Censorship is about restriction and control of intellectual development, and the danger when educators fail to investigate what censorship truly means--for example, by attaching it to metaphors with abundant entailments--is that people will merely "shrug off" the removal of books from libraries and classrooms and fail to see challenges…

Discusses an Alabama silent prayer law struck down by the Supreme Court. Also discusses two Iowa court cases, one involving prayer at graduation ceremonies, the other involving distribution of Bibles in state schools. (MD)

Discusses within a historical context First Amendment freedoms, censorship, and the rights of Americans to visual and literary creativity. (HTH)

Discusses two important and parallel court cases related to the use of the Bible in public schools. Covers the context, issues and ensuing public outcry related to both the 1890 "Edgerton" decision and the 1963 "Schempp" case. (LS)

Discusses "Mozert v. Hawkins," pointing out four important factors in the case, and shows the reasonable and reasoned way the judge's final decision was made. (MD)

This First Amendment Guide promotes a model of religious fairness and respect. Public schools should protect the religious-liberty rights of students of all faiths or none. Curriculum should include study about religion as an important part of a complete education. The advice offered in this guide draws on shared vision and relies on recent…

Suggests that the First Amendment is about tolerance of others enjoying their freedoms. Presents an activity for learning about the holidays that are celebrated in the United States and elsewhere. Encourages teachers to have students survey community attitudes about holidays. Includes a list of children's literature concerning religions and…

Reviews the literature in the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) on the legal status and role of the secondary level publications adviser. (Author)

Offers approaches for using the Bible as a textbook in literature, social studies, history, and humanities classes, based on the author's "Handbook for Teaching the Bible in English Classes." Recommends creationism not be included in the science curriculum and teachers be trained for sensitivity to student pluralism. Comments on relevant…

The Supreme Court has consistently defended the power of secondary school officials in their role as enforcer, even in cases of expression. In spite of the trends of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the movement in the schools toward more freedoms for students and a more contemporary curriculum--including journalism as a legitimate high school…

Part memoir, part courtroom drama, part primer for fighting assaults on free speech, this book narrates a 5-year-long federal battle which began in 1986 to reinstate several literary classics to the reading list of a public high school in Lake City, Florida. The book recounts how the superintendent, the local school board, and several religious…

Noting that recent Supreme Court decisions (including Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier and Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser) moved markedly away from protecting students' First Amendment rights, this paper examined justifications for granting public school students freedom of expression. Rather than looking at where students' First…

This book presents an analysis of the current state of book banning in schools and public libraries, offering ready reference material on major incidents, legal cases, and annotated entries on the most frequently challenged books. Every section of this revised edition has been rewritten, updated, or expanded to reflect new developments. In-depth…

Chapter 12 in a book on school law focuses on religious activities within the schools. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that bible reading and prayer recitations are not permissible. However, objective study of religion as history or literature or the study of comparative religions would be acceptable. The Court has given approval for excusal from…

Noting that the Supreme Court in 1997 considered the question of whether the Internet would be regulated by the government as broadcasting or whether it would remain as free as newspapers, this paper examines the difficulty involved in applying old law to new technology. It also notes that while journalism education generally has accepted…