High School Journalist Faces Firing

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 2:10pm

From LA Times:

Co-editor of a Fullerton campus paper profiled three gay students who decided to come out. Officials say she needed their parents' OK.

By Joel Rubin, Times Staff Writer

When high school journalist Ann Long sent a recent edition of her school's newspaper to the printer, she hoped her profile of three gay students would generate some discussion in the hallways.

But she didn't expect to be punished for writing the article.

According to Long and her mother, officials at Troy High School in Fullerton told the senior that by Thursday she must resign or face being fired from her shared post as editor in chief of the Oracle.

Assistant Principal Joseph D'Amelia, who Long said delivered the ultimatum, declined to comment, deferring questions to Patricia Howell, deputy superintendent for the Fullerton Joint Union High School District.

Howell, who wouldn't discuss Long by name, said district and school officials did not object to the story's content. She said Long, 18, was being punished for violating the ethical standards of the journalism class and a state education code that prohibits asking students about their sexuality without parental permission.

"We're not saying there is anything morally wrong with the article," she said. "Freedom of speech is not at issue. Confidentiality and privacy rights are the issue."

It is a position that has left Long defiant and legal experts contending that the state law applies to faculty but not students.

"I don't think I've done anything that merits me stepping down," said Long, who vowed not to surrender her position. "Perhaps I should have called the parents to interview them for the story, but I don't feel like I should have been obligated to get their permission to write it. These students chose to talk to me."

At issue is a Dec. 17 article that chronicled the decisions of three students — two 18-year-olds and a 15-year-old — to reveal their homosexuality and bisexuality to family and friends. All three spoke to Long knowing their names would be used.

According to Long, her journalism teacher, Georgette Cerrutti, worked closely with her on drafts of the article for more than a month, at one point discussing with her the impact it might have on the students' families.

Long said Cerrutti never told her she needed to get the parents' approval.

On Monday, Long said, she was summoned to D'Amelia's office, where he and Cerrutti admonished her for not seeking the parents' permission.

"He told me I either had to resign and make an example of myself for failing to do my job," Long said of D'Amelia, "or that I would be removed."

In meetings Tuesday with Long's parents, D'Amelia and Troy Principal Chuck Maruca reaffirmed the school's stance, Long and her mother said.

Maruca and Cerrutti did not return calls seeking comment.

Howell said journalism students are taught to be cautious when writing stories that address other students' private lives. She said Long had violated the section of the California education code that requires written parental permission before asking students questions about their or their parents' "personal beliefs or practices in sex, family life, morality, and religion," as the code states.

"Anytime a school policy or the education code is violated, there obviously has to be some consequences," Howell said.

Howell declined to comment on whether Cerrutti had told Long of that requirement or whether the teacher had asked to see the parents' written permission.

Experts on the rights of student journalists said the district was wrong to apply that part of the education code to a student.

"The school has no right to punish this student," said lawyer Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Arlington, Va. "A student has the right to talk about their private life, and a student journalist has the right to report on it. Ultimately, there are some things that are not within a school's right to control."

Doug Mirell, a 1st Amendment lawyer in Los Angeles, said that because minors legally could not waive their right to privacy in discussing matters such as sexual orientation, journalists must get a parent's permission. Mirell said it would be up to a parent, and not a school, to complain about the privacy breach.

The parents of the 15-year-old whom Long interviewed could not be reached for comment.

Goodman and Michael Hersher, a state Department of Education lawyer, said they had never heard of a school trying to apply that section of the education code to a student journalist. They cited another section of the code that places the responsibility on faculty advisors "to maintain professional standards of English and journalism" in school newspapers.

Long's mother, Daisy, said she was planning to take up the matter with district officials.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 2:16pm

I wonder if the school was upset about the subject matter and is actually using the parental permission clause so not to look homophobic

[SallyBrown]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 2:47pm

I don't understand though, if these students CHOSE to come out, why should she have to ask their parents?

[Jimmcf]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 3:00pm

I believe they are upset at the subject matter and are using the parents thing as an excuse.

[HeresJohnny]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 3:42pm

Jimmcf is probably right.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 3:54pm

I think it was just an excuse...people who come out don't "need" their parents' consent.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:03pm

However, doesn't this law just apply to educators and NOT to students??

If anyone should be held responsible, it's the faculty advisor.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:15pm

But it seems (at least as the way the article is portraying it) that they are not saying she violated school policy, but a section of the California education code; a section that legal analysts seem to think applies only to educators and administrators. In this case, the faculty advisor should be held responsible.

And I'm not so sure about the whole people under the age of 18 have no legal status (ie. rights guaranteed by the Constitution). Courts have upheld young people's rights to free speech on several occassions, I believe.

[robbiej]

Posted: 1/26/05 at 4:41pm

Beav,

I didn't say 'on occassion'. I said, 'on several occassions'. Completely different.

And one would need to see the wording of the ethical codes of this journalism class to make a decision as whether she knew what she was doing was 'wrong'.

What is killing me is the idea that the faculty advisor, the one who should have informed the girl before going to print, seems to be getting away without so much as a slap on the wrist.

The adult in charge is responsible.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 6:58pm

I sent this article to a friend who is the faculty advisor for her high school's paper (an award winning one.) This was her reply:

First of all, I have met Mark Goodman. He is a wonderful advocate for student journalism. His group (the Student Press Law Center) is known by all good advisers and student journalists. They take up a collection every national conference, and they offer free legal advice to school papers all over the country. They are always just a phone call away.
(We have even called them more than once...)
Anyway, my reaction (or opinion) is this:
We have done a number of "sensitive" stories about gay students, pregnant students, one girl with breast cancer, and even a kid a year or so ago who was HIV positive. These are all high interest stories, and my kids handled them professionally, but I always advised them to use pseudonyms. The whole thing with kids giving their names, etc., is so touchy. I think we advisers all know we can have parents sign forms, but I have heard of too many cases where parents later changed their minds or said they really "didn't anticipate" reactions. Schools and advisers have lost these lawsuits because of the whole privacy issue.
For this reason alone, I don't allow my kids to use names if I think there is ANY chance of negative feedback. In some circles that might be considered a cop out, but I am trying to protect all of us from the kind of trouble described in the article. I am also trying to protect the students who grant the interviews. They don't always know what is in store for them after they are "outed."
That said, I still think the school is probably wrong to punish this editor. If her adviser was doing her job, there wouldn't be this trouble. The kid is probably being used as a scapegoat. Besides, California gives its student press the same rights as professional press, and that means only the kid's family can file a complaint. If they do, then there may something to worry about. If they don't, the school principal is wrong to make this an issue. He is probably uncomfortable with parents who have objected to having the gay kids on campus (the radical right) and figures this will placate them. It's almost never what it seems on the surface. This probably has less to do with protecting the gay kids than with "protecting" the other kids... Updated On: 1/27/05 at 06:58 PM

[BwayTheatre11]

Posted: 1/27/05 at 11:01pm

One of our writers had a whole article on his homosexuality a couple of years ago...

[virgil blessing2]

Posted: 1/28/05 at 12:50pm

oy VEY. typical, RIGHT?