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Assess The Importance Of The First Amendment

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
— The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

According to the statement above and research, the First Amendment was written to protect freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. Religious minorities can be persecuted, protesters and media can be silenced, the press cannot criticize government, and citizens cannot mobilize for social change without the First Amendment. After explaining importance of First Amendment, I will explain how we can apply it to student newspapers.

Is it constitutional for school officials to censor a school-sponsored publication, such as a newspaper or a yearbook?

To see how much school officials can censor school-sponsored student publications we should consider the four court decisions (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, Bethel School District v. Fraser, Morse v. Frederick). According to the article, most legal scholars conclude there are only four legally …show more content…

I would encourage student media staffs to develop clear policies to help guide them in making journalistically strong, ethically sound decisions. On the other hand, I would maintain effective communication with students to be able to truck what they publish, and control if there is any inappropriate and immature part in their press. Even if they publish a controversial article, I would not restrict them unless it does persecute and injure the others, and damage to school reputation and school community. I would handle all these things according to our school media

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