"Sex" edition of high school newspaper angers parents
Categories: Education
High school newspapers aren't exactly known for their groundbreaking journalism -- largely due to the fact that administrators are allowed to sensor their content. Nevertheless, the students at Winnacunnet High School in New Hampshire managed to publish a "sex" edition of their paper, the Winnachronicle.
Parents are upset about the photos of women kissing, quizzes about anal sex, and racy interviews -- including one in which the janitor claims to have found a vibrator in the girls' shower -- but frankly, I don't care. We all know that's what the kids are thinking about -- all the time -- so why not write about it in the newspaper?
While the principal was upset by the edition, and said he dealt with the matter privately, I think this is an administration with the right idea. Not only does the paper go to press without administrator approval (for now), the students' faculty adviser went so far as to say: "the Winnachronicle is also not a P.R. piece for the high school. This is a place for students to express their view and talk about issues that are troubling the student body."
Unfortunately, some members of the school board have lashed out against the students, calling the sex edition "vile," and "pornography," and are taking steps that may stop future editors from covering controversial topics in the future.
But I wonder -- did the naysayers even read it? Or did they see the lesbian photo and burn the thing before it could infect the rest of the household? The editorial that ran at the front of the paper read as follows: "These stories have been edited and re-edited for content and delivery, keeping in mind that the job here is to inform, not shock. It's about sex. Deal with it."
Seems pretty level-headed to me.
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