"Welcome to the world of censorship, Dan."

Sounds like they want a paper that shows the govenors they are encouraging students to take part in the running of the school but in reality doesn't cause any waves. Find some like minded individuals and put too for paper  and ink cartridge costs, i'm presuming some one you know has a printer, and produce a paper worth reading. Make the censorship of the school paper your first real article. The teachers wont like you for this but pherhaps an alias or alias' would be fun for you and your cohorts.

Personaly I don't see a problem with an article about Chucky be it a bio or a review.

Start a zine.

I doubt my school would allow me to produce and distribute a magazine.

Actually, they wouldn't let me.

This is the deal-breaker, as far as I'm concerned.

I'd ask your teacher who would be acceptable to write about, author-wise. Even with incredibly safe authors, there's always going to be problems. Mark Twain wrote extensively about racism, and uses the word "nigger" constantly. Shakespeare wrote about sex, violence, rape, cutting out people's tongues, suicide....basically, if it's bad, Shakespeare wrote about it.

It also bugs me that SEX is seen as the big thing that we can't talk about. A movie could have all the violence in the world, but as soon as you see boobs, that knocks it up to an R rating. Wtf? What kind of message does that send?

Everyone is so uptight with sex that it's disgusting, I agree Jane. My principal rejected the article, who is super christian, so that may have been a determining factor in this, but my teacher also feels the same way that the underclassmen should not be recommended books containing sex.

Everyone in high school knows what sex is, they know what it entails. Hell, they all have sex-ed in middle school and high school.

And I must have said 400 times to her, I was not recommending and of his books.

Tinker vs. Des Moines says you can. Also, the First Amendment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker_vs._Des_Moines

I'm not really bothered by what they did, but possibly because I'm not surprised. Censorship in high school is a given, I wouldn't bother going through legal channels, though I doubt you were even seriously considering that. Here's what you may want to do, publish the article yoruself, just print it off. Lots of copies on school paper, don't spend a dime of your own money. And just spread it word of mouth, the article banned from the paper, and hand it out. Just get people to read it and see its no big deal. That's what I'm doing with Barry Exposed if they don't take it for the film fest.

I'm not really considering any legal action, but my principle always dwells on about how all of our rights are removed when we walk onto campus, so bringing up amendment one with the whole free speech thing will most likely be shot down and ignored. I still have 2 more years with this guy, I think i'll do as little as possible to fuck with him now, he dislikes me as it is for my views on subjects. I tried to write an article on abortion, but it was shot down before I could even write it.

Thats the funny part, my school used their whole supply of paper in the first quarter. I can't even get a hold of a study guide on paper for my finals. I guess since the homestead act passed in FL to lower property taxes so people save like $100 a year, it takes from school systems and now our school can't even afford paper, yet they spend $50,000 - $75,000 on a single cutting laser for the engineering class. It's sad.

Fucking Homestead Act. It's taking away from Parks and Rec too, which is where the girls' dad works.

[Quote]It also bugs me that SEX is seen as the big thing that we can't talk about. A movie could have all the violence in the world, but as soon as you see boobs, that knocks it up to an R rating. Wtf? What kind of message does that send?[/Quote]

Boobs are digusting!  I don't associate myself with them.

Dan, my school library doesn't carry Fight Club.  They do carry an interesting one against censership though.  I dug it deeply.  I think.... Places I Never Meant To Be.  This one - http://www.rambles.net/blume_censored.html

I think censorship is all pretty.... iffy.  I really hate the entire idea of school/book censorship, so really, good luck with your endeavor.

Lets revolt!

I know what you mean with that, because I've heard it before too, but I don't really understand how that works if it is a public school which means that it is completely funded by the government.  Wouldn't that mean that they have to abide by all of the laws that the government also has?

My school doesn't have any of chucks books, but i don't think it's a censorship issue, because i know the librarian here is a pretty big chuck fan.  The principle is also pretty decent.  The problem is we have 3 very doucey vice-principles.  One white, one black, and one female, so nobody gets offended. 

Schools operate in loco parentis, which means that they have to do what they think is best for you, as a parent would.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_loco_parentis

First, it allows institutions such as colleges and schools to act in the best interests of the students as they see fit, allowing what would otherwise be considered violations of the students' civil liberties.

Yeah, I got the whole civil liberties run through in 4th period, but ignoring the teacher with my face in my book.

In place of the parent? huh. Maybe a parent would like their child to read a book for once. I'm sure Chuck won't scar them for life.

Homestead act? Elaboration please?

