The McCormick Tribune Foundation, in partnership with J-Ideas of Ball State University, held a summit on free speech in schools the past three days in Chicago. Attendees discussed the challenges and opportunities concerning the First Amendment facing students, teachers, and administrators alike in the Information Age. Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, web logs, student-led school publications, controversial t-shirts and internet filters were the media of focus.
The proceedings began with a benediction of sorts from First Amendment godfather John Seigenthaler Wednesday evening. Thursday was a busy day packed with six panel discussions and a demonstration specific to internet filtering. The day began with remarks from Mary Beth Tinker, the student who wore a black armband to her Des Moines middle school in 1965 and in the process changed the face of First Amendment law. Panelists like Mark Goodman of the Student Press Law Center, Kevin Bankston of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and constitutional scholar Linda Monk addressed the unique legal challenges to student speech in the digital age, connecting modern cases to the Tinker standard. An evening event at the Freedom Museum featured a performation from the Young Chicago Authors and a First Amendment film produced by Alex Caponga titled "Live Free."
Friday's conclusion focused on the practical development and implementation of First Amendment-friendly policies in our public schools, and means of disseminating the conference report and practical guide for school leaders. Participants acknowledged the dillemas teachers and adminstrators face as they seek to maintain a safe learning environment while respecting students' rights. Media literacy is of utmost concern, along with an appreciation for the First Amendment by all parties as the world changes ever rapidly around us. Watch here for future developments emerging as a result of these deliberations.
I think one of the most compelling themes that emerged from the Free Speech in School conference was the plea from First Amendment advocates to citizens and legislators to not be hasty with limiting the use of social networking and blog sites until the medium has had a chance to mature. Requiring the use of filters and outright banning particular websites only stifles creativity and free expression and forces users underground. It was made manifest in several of the conference sessions that most if not all of the filters that public libraries and schools are required to use by federal law are frought with flaws and inconsistencies. Webpages that might have truly "objectionable" material can still make their way through, while benign and genuinely informational sites are blocked (for example, students researching the Continental Congress would be blocked from websites that identified its president "John Hancock" by name).
ReplyDeleteWhile the threats of internet predators and unsavory material is certainly real, hasty regulation of the internet will only hamper the development of potentially amazing new ways of communication. When he invented the phonograph, Thomas Edison never once imagined that his device would spur an entire recording industry. Imagine what things mightn't have been or taken much longer to develop had regulations and bans been placed on an infant recording industry. In this instance, as it is with any situation where safety is concerned, is to inform and educate the individuals so that they may make wise choices for themselves.
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