Student Journalists Not Given Opportunity to Learn

Recently, two student editors at East High School in Pueblo resigned from their posts, claiming censorship by their principal. According to a report in the Pueblo Chieftain, the students said their principal decided not to distribute the Dec. 16 edition of their newspaper because he felt it promoted Christianity and did not include other religious views. The Chieftain reported that the principal said he didn't want the newspaper to be distributed because he was "concerned about the number of errors that were in it."

Regardless of why the principal chose not to distribute the newspaper, the fact is that his decision was wrong. While the issues of censorship and prior restraint are the most significant legal issues in this case, one must also look at the soundness of the reasoning behind the principal's actions. If his reasoning behind preventing distribution of the paper was because of errors--that he didn't want the school's reputation to suffer as the result of a poor-quality publication--he is doing a great disservice to student journalists and to journalism education in general.

We all learn from our mistakes; some would argue that we learn more from our mistakes than from our successes. Based on the news report, the material published in the student newspaper did not appear to be obscene or libelous, it did not portray any private figures inaccurately and it did not promote unlawful behavior. Preventing these students from learning the importance of accountability and taking responsibility for what they choose to publish seems to be an irresponsible--and uninformed--philosophy of journalism education.