Censorship of school newspapers is a good experience for journalism students. Students who become journalists will learn that editors will not allow all articles to be printed. In addition, articles that may seem benign to the writer may be malignant to some readers and it is up to the editor to decide if it is appropriate. There are also articles that call for an action from a reader or readers to do something that may cause disruption of the educational environment of other students.
Experiences from a simulated real world news environment are helpful to journalism students who aspire to be journalists. Some good experiences are the censoring of articles, correction of articles, and the assignment of articles. These experiences prepare students for their career by showing them what will actually happen when they get a job in journalism. Aside from learning on how interact with a subject and do research on a topic, they learn that the editor controls of the content of the medium of the information. Above the student editor-in-chief is the journalism teacher and then the school's principal. They decide which articles are to be printed and which articles are not to be printed. If anyone of them feels an article is inappropriate they can make the decision not to include the article in the final version. Inappropriate articles are articles that state falsehoods, coarse language and/or obscene material.1.
When a writer writes an article, it may hurt someone or cause the student body to change the opinion about a person or a group, and the writer may not know he or she is doing this unless it was the intention of the writer. Such as the case of a Gallatin High School Senior, an article stated he engaged in bestiality and homosexual behavior. He was known as a model student, athlete, and "the son every mother would like to have."2 After the article, peers and neighbors ridiculed him. In an educational environment that is not an acceptable type of article because, it may cause harm to the person or group's ability to learn.
