The First Amendment

Tuesday - Wednesday
11/30-12/1

GOALS:
1. Students will discuss several situations concerning FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS.

3. Students will be presented with situations that are clarified through the First Amendment

Press Freedom Quiz:
https://www.splc.org/quiz/quiz3pressfreedom.asp


The First Amendment Quiz:
https://www.splc.org/quiz/quiz2.asp


Reporters privilege quiz:
https://www.splc.org/quiz/quiz3privilege.asp

REMINDER: FIRST AMENDMENT TEST ON THURSDAY. (Study the online quizzes, your notes and the notes on the blog )
**You do have to write the FIRST AMENDMENT

Standard -1.9.11.A: Use media and technology resources for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. Identify complexities and inconsistencies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium

scavenger

Students will conduct an interview scavenger hunt:

Provide correct attribution for each answer (Name, grade)
1. Talk to 3 people with unique pets.
~be able to tell how long they have that pet, why they have that pet, etc.
2. Find 3 people who have met or had an experience with famous people.
3. Find someone who has an educational military experience that they can share or ask a math teacher what their favorite aspect of math.
4. Go up to 3 people you have never met and learn about their study habits. Different ones.
5. Find out what the best place in the high school is to hang out. (Ask several students)
6.Find where the best place in Berwick to hang out is. (Ask several students)
7. Find someone with a fascinating college story to inspire others to go to college from a teacher or dual enrollment high school student (Keep your story rated PG....Mrs. Christian will be reading!!)
8. Ask one of our administrators and find out what their favorite meal in our cafeteria is.
9. Ask 10 students the following questions: What is your fav. pizza place in Berwick ?
and What pizza topping would you like to order, but are afraid to try.
10. Learn a dream / goal of a student you never met


You must talk to different people. Your answers must be from DIFFERENT PEOPLE!!

Have fun! Interview parameter is limited to BHS!

Ethical Decisions in Journalism

Ethical Decisions in Journalism
Nov 19
Students will be presented with situations of libel and libelous photography. They will justify is situations are printable in a newspaper or must be held back.

-Students will review works by photo journalist, Gary Fabiano
http://www.garyfabiano.com/Artist.asp?ArtistID=14952&Akey=YXPRY2JP

Standard -1.9.11.A: Use media and technology resources for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. Identify complexities and inconsistencies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium

The Tinker story is why you have liberties at the school house door.
Three students in Des Moines, Iowa decided to protest the Vietnam War in 1965 by wearing black armbands to school. The school learned of their plans and made a rule prohibiting black arm bands. They were told to take them off when they refused, they were suspended.
Students and their parents sued the school district. Four years later, in 1969, in a landmark decision the court ruled that students were permitted to their First Amendment rights as long as they did not cause a substantial disruption of or material interference with school activities. Administrator must demonstrate facts in order for a legal censorship to hold up in court. This case paved the way for uncensored school newspapers until 1985.
Tinker says that a newspaper may not be censored if the story or the research for the story is not causing a disruption to the school

Libel
PowerPoints:

Let's talk about Libel:
PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.splc.org/presentations/

click on the following links:
Libel Law:
Libel & Privacy

Libel and the First Amendment
The Student Press Law Center
http://www.splc.org/default.asp


Know The Student Law:
http://www.splc.org/knowyourrights/legalresearch.asp?id=3

Have students look up Libel and Privacy Law
http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/viewpage.cgi


Additional Websites for related research include:
Why is freedom of speech and press important?
http://www.freedomforum.org/about/today.asp


http://www.rcfp.org/


Overview of First Amendment Law (Review sites)
http://www.aclu.org/library/pbp10.htm

l
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html



http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/06.html

Standard -
1.9.11.A: Use media and technology resources for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. Identify complexities and inconsistencies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium.
1.9.11.B: Evaluate how the techniques used in media modify traditional society.
1.2.11B - use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced

Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech

Short Summary: The Hazelwood Case

In 1983 students at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis were shocked when they received their paper back and found two stories missing. One had been about teenage pregnancies and had featured anonymous students in the high school. The other had been about divorces and how it affects teenagers. The past adviser (who had just left the district) had started a tradition of giving the principal the newspaper as a common courtesy before it went to press. The principal had been concerned about the articles -- thinking they were too revealing and did not fully cover the stories. (Did not interview all needed sources etc.) He cut the stories without telling the students or the new adviser. His first claims were that the stories were “too sensitive” and that the topic of divorce was inappropriate for high school students. In court he claimed that the girls in the pregnancy story were easily identifiable, that students were sexually active, and that the parents did not respond. In the divorce story he did not like the reference that the father that was gone all the time.

The newspaper decided to sue based on Tinker. The case made it to the Supreme Court. In a defeat to student journalists, the court sided with the school and drew up new rules for censorship from the school.

The court decided that if the following were true...
The newspaper must be an open forum of public expression. (Newspapers must have an editorial policy proclaiming they are an open forum.
Public open forum means that any student may write a letter and have it published. Any student or teacher may request to have a guest column.)
Students must have the final say in content about the paper.
Papers should not be given to administration before going to print. (This is how the students in Hazelwood got in trouble.)

... then Tinker applies: The school may only censor when they feel that it will disturb the learning process.) If there is a written school policy then the newspaper cannot be under prior review by the school!

If paper does not proclaim itself an open forum, then it is subject to prior review.
Schools must still justify why they censored material and why it is not educationally fit. Papers must be careful to be grammatically correct, research correct sources, not use vulgar words, have balanced reporting, etc…

The Full Hazelwood case:
http://mycooljournalism.blogspot.com/2009/11/hazlewood-case-summary-and-terms.html


Review : How to tell the difference between what law a newspaper falls under.

Other cases:
http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1987

http://www.splc.org/wordpress/?p=308

http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1987
Assessment:
The following class, students to be able to come in and define what Tinker is and what Hazelwood in a short essay quiz.

Students will look up Libel and Privacy Law
http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/viewpage.cgi

Additional Websites for related research include:
Why is freedom of speech and press important?
http://www.freedomforum.org/about/today.asp


http://www.rcfp.org/



Overview of First Amendment Law (Review sites)
http://www.aclu.org/library/pbp10.htm


http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html


http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/06.html

11/8-11/12

Monday - Friday, 11/8-11/12

**Mrs. Ryman will keep track of the work done each day.

1. -Students will learn about Sports Writing
2. Please read chapter 12 in the Journalism Today Text: Writing Sports Stories
3. Read pages 260-273 aloud with the class. Please point out the important ideas in each section.
4. Read pages 149-150 in the workbook
5. Students should take notes
6. After you read the chapter, please complete the following workbook exercises. (Collect them as students finish them)
7. To review the chapter, students should work in groups.
8. Go over Exercise 1. Pg 151-153
9. Exercises 7, 8, and 9: pgs 162-164 (Students can use the Internet to figure out the answers)
10. Exercise 6 pg 161


Standard -
1.9.11.A: Use media and technology resources for research, information analysis, problem solving, and decision making in content learning. Identify complexities and inconsistencies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium.
1.9.11.B: Evaluate how the techniques used in media modify traditional society.
1.2.11B - use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced

Our Rights

First Amendment 1
First Amendment Link:
http://www.firstamendmentschools.org/resources/lessonplans.aspx


First Principles:

First Principles
The First Amendment applies to all Americans. Our nation affirms the truth of inalienable rights for all, working for more than 200 years to make the ideals expressed in the First Amendment a reality in the lives of all Americans. These rights were so important to early citizens and their leaders, many states refused to ratify the Constitution of the United States without the promise of amendments that would protect individual rights.

Here are some “First Principles” to help you to interpret these eloquent 45 words and understand how they influence our daily lives.