Yeah, and most Chuck wouldn't scar them. By high school, seriously, anything except blatant pornography won't be anything new to 99% of the students.

Lagtastic epic fail, deleted.

Lagtastic epic fail, deleted.

Okay cult, you got me, this shit is really getting old.

I don't know a whole deal about it.

All I know is people freak out cause they can save 100 bucks on property taxes at the expense of many government owned facilities or whatever. But it wasn't a good idea for people to pass it.

QUADRUPLE POST!

[Img]http://members.arstechnica.com/x/jet_powers/faildog.JPG[/Img]

anyway, the right to free speech and freedom of the press disappears the second you step foot on campus.

In fact I think ALL of your constitutional rights go out the window the second you step on campus.

I just don't understand the constitutionality of that considering schools are government funded.  I would think it would be the opposite, like since we're paying for this, you better garuntee all of our rights.

I'm sorry you have to deal with such hypocrites.

Your teacher saying "Welcome to the world of censorship" is just pathetic. Was that meant to be a joke? Or did he/she (don't remember sex) mean that? Anyway it's awful.

You wrote Chuck's bio, and they didn't like it. Still they have a copy of Fight Club. Typical.

It's sad to have to face this. But in a way it's helpful. You'll find lots of people like that. Maybe you can take this as training. So that later on in life, you know how to handle them.

My opinion is that you shouldn't confront them. At least not right now. Try to take things easily and play by the rules. You can always find a breach in the system. Your opinion will be heard one way or another. I recommend you do that subtlely.

I'm a teacher myself and sometimes I'm told what I have to teach. They gave me this idiotic book this year because my "boss" didn't like the choices I made last year. So this time she made the choices herself. Fuck her. I still rule the classroom. I'll teach that fucking book, BUT I'll also find a way to teach what I like. I know that for sure.

I believe it's possible to do what were told to and what we want to. We just have to find the way.

(server lag, double-post. delete.)

I wouldn't point out the hypocrisy of banning your article while having chucks books in the library, because then all they will do is say, "you're right. this author is a creep" and then take the book out of the library and ban that too.

But I do suggest making as big of a deal out of it as possible. once you get out of school and become an adult, then you don't get very many chances to really stand up for what is right because you have to worry about losing your job and getting arrested and evicted..etc. but when you are young they can't really do anything to you and you don't have much to lose.

That's ridiculous Dan. I'm becoming grateful for the lack of censorship around here. But then again, nobody ever read our school newspaper, so it wouldn't matter what was said.

Damn the man! That's what I say.

Nah just kidding, I don't say that.

I'm gonna have to shank a bitch.

The bitch being my principal and/or teacher if you didn't pick that up.

Wow, is this the first or maybe second time I completely agreed with you??

Back to the topic, read Lies My Teacher Told Me and write a scathing review of your high school's American History textbook, that should get someones attention.

No offense, but this country needs more engineers and scientists that writers. If the cutting laser inspires some kids to become an engineer or scientist, the money is well spent. Besides, we should continue transitioning to a more paperless economy.

Ignore this, I made a mistake.

Teachers handing out inadequate amounts of work may make a larger impact on grades. And everyone uses paper, scientists use a great deal of paper as well as engineers. I'm not sure I understand what you are saying. The paper is gone for everything, not just the writers paper supply, there isn't such a thing.

My school ran out of paper too^5for no paper!

We've had to copy our exam reviews by hand.  (i.e. I do not have exam reviews.)

I wrote a book review of one of Chuck's books through a zine (I wanna say it was Survivor) I did via my high school through the journalism course. Nothing like that happened to me. Call me lucky?

I'm sure most schools won't stop a Chuck bio from being put into the newspaper/zine, just some schools are more stict.

I'm all for standing up for rights and stuff... but I don't think an event like this is strong or outrageous enough to go to great lengths to retaliate and exercise free expression. A couple of years ago, the teachers went crazy because the girls were wearing super short skirts. The chick in front of me in Psychology class, uh, it didn't even cover her ass. The teachers were telling all the girls to dress more appropriately or they'd be expelled.

Now, see, then we fought back. A bunch of people threw bras all over the entire school, on the roof, in the trees, covered the entire football field. Seems like a lot of money to spend at a prank, to me, but you know.

