This is old news, because I was asleep at the switch, but it’s a timeless topic, pitting well-meaning students against stuffy administrators.

The editors of the Burleson (TX) High School yearbook, The Elk, planned a two-page photo feature on two teen mothers at the school, to show how they overcame the difficulties keeping their children created. The deadline for the book was Saturday.

When the editors presented the book proofs to the principal, he vetoed the pregnancy spread, saying it “glamorized” teenage sex and contradicted the district’s abstinence-only sex-education curriculum. The editors took the matter up the chain of command, but heard the same response: no features on teen mothers.

According to the Dallas Star-Telegram, yearbook editor Megan Estes wanted the yearbook to reflect the experiences of the entire student body, not just the jocks and brainiacs. Seniors Brittani Shipman and Robin Robertson agreed to appear in the teen mother feature.

“It really hurts [the girls] when they hear people talking about them … These are people with real lives — not just something you gossip about in high school,” Estes said, according to the Student Press Law Center.

The yearbook adviser, a former professional newspaper woman, and the staff looked through old yearbooks and found similar articles on teen pregnancy, and so thought the subject was safe.

Principal Paul Cash thought otherwise, and told them they had to pull the feature. Astonishingly, he said high school publications are for educational purposes only, and they are not intended to be venues for student expression, according to the Student Press Law Center.

March 3rd, 2008 | Tags: burleson texas, law, student press, teen mothers | Category: Commentary, Media, Student journalism | Leave a comment