• American Society of News Editors  The ASNE Youth Journalism Initiative, launched in 2000, provides journalism-related training and resources for teachers and students through its website, SchoolJournalism.org . The initiative also sponsors weekly and monthly journalism contests for students, as well as the Quill and Scroll International Writing and Photo Contest . ASNE’s goal is for every student to learn why news matters and acquire the skills needed to succeed as 21st century citizens.

• ASNE Reynolds High School Journalism Institute The Reynolds High School Journalism Institutes are intensive two-week journalism training programs for secondary-school teachers coordinated by the ASNE Youth Journalism Initiative. The Institutes combine in-depth instruction on journalism skills with hands-on experience in reporting, writing, editing, design, videography, photography, multimedia and online news. Teachers learn how to help students develop news literacy skills and understand their rights and ethical responsibilities as student journalists and citizens. http://www.schooljournalism.org/reynolds-high-school-journalism-institute/

• Center for Scholastic Journalism The Center, located at Kent State University in Ohio, is committed to conducting and collecting the best national and international research on scholastic media and the role it plays in journalism education and citizenship training. The center also provides educational, legal and ethical scholastic resources. http://csjkent.edu

• Columbia Scholastic Press Association Founded in 1925, the association unites student editors and faculty advisers working with them to produce student newspapers, magazines, yearbooks and online media. The association is owned by Columbia University and operated as a program affiliated with its Graduate School of Journalism. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cspa/

• Journalism Education Association The nation’s largest national scholastic journalism organization for teachers and advisers. The organization offers training workshops and conventions, print and online educational and resources, and monitors and defends First Amendment and scholastic press rights issues nationally. http://jea.org http://jeasprc.org http://jeadigitialmedia.org

• National Scholastic Press Association The National Scholastic Press Association provides journalism education training programs, publishes journalism education materials, provides media critique and recognition programs for members, provides information on developments in journalism and student media and provides a forum for members to communicate with others and share their work. Through these activities, NSPA and its divisions promote the standards and ethics of good journalism as accepted and practiced by print, broadcast and electronic media in the United States. NSPA and its divisions also endorse and advocate free expression rights for student media. http://www.studentpress.org

• Quill and Scroll Society Quill and Scroll International Honorary Society for High School Journalists was organized April 10, 1926, at the University of Iowa by renowned pollster George H. Gallup and a group of high school advisers for the purpose of encouraging and recognizing individual student achievement in journalism and academics. The organization provides educational resources, contests and workshops for students and educators. http://www.quillandscroll.org

Codes of Ethics for advisers as established by the Journalism Education Association:

• Model standards of professional journalistic conduct to  students, administrators and others.

• Empower students to make decisions of style, structure  and content by creating a learning atmosphere where students will actively practice critical thinking and decision making.

• Encourage students to seek out points of view and to explore a variety of information sources in their decision making.

• Support and defend a free, robust and active forum for student expression without prior review or restraint.

• Emphasize the importance of accuracy, balance and clarity in all aspects of news gathering and reporting.

• Show trust in students as they carry out their responsibilities by encouraging and supporting them in a caring learning environment.

• Remain informed on press rights and responsibilities.

• Advise, not act as censors or decision makers.

• Display professional and personal integrity in situations which might be construed as potential conflicts of interest.

• Support free expression for others in local and larger communities.

• Model effective communications skills by continuously updating knowledge of media education.

Prior review

The Journalism Education Association, as the nation’s largest association of scholastic journalism educators and secondary school media advisers, denounces the practice of administrative prior review as serving no legitimate educational purpose. Prior review leads only to censorship by school officials or to self-censorship by students with no improvement in journalistic quality or learning.

Better strategies exist that enhance student learning while protecting school safety and reducing school liability.

School administrators provide leadership for just about every dimension of schools. They set the tone and are crucial in a meaningful educational process. Undeniably, administrators want their schools’ graduates to be well-educated and effective citizens. Often, school or district missions statements state this goal explicitly. JEA supports them in that effort.

So, when the Journalism Education Association challenges the judgment of administrators who prior review student media, it does so believing better strategies more closely align with enhanced civic engagement, critical thinking and decision-making.

Prior review by administrators undermines critical thinking, encourages students to dismiss the role of a free press in society and provides no greater likelihood of increased quality of student media. Prior review inevitably leads to censorship. Prior review inherently creates serious conflicts of interest and compromises administrator neutrality, putting the school in potential legal jeopardy.

The value of using social media

Mobile phones, tablets, laptop computers and other devices make it possible for teens to stay connected virtually every moment of their waking lives. As a result, much of the information they gain about their school, community and world at large comes from online sources – in particular, social media.

In the 2011 “Future of the First Amendment” survey of more than 12,000 high school students and 900 teachers sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, researcher Dr. Kenneth Dautrich found that nearly two-thirds of high school students obtain news and information from the Internet at least several times a week, while half use mobile devices such as iPhones and Blackberrys for the same purpose. More than three-quarters of high school students use social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr at least several times a week for news and information – and nearly half spend some time seeking information about what is happening at school.

Internet access and safety
Today’s student journalists must learn to navigate and produce online media. The choice is clear — provide an educational environment in which students learn to use the Internet with adult facilitation, or leave students to educate themselves with no such guidance. Because the First Amendment protects Internet freedoms in much the same way it protects print media, it is essential for administrators to understand the boundaries of the law.

Understanding filters
The Children’s Internet Protection Act mandates filters in public schools, although many administrators are unaware CIPA also allows for their removal in certain situations. Use in journalism programs should be one of those exceptions because filters often block relevant research material and prohibit students from learning online responsibility.