Because, taking a stand for myself only results in a 5-day suspension and the whole staff hating me for the next two years of my high school life. Go to my school for a day, it's like being in a concentration camp. But you know, thats all I need, just more people hating me. We aren't publishing the paper tomorrow, the editor is very mad, but we will all suffer grade-wise. I'm sure the teacher will be outraged, but it's a step I guess. I'm not taking legal action, because honestly, it's kind of a ludicrous thing to do, especially with 3 more days of school left. It's not that my balls have fallen off, it's that I when we enter school, they are taken.

concentration camp - hyperbole much?

If you really want to get it done, write it, print it, and distribute it amongst the students by yourself. If they try to punish you for it, sue the bastards. Hell, just an e-mail to the ACLU. A response from them should be enough to scare the pants off of the administration.

I never had a problem in my journalism class. However, I did have one free speech/expression tiff. One time in homeroom, my homeroom teacher flipped when I didn't stand or say the pledge. It's not like I decided not to one day, I hadn't been doing it for the whole year but nobody noticed or seemed to care (as it should be). One day right before Chrsitmas break the teacher for whatever reason saw me and flipped. She got all red and angry and threatened a detention/suspension. I just sat there, calm starred right back at her and said, "Just try it." She stormed back to the front in a tiff knowing that she couldn't do a damn thing about it.

As long as you operate within the legal channels, you can do whatever you want. There are tons of legal precedants protecting what you're trying to do. And the school even has a copy of Fight Club!! Write what you want, distribute it around and if the administration tries to do pressure you, through the law at them. No school wants to risk legal action from their students, no matter how concentration camp-esque they may be. They threaten suspension, you threaten their job, financial compensation, and a PR nightmare and you will come out on top.

Dan, just wondering, what did the bio reveal about The Palahniuk? Did you mention like, "Guts caused people to pass out, and is about kids masturbating", or was it just like, "He's written these books, he lives here," short straightfoward thing? If you ever meet the Palahniuk, or if you have, and see him again, you should tell him this story, he'd probably be flustered to have caused a fuss because of what someone else wrote.

thats a really good point.  kids dont read the school paper anyway, so (other than for resume reasons) why bother writing iin the paper anyway.  you're much more likely to get read if you just post the article as a note in facebook, or if you want a more professional looking article for your resume, by starting your own website.  plus, the school cant (or at least is much less likely to) bust you if you dont actualy distribute the offending articles at school.

you should post the article here too.  were all fans.  it mght give this conversation some more weight too.

Concetration camps, teachers hating you, removal of balls at the gate, god I miss my youth. Percy Shelley produced a pamphlet titled the need for atheism and was expelled from his place of eduction and as we know his career was ruined, oh hang on he became a highly respected poet and litarery figure. If it bothers you that they push you around push back, never under any circumstances let them beat yoy down.

I forget who said this but its a phrase that I try to live by. I would rather have one day as a lion than ten days as a lamb.

It was basically straightforward, nothing obscene or implying of any obscenities, I don't talk the 'guts' effect or people fainting at readings.

And Stone, the editor told the teacher she isn't publishing the paper. The editor is a fellow classmate fyi. As she got grilled in front of the class, I was like, this can't be happening, so I jumped up and metioned the thing about Mark Twain and his racism in his books, etc. I asked whose to say that sexual content is worse than racial prejudice? My principal would have surely allowed a Mark Twain biography, my journalism teacher said so that he would allow it. She couldn't get her head around the hypocrisy statement with our school allowing his books in the library, but not a biography of him to be in the paper.

It doesn't matter to me if people actually get to read my article, what matters is the fact that my school is run by hypocrites that can't accept the fact that they think sexual content far surpasses racial prejudice in terms of being a negative influence on the students. Our previous editor (which is now in college) also e-mailed the journalism teacher, and our current editor was told that she cannot be editor next year, because of the choice she made to not put out the newspaper. It sucks because she is an aspiring journalist and my article kind of took her out of the class, but i guess sacrifices needed to be made, but that was a bit harsh.

Currently, I don't have a copy of the article I wrote, I turned it into my teacher with the thumbdrive, and it is gone from my thumbdrive. I'll try to get a copy tomorrow if I can, but it's my last day.

Dan, your ight about hypocrisy, and to think that sexual contents more important than race issues shows that the people wielding the power at your school aint got the stomach for the job, fuckin jobsworths. Fuck em mate, you get to sleep the sleep of the just if you make a stand, it may not always have a happy ending but hey thats life. Do the right thing n stick to your morals Dan.

you should come to my school.

they'd worship you danthan.

when they wouldn't let it go to print and you said "This is a bunch of HorseShit!" did they try and censor [i]that[/i] as well?

Yeah, the bell rang right as I got to the profanity.

It was disconcerting.

God was bleeping you out.