Author: Jaclyn Hirsch

Writing about sex and sexual health issues can be precarious for high school students.

During the year marking the 40th anniversary of the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District decision that gave high school students the right to free speech inside the schoolhouse gates, controversy surrounding another historic event ' the election of President Barack Obama ' put Tinker's promise of free speech under strain.

Censorship of student speech goes often beyond the pages of student publications. District and federal courts nationwide have heard cases involving students who claimed their right to free expression was violated by high school administrators banning politically charged T-shirts, armbands, buttons and other paraphernalia bearing messages.

The student newspaper focuses on public events and issues. The literary magazine centers on young artists and poets. The student yearbook, however, encompasses every facet of the high school community. Although each of these publications differs in content, all of them typically fall under the same student publication policy set by school administrators. The role of the yearbook, however, can be a confusing one for teachers and administrators, who sometimes fail to treat the yearbook as deserving the same level of journalistic independence as a newspaper.

The First Amendment grants Americans the right to freedom of speech and freedom of press, but the exact boundaries of those rights are determined by the courts.