BACKGROUND
Why Youth Communication Was Founded and Why It Is Needed Today

The High School Press: From the Complacency of the 1950s to the Protests of the 1960s.

[Note to Readers: If you want to skip right to the founding of Youth Communication, click here.]

The New York Herald Tribune—a typical high school underground newspaper from the late 1960's and early 1970's.

DOCUMENTS: For a brief history of the youth rights movement in the second half of the 20th Century, see Keith Hefner's article from Social Policy magazine.

The Social Movements of the 1960s Influence School Newspapers: From World War II through the mid-1960s, high school newspapers are typically run by an elite group within the student body. Most papers strive to mimic the bland, non-controversial tone of adult newspapers, including their glaring avoidance of major social issues, such as the profound inequality of African-Americans, women, and other so-called minority groups. With few exceptions, the content of school newspapers does not raise concerns for school administrators.

By the late 1960s, however, the social consensus in America has been upset by the civil rights movement, the anti-war movement, the women's movement, the emerging gay rights movement, and changing cultural mores regarding everything from tastes in music to attitudes toward sex. High school students across the country play important roles in all of these movements, and the high school press becomes a battleground as students try to write about their concerns, and school administrators try to prevent them from doing so.

The Student Rights Movement: In reaction to adult censorship and control, a movement arises for student rights, which demands everything from the end of school dress codes to the establishment of "alternative" schools which are less regimented than traditional high schools. Students in many cities also demand an uncensored student press, and the ACLU and other organizations take administrators to court in an attempt to broaden student press freedom.

The Rise of the High School Underground Press: As school administrators continue to censor the student press, thousands of high school underground newspapers are published. Many schools prohibit them and discipline student editors.

Courts Expand Student Rights: In 1969, the Supreme Court (Tinker v. Des Moines) rules that young people do not "shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate," and that "students are entitled to freedom of expression of their views." Nonetheless, administrators nationwide crack down on school newspapers and student expression. (Nineteen years later, in the Hazelwood decision, school administrators get legal cover for their censorious urges.)

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