The song of censorship is increasingly becoming all too familiar for student journalists.

With the heightened political division in the U.S., school administrators are quick to strike down any stories that can be labeled “controversial” – especially in Texas.

A state home to book bans and the heartbeat bill, its political leaders are continually pushing the bounds on what is constitutional, and under current law, censoring student voices is constitutional. 

Under the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988), students shed some of their constitutional rights when on school campuses, including their freedom of speech and press. While it may seem like students have no control, there is a bill that has been introduced during the past three legislative sessions that will protect student journalist’s First Amendment rights.

These bills are known nationally as New Voices and are enacted in 18 states as of May 2024. At the forefront of the movement is the New Voices Texas coalition, which works in conjunction with the Student Press Law Center to raise awareness about student journalist’s rights.

Texas State Representative Mary Gonzalez sponsored the bill in both 2019 and 2021 after a group of concerned students and their advisers reached out to her office. While it did receive a hearing in 2019, the bill was not heard in 2021. 

“Since 1988, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, schools have had an ever-expanding right to censor student publications ‘for any reasonable legitimate pedagogical purpose,’” Rep. Gonzalez said. “The standard has resulted in unwarranted censorship and restrictions on student publications at the hands of school administrators eager to control the image of their school. Student publications should have the opportunity to publish content related to their school and community without fear of retribution.”

Passing a New Voices Act will restore what is known as the “Tinker Standard,” named after the Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), which protects student speech that is not libelous. Restoring the “Tinker Standard” will prevent adults from stifling young journalists’ voices, protecting their freedom of speech. 

This action is necessary because it gives people a chance to have their stories told. No change has ever been made by staying silent, and silencing voices who want to tell those stories and enact change is even worse.

Adults too often disregard teenagers’ opinions and work just because they are young, but student journalists are just as capable as those who work for National Public Radio and The New York Times, and they deserve the chance to have their voice heard.

Representative Gonzalez encourages student journalists to continue reaching out to legislators from both parties in both the house and the senate.

“When a bill is filed, stay on top of where the bill goes,” Rep. Gonzalez said. “Speaking to committee members and testifying on legislation also helps illustrate how important a bill is. The more you make your voice heard throughout the process, the more light is shed on the situation the legislation would impact.”

People always say the young generations are the future, but we are the present. And presently teaching us to live in fear of what others can do is going to affect us in the future. There’s a quote in the movie “Dead Poets Society” that says “you must strive to find your own voice because the longer you wait the less likely you are to find it all.” We need student press freedom now, so we can find our voices and the stories we want to tell. 

One day, we will be the journalists with the breaking news headlines, and we need to learn to live without fear of retribution now, so those stories will still exist. We need New Voices.

This story was originally published on Valley Ventana on September 25, 2024.