The legislation will prohibit the vetting of articles prior to publication—with the exception of those that are libelous, unwarrantedly invade privacy, violate the law, or incite students to disobey school policies.
Renae Roscart, 15, considers parents who argued for the reading list removal to be "pretending that sexual assault and alcoholism isn’t something that youths encounter."
The Chesterfield County Public School summer reading list contained books that were "pornographic" and contained "vile, vile, nasty language," one mother complained.
Kate Messner speaking event at South Burlington's Chamberlin Elementary School after the school discovered her latest book was about heroin addiction.
NCAC has released the following statement on the climate change controversy brewing in Portland: On May 17, the Public School Board of Portland, Oregon unanimously adopted a resolution to “Develop an Implementation Plan for Climate Literacy,” which concluded with this recommendation: “The implementation plan should include a review of current textbooks for accuracy around the severity of the climate crisis and the [...]
I woke up today. And when I woke up I thought of A friend. I thought of Kyle, I thought of Jack, I thought of Tamir And those who we have lost, Those who Cannot wake up. This stanza from an original poem by senior at Austin High School in Austin, Texas led to him being prohibited from reading it at his graduation. Pablo [...]
The prevailing narrative in Rainier, OR, is that nine-year-old kids were forced to look at “explicit” books in their school library. But things aren’t always what they seem.
It looks like a Tennessee high school will have a gay-straight alliance club after all. But do the district's new rules for all clubs go too far?
A high school production of 'The Producers' is altered after parents complain about swastikas on stage.
The winners are here! The top three submissions in the 2015 Youth Free Expression Film Contest.
What happens when a cop complains that student artwork is “propaganda?”
At Franklin County High School in Tennessee, some students and parents are outraged by the very existence of the Gay-Straight Alliance.
After a censorship controversy over 'American Idiot' grabbed headlines, NCAC and other free speech groups offer advice on how the school can turn this into a learning experience, and protect students' artistic freedom going forward.
We're down to a dozen! Here are the semifinalists in this year's Youth Free Expression Film Contest.
Complaints from a few parents have apparently canceled a Connecticut high school's performance of 'American Idiot.'
A series of proposed changes to the sex ed curriculum in Omaha, Nebraska generated intense opposition late last year, with hundreds of angry parents packing a meeting to denounce plans to teach students about gender identity, emergency contraception, and abortion. Now it is up to the board to decide how and what students will learn.
If a New Jersey high school is really treating a student's tweets as harassment, they need to cease investigating her words and apologize to her instead.
A censorship dispute in Portage, Indiana, was over quickly after it began thanks to the quick action of students.
Parents in Omaha are fired up about proposed changes to the sexual education curriculum. Are they trying to keep their kids "pure," or are they calling for censorship?
Parents in Georgia are outraged over lessons that teach the history of Islam. And the state is taking the complaints seriously, removing a program guide called "Respecting Beliefs."
Protests and criticism are one thing-- calls to defund a Wesleyan student newspaper over an op-ed go too far. Student government officers, and the newspaper itself, must do more to support free expression.
Telling students to avoid books containing "wayward beliefs" implies we are incapable of thinking for ourselves. The removal did not give parents the freedom to parent, but instead attacked freedom of thought.
Winners of the 11th Annual Youth Film Contest 1. Anne Wade (Cullowhee, North Carolina) "Don't Let Them Take Your Voice" ARTIST STATEMENT: “My film is a black and white silent film that was created out of a desire to speak out against censorship in schools across the nation using a unique and creative idea that engaged myself and [...]
A student project on police and community relations angers local cops-- and school administrators respond by removing it.
After receiving complaints, a Maryland high school removes police brutality artwork. But the students at Oxon Hill aren't submitting to censorship-- they are fighting back.
Students at a Pennsylvania high school are told by local police that what they tweet could be a crime.
NCAC congratulates the students of Cherokee Trail High for speaking up and speaking out against censorship, and is gratified that the administration chose to do the right thing by respecting its students' free expression rights.
Theater students get word that their show is canceled due to inappropriate content. But once the news hits the local TV, the administration changes its tune.
A group of Florida students were set to perform at the Florida State Thespian Festival in Tampa. They did-- but outside the venue.
A high school newspaper investigation into drugs was deemed unsuitable for publication by the school's principal. But a local news outlet heard about the story and decided that good journalism deserves to be read.
NCAC is joined by several international organizations in protesting the New York Youth Symphony's decision to cancel a controversial work.
A young composer's Carnegie Hall debut was scrapped over concerns that his composition, which quotes Nazi and Soviet themes, was offensive.
Our theme in 2013 was “Video Games in the Crosshairs.” We invited teens 19 and younger to reflect on gaming and respond to those who trumpet a single narrative about video games and media violence. We asked them to show us why gaming matters, what attracts young people to it, what role it plays in our culture and to explore [...]
In late October, NCAC mobilized its partner organizations to pressure school officials in North Carolina's Maiden High School to reinstate a cancelled production of Almost, Maine. Now, the students will be staging a production of the play at an alternate venue.
(UPDATE: Good news! The students organized and managed to stage their performance at a local playhouse, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign.) NCAC and other organizations committed to artistic and intellectual freedom sent the below letter to Maiden High School in response to the cancellation of the scheduled January production of John Cariani's Almost, Maine due to concerns about the play's content. Although [...]
(UPDATE: The students organized and managed to stage their performance at a local playhouse, thanks to a Kickstarter campaign.) A mere week after the legalization of gay marriage in North Carolina, a school in Maiden has decided to cancel a scheduled January production of Almost, Maine over, yes, the presence of a same-sex couple in the play's storyline. In a case [...]
UPDATE: We've just heard that, in apparent retaliation for speaking about the cancellation of the play, drama teacher Dawn Burch, has been just fired. Stay tuned for action alert and letter to the school board. In a letter sent to the South Williamsport Area School District today, the National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), the American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, the [...]
A production of Spamalot planned for 2015 has recently been cancelled by the South Williamsport High School in Pennsylvania. Why? Made public in August as the result of Right-to-Know requests, internal emails sent by the school principal, Jesse Smith, clearly demonstrate that the homosexual themes of the play prompted the cancellation. The principal suggested in the communications that the show [...]
NCAC's Youth Free Expression Project sent a letter to the Newfound Area School District warning of the "constitutionally suspect" dissolution of a high school student film club. The official reason for disbanding the club was its supposed failure to advance "student performance in core academic subjects like reading and mathematics” or “complement their regular academic program.” But in conversation with [...]
Tomorrow is opening night for Trumbull High School students and for a performance of the musical Rent that almost wasn't.
