Censorship in schools growing, experts say

NAPERVILLE, Ill., May 28 (UPI) -- The reassignment of a Naperville, Ill., high school newspaper's adviser is the latest in what First Amendment experts say is an erosion of student free speech.

Linda Kane was the adviser for 19 years when she was involuntarily reassigned effective Thursday, the last day of school, the Chicago Tribune reported. The reassignment came after the newspaper ran several articles about drug use among students, including an anonymous, profanity-laced commentary.

Journalism law experts say student newsroom losses such hers are chilling. They say Kane's firing is indicative of a trend toward censorship in high schools, the Tribune said.

"I think anybody who's been involved in this issue for any length of time can tell you that there are more censorship conflicts today than at any other time," said Mark Goodman of Kent State University.

Goodman and other First Amendment advocates say anecdotal evidence, court rulings and surveys of high school students show an erosion of students' free speech, the Tribune reported. It began with a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that high school administrators could censor student newspapers if the administrators could show that censorship is "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns."