to an editorial on tolerance. Tolerance is
treating people with dignity. Is Yoder saying that homosexuals are not
deserving of dignity? What if we substituted the word "black" or
"Asian" or "handicapped" for "homosexual"? Would a school official
dare to travel that road?

Of course not. It's just that homosexuals are easy targets for
bigots.

Sorrell has spoken out about the absurdity at Woodlan, and we commend
her for that. Being suspended, many teachers would slink into the
shadows until the thing blows over. Sorrell, it seems, knows the
importance of a free press, something her employers don't seem to have
a clue about.

Another student speech case ended on a better note this week. In
Knightstown, the Charles A. Beard School Corp. settled with students
who were expelled after making a teddy bear movie that allegedly
depicted the bears killing a teacher. School officials said a certain
teacher was targeted. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled
that the movie didn't disrupt school. The expulsions were taken off
their record, and the school corporation was ordered to pay $69,000 to
plaintiffs.

At the U.S. Supreme Court this week, another high school speech case
is under way after an Alaska student was suspended for unfurling a
banner with the message "Bong Hits 4 Jesus." School officials argued
it promoted drug use. As it rules in this case, the court could open
the door for another Hazelwood ruling that would further squelch free
speech. We hope they revert to a 1969 ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines
Independent Community School District when the court said students
don't lose their rights when they enter the schoolhouse gate.

It is imperative that journalists stay abreast of these situations and
vigorously defend the First Amendment. Journalists need to let
teachers know that they can come speak to students on the importance
of the First Amendment. After all, what students learn in school, they
carry on. Those who will wield their power to prevent student
expression must be challenged continuously.