It’s a simple question. Do you think the government should approve newspaper stories before they’re published?

17-year-old Scarlett Yarbrough answers, “Yes I do because they could be false statements or they could offend many people.”

Student Ronnie Mandato believes, “Well it depends on what type of information the newspaper is giving, because if it’s information that shouldn’t be getting out, then maybe people don’t need to be hearing about that.”

18-year-old Josh Sweeney says, “They should have a small hand in approving, they shouldn’t be able to completely block something if they don’t want it to be posted.”

In a recent survey of high school students, 36 percent said the government should be able to approve news stories. Why? Why would over a third of students endorse censorship?

Robert Schapiro, a professor of law at Emory University, says, “It used to be we saw lots of cases where the press was performing an essential function of revealing government wrong-doing. Certainly that was the story of Watergate…I think we haven’t seen so much of that lately, I think the public’s perception of the press has changed.”

16-year-old Tendayi Kuumba of North Atlanta High School doesn’t put much faith in the media. She says, “I think they are really biased.” Classmate Dureyea Collier comments, “A thing that annoys me is a lot of the time stories will get tweaked to not really show what actually happened but to show what they think the people want to hear.”

Experts say one idea parents can discuss with their kids is, what would happen if the government did censor news stories?

Collier says, “That’s our only source of information, if the government can control that, they can let us know anything they want to. They can make us believe things that aren’t true.”

17 year-old Michael Waldron states, “I don’t want the government sanctioning and regulating what I read.”

Experts say at school and at home kids need to talk about the value of a free press…because there is always the danger of losing those rights we don’t believe in.

Professor Schapiro says, “In a democracy, even in a constitutional system like ours, rights have to turn on what the people really want. I think if there is a complete loss of confidence in the role of the press, I think we are going to see a diminishment of the rights of the press.”

Aaron Pettit, 16, has first-hand experience dealing with the battle between school rules and first amendment rights. Pettit, who is known for hanging posters in his locker, was suspended from school over posters referring to the war in Iraq. Administrators said the posters, which included messages like “May God have mercy, because we will not,” were threats against Arab-American students. Pettit claimed in a lawsuit filed against the school that the school officials, who also took down the poster, were violating his rights. The case ended up in federal court and Pettit was eventually reinstated.

The first amendment gives citizens, including students, the right to free speech. School administrators, however, are faced with the daunting task of deciphering between free speech and threatening – and possibly dangerous – behavior. As a parent, there are ways to help your child understand how to express themselves in the safest way for them and their schools.

• Discuss the school’s discipline policy with your child. Show your support for the rules and help your child understand the reasons for them.
• Involve your child in setting rules for appropriate behavior at home.
• Talk with your child about the violence he or she sees – on television, in video games and possibly in the neighborhood. Help your child understand the consequences of violence.
• Teach your child how to solve problems. Praise your child when he or she follows through.
• Help your child find ways to show anger that do not involve verbally or physically hurting others. When you get angry, use it as an opportunity to model these appropriate responses for your child – and talk about it.
• Help your child understand the value of accepting individual differences.
• Note any disturbing behaviors in your child. For example, frequent angry outbursts, excessive fighting and bullying of other children, cruelty to animals, fire setting, frequent behavior problems at school and in the neighborhood, lack of friends and alcohol or drug use can be signs of serious problems. Get help for your child. Talk with a trusted professional in your child’s school or in the community.
• Keep lines of communication open with your child – even when it is tough. Encourage your child always to let you know where and with whom he or she will be. Get to know your child’s friends.
• Listen to your child if he or she shares concerns about friends who may be exhibiting troubling behaviors. Share this information with a trusted professional, such as the school psychologist, principal or teacher.
• Be involved in your child’s school life by supporting and reviewing homework, talking with his or her teacher(s) and attending school functions such as parent conferences, class programs, open houses and PTA meetings.
• Work with your child’s school to make it more responsive to all students and families. Share your ideas about how the school can encourage family involvement, welcome all families and include them in meaningful ways in their children’s education.
• Encourage your school to offer before- and after-school programs.
• Volunteer to work with school-based groups concerned with violence prevention. If none exist, offer to form one.
• Find out if there is a violence prevention group in your community. Offer to participate in the group’s activities.
• Talk with the parents of your child’s friends. Discuss how you can form a team to ensure your children’s safety.
• Find out if your employer offers provisions for parents to participate in school activities.

National Youth Rights Association
Whatcom Human Rights Task Force
First Amendment Center

The T-V is rarely on.

The computer is off limits.

Almost every day Tashia and her sister get time to play with clay, crayons, or whatever they can find…

“And they’ll just pick up the uncooked spaghetti out and lying around,” says her mom, Carrie Flamer, “And they just pick up the uncooked spaghetti and start making a sculpture with that.”

Experts say some parents think television is an easy way to occupy their children…

Instead…

Most children will have more energy when they are young than at any other time in their lives. They also are at a critical stage for intellectual and creative development. Statistics have shown watching television excessively may not be the best option for this development, but many parents still use television to keep their children occupied. Consider the following:

• In a typical American home, the television is on for over seven hours each day.
• The average child spends more time watching television than in school.
• On average, kids spend about 20 or more hours each week watching television, which is more time than is spent in any other activity besides sleeping.
• An average person will have watched seven to 10 years worth of television by age 70.
• Advertisers target children, and each year an average kid sees tens of thousands of commercials on the television.
• Television viewing starts earlier than other forms of media, often beginning before the child is 2 years old.