1. The First Amendment affirms the freedom of the individual.

American government is based upon the concept that all human beings are born with certain rights or freedoms. The First Amendment guards these rights by prohibiting the government from denying citizens their rights. The government does not give us our rights. Its role is to guard the rights that we already have.

We, as individuals, have freedom of conscience. Religious liberty, or freedom of conscience, protects the beliefs of everyone, not just those of recognized faith communities. We are free to worship —or not to worship — as we choose. The government may not tell us what church, synagogue, mosque or temple to attend or whether, where and how we should pray.

As individuals, our ideas and beliefs are our own. We are free to develop and express our thoughts. Through our free press, we have access to a vast range of information. We may criticize our government if we see fit to do so. Judgments about ideas are for individuals to make, not for government to decree.

The First Amendment guarantees we may associate with people and join groups of our own choosing. We may ask or lobby the government to correct certain wrongs or support our beliefs.

2. Free expression is the foundation — the cornerstone — of democracy.

The First Amendment is based on the premise that people who can freely share information (especially about their government) will be informed and able to make sound choices about what leaders to elect, what forms of government they want, what laws to enact. The freedom to exchange information about the government enables people to seek alternatives to bad government.

3. The First Amendment tells the government to keep its “hands off” our religion, our ideas, our ability to express ourselves.

“Congress shall make no law …” means that as far as possible the government may not interfere with our fundamental rights. The government may not pass laws that take away our First Amendment freedoms or that force us to express ideas — including religious beliefs — that we do not embrace. But the First Amendment is not absolute.

“No law” does not mean “absolutely no law.” For instance, human sacrifice cannot be permitted in the name of freedom of conscience. The Supreme Court has affirmed that some limits must be placed on our freedoms. The government, for example, may regulate the time, place and manner, but not regulate solely on the basis of the content of our beliefs, ideas, and expressions. We may need to hold a permit before we march in support of a particular cause, but we should not have to worry about the government telling us we have no right to believe in that cause or express that idea.

4. Other people have rights, too.

The First Amendment is based upon the conviction that all human beings have inalienable rights. Our commitment to rights is inseparably linked to our civic responsibility to guard those rights for all others.

When faced with unpopular views or unrefined speech, members of the public may ask, “Why doesn't the government do something about that?” The answer? Neither government nor a majority of the public has the authority to stop an unpopular idea.

Because the First Amendment belongs to everyone — to each individual — it encourages us to respect the right of others to hold their viewpoints and religious beliefs. The First Amendment protects minority viewpoints and helps us to understand that limiting the rights of some people may eventually limit the rights of all.

5. When rights collide, government must balance them.

Sometimes the government plays a role in balancing our rights. When two rights collide, tension and controversy may result. What happens, for example, when a person's right to a fair trial conflicts with our right to learn if a fair trial is actually taking place through accounts reported in our free press? What happens when an individual’s right to personal privacy conflicts with the free flow of information? The government (through the courts) may make decisions that protect both rights to the fullest extent possible.

In addition to knowing where government officials draw the line when regulating expression, it is important to understand who may and may not control what we say or write or perform.

Public school administrators are government officials and, like city officials, have both power and limits regarding regulation of expression. Although students do not give up their First Amendment rights when they come to school, the United States Supreme Court has determined that school officials may restrict students’ rights if the administrators determine that exercising those rights would interfere with the school’s mission of educating its students. However, as government officials, they may not control or censor expression to the degree that a private organization or family might. The First Amendment does not apply to private school officials.

6. The First Amendment helps us make choices.

In the “marketplace of ideas,” we may choose which views to support and which ones to reject. When all ideas are allowed to flourish, we — as individuals — may decide what ideas and concepts to question, embrace or reject.

First Amendment advocates say it best: The antidote to distasteful or hateful speech is not censorship, but more speech.

1.2.11B - use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced
1.5.11C - Write with a distinctive focus