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 By Jack Lepiarz Jan. 12, 2006 My school newspaper is having trouble getting a story for our front page. For the past two days, I have roamed around my school (hall pass in hand), searching for a prominent enough story to put on our school's front page. On the first day, I found a wonderful article idea revolving around a certain crime committed in the school (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to describe it in any way, shape, or form). It seemed perfect. A relatively serious crime in a small town's small high school which has never seen anything worse than the occasional senior prank. A perfect story. There was just one problem. We weren't allowed to cover it. Apparently, reporting on the facts of this felony might compromise the investigation (the police are indeed involved), and so we are unable to cover this incredible story (the first newsworthy piece we've gotten all year) because of red tape. As editor-in-chief, I am, naturally, a bit annoyed by this. Had we not been the student paper, we would have been able to write a full and complete article surrounding the details of this crime. But because we are the student press--without any real press power, we are forced to sit and wait for the school administration to OK our article. It's hard to feel motivated to create a good paper when we're not allowed to write anything TOO controversial. Once again (for the fourth time I believe), I will return to my age-old gripe about censorship. I believe that my first amendment rights are quite possibly the most important in the Constitution (now, I'd have to look through the rest of the bill of rights and make a better decision, but the 1st amendment's up there). The ability to speak ones' mind is something that every American ought to cherish. I most certainly do. But back to the newspaper. So, we can't cover the exciting story of the crime involving a break-in into the school. Now, to be fair, the administration did offer us another idea for the front page of the student-run newspaper. We could cover the changes being made to the science curriculum. Breathtaking story isn't it? Now we can learn about how we--I'm sorry, MHS--will be getting taught in the realms of science starting next year. Great. So they refuse us an excellent story about a crime right in the school and give us one about the science curriculum? A once-in-a-lifetime story for a student newspaper, and we are refused the chance to write about it! My frustration reaches new levels with this latest development. With any luck they'll get this case solved quickly and so GRACIOUSLY allow us to write a story about it, instead of things that happened two months ago. ------------ About the author: Jack Lepiarz is a senior at Madison High School. Born in Waco, Texas, he lived with the Big Apple Circus for much of his early childhood, eventually moving to Madison, New Jersey, where he now resides. Although he is often described as stubborn and egotistical, he tries to keep an open-mind towards new ideas and treat people the way he would like to be treated. Email: Jackwuzhere42@aol.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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