The television can act as a very useful tool when you need to keep your children occupied in order to get things done. However, this can often be a detrimental situation unless is approached with caution and wisdom. Experts at Young Media Australia suggest the following tips concerning television usage:

• Lead by example – Children will model their viewing patterns on what they see you doing. Try to avoid turning on the television as soon as you arrive home and then leaving it on as background. Practice some guidelines for yourself such as turning the television off as soon as visitors arrive or after your favorite show is finished. Watch and support programs you believe are good. Let television and radio stations, network executives, and advertisers know what you like and dislike.
• Choose which programs to watch on television – If we accept that we all use the television as a babysitter from time to time, consider how carefully you would normally choose a baby-sitter for your child. Remember your children will be picking up values and attitudes from the television they watch every day. Try to make sure these values and attitudes are what you believe in, too. The younger the child, the more impressionable he or she is, and the less experienced in evaluating content against the values of family and community. Some images in the news, for example, are extremely disturbing for very young children and could lead to sleep disturbance.
• Keep the television out of kids’ bedrooms – It is difficult to monitor what your children are watching when they are watching television in their own room. They may be tempted to watch it when it would be more appropriate for them to be studying, reading, sleeping or working on more creative activities. Having a television in a child’s room discourages participation in family activities. It also means that you are not able to explain disturbing or misleading information, or explain how your family values may contradict the values being depicted.
• Decide as a family what you will watch in advance – Go through a television-viewing guide and make family decisions on shows to watch for the week. Discuss the reasons for the decisions with your children. Discuss issues and ideas with other adults, friends and parents of your children’s playmates.
• Teach children how to plan their own television viewing – For very young children, have them write a list or draw pictures of their favorite shows that are coming up in the next week. Give them a counter for each one and have them give it to you as they watch it. Many very young children respond to star charts based around this idea. Or, give them a certain number of counters for a week, reflecting the amount of television you will allow them to watch. If they have counters left over, reward them with a special activity they enjoy.
• Tape programs the family wants to see – If there is a program or movie on television that everyone wants to watch, tape it and schedule a special family viewing – complete with popcorn. If a show is on at an inconvenient time, such as mealtime, homework time, creative activity time or family time, tape it to watch later. Tape good children’s programs for later viewing. Young children love to watch their favorites over and over again.
• Choose some times when the television is off – Plan television-free times during the day. Set clear guidelines about when it can be on. Depending on the age of your children, you can work out these guidelines with their input. The sort of guidelines you might want to think about are: no television before school, the television only goes on once homework is completed, only one hour of television per day, etc. The clearer the guidelines, the better. Sticking to these guidelines is important, and children of all ages need and will respond to guidelines if they think they are fair and if they are consistently applied.
• Choose a family area that is a television-free space – If possible, set up an area where people can sit and read, play games or make crafts. Make it comfortable and use it. Don’t make television the focal point of the room. If it isn’t possible to create a separate area, try to rearrange the room so that the television is no longer the focal point. Research shows that people watch less television if it is not in the most prominent location in the room. Try putting it in an entertainment center with doors that close, or drape a rug over it.
• Have meals in a different room – Turn off the television at meal times and sit around a table. Catch up with one another and share stories and activities from each family member’s day.
• Talk about programs seen on the television – Discuss what you are watching and ask specific questions. Ask what your children see; it may be very different from what you see, so ask them to tell you what they think is happening. Express your views. You can be a powerful media educator by pointing out devices that are used – or values that are being promoted – that contradict your family values.
• Encourage children to describe how television watching affects them – Ask them why they watch specific shows, what characters they like and don’t like, etc. Discuss how family members feel about certain programs – happy, scared, excited, worried, angry, etc.
• Play ‘Spot the Gimmicks and Trickery’ in television commercials – Discuss the commercials and their perception of toys, cereals, etc. Talk about the people who sell them. Point out the tricks that advertising companies use and play a game around children noticing these for themselves. Point out the real thing in the shops and compare what has been promised with what the toy actually does.
• Make a list of other things for the family to do – Sit down with your children and write down other activities they enjoy. They might think of craft activities, games, toys or visiting friends. Compact discs are often a good alternative for younger children.
• Perhaps most importantly, find the ‘off’ button on the television and learn to use it more – Encourage your children to participate in activities that will stimulate them more than just sitting in front of the television.
  These guidelines can increase your child’s viewing intelligence and allow open communication lines for questions they may have about what they’ve seen or heard. However, it is important to remember that getting your child involved with creative activities unrelated to television viewing is a wonderful way to stimulate their development and decrease their (and your) dependence on the television.

These guidelines can increase your child’s viewing intelligence and allow open communication lines for questions they may have about what they’ve seen or heard. However, it is important to remember that getting your child involved with creative activities unrelated to television viewing is a wonderful way to stimulate their development and decrease their (and your) dependence on the television.

University of Michigan Health System
Young Media Australia
The Real Truth