Newspaper is off stands at a school in Tennessee

November 28, 2005|Associated Press

OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- Copies of a high school's student newspaper were seized by administrators because the edition contained stories about birth control and tattoos. The seizure has raised concern about possible infringement of the First Amendment.

Administrators at Oak Ridge High School went into teachers' classrooms, desks and mailboxes to retrieve all 1,800 copies of the newspaper on Tuesday, said Wanda Grooms, a teacher who advises the staff, and Brittany Thomas, the student editor.

The Oak Leaf's birth control article listed success rates for different methods, and said contraceptives were available from doctors and the local health department. Superintendent Tom Bailey said the article needed to be edited so that it would be acceptable to all the school.

The edition also contained a photo of an unidentified student's tattoo, which the student had not told her parents about, said Bailey.

''I have a problem with the idea of putting something in the paper that makes us a part of hiding something from the parents," Bailey said.

The paper can be reprinted if the changes are made, he said.

''We have a responsibility to the public to do the right thing," Bailey said. ''We've got 14-year-olds that read the newspaper."

Thomas said she was not sure about making changes. ''I'm not completely OK with reprinting the paper," she said.

First Amendment specialists were critical of the seizure.

''This is a terrible lesson in civics," said a University of Tennessee journalism professor, Dwight Teeter. ''This is . . . about the administration wanting control. Either the students are going to have a voice, or you're going to have a PR rag for the administration."

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