I just read a very well written letter in the Greenwich Time. The letter was written by Ryan Fazio, the former editor of “The Beak”, a high school newspaper in Greenwich, Connecticut. Since he is no longer editor-in-chief he felt the need to express his true feelings in an open forum. Fazio explains that the newspaper is suffering from “systematic and bureaucratic censorship” and that all the final decisions for the paper are made by one teacher advisor, who “has the pressure of school administration on his shoulders.”
Fazio personally has had three of his editorials censored from subjects reigning from the current drinking age and the illegality of steroids. Some other editorials that were censored were about the “futility of a college fair” at their high school and another on a person’s opinion of the Greenwich culture.
Although Fazio states that “The Beak” has been making progress, he explains that it is still severely limited to its publications. A good point he makes is the irony of the school’s theme of “freedom with responsibility”, because it seems that this newspaper does not have much freedom at all.
On a personal note, I can understand there being some censorship in a high school newspaper, but there are other ways students can express themselves! Blogs for instance are a great outlet for anyone to put out their opinion and read others.....
Allison Suriano's Weblog - http://asuriano.wordpress.com
Here is Ryan's Letter To
The Greenwich Time Editor........Censorship undercuts goal of student newspaper
To the editor:
For the past year as executive editor of The Beak, I witnessed both the good and bad of Greenwich High School's student newspaper. But in my capacity, I never had the opportunity to assess it in a public forum and especially wouldn't be allowed to criticize it. But now that April has come, and a new editorial board has replaced the old one, I am in the position to pronounce what is wrong with The Beak, informed by three years of various experience.
The systematic, bureaucratic censorship of The Beak, as well as all other student media at GHS, severely hamstrings the intellectual and informational quality of its product. A myriad of regulations are enforced on a whim by a single faculty adviser who has the pressure of school administration on his shoulders. Similarly, other publications, such as the satirical Weekling, and any organization wishing to disseminate information are unilaterally censored by the overbearing student activities office
CENSORED **** We Must Shut Down Ryan **** CENSORED How Dare He Write About The Current Drinking Age **** CENSORED ***** Ryan Is A Dangerous Subversive **** CENSORED **** OMG !!! - Ryan Wants To Write About Steriods ***** CENSORED **** Get Someone Expell This Kid For Having Original Thoughts **** CENSORED **** There Is No Way In Hell We Can Have Ryan Writing About College Fairs **** CENSORED ***** Let's Arrange For A Parent Teacher Conference **** CENSORED **** If we let Ryan express his original thoughts at Greenwich High School, then other students will want to start expressing their original thoughts **** CENSORED **** There Will Be No Intelectual Freedom At Greenwich High School **** CENSORED
students cannot be allowed to discuss freely news and ideas, then one must question the value of the educational environment they are stuck in.
Ryan Fazio
Greenwich
http://www.greenwichtime.com/ci_8899138
(Please note that if you follow this link to Ryan's letter to the editor your IP address will be logged and the Greenwich High School activities office may have to start a file on you and your family)
Hey, Teacher Leave That Kid Alone, Because All You Are Is Just Another Brick In The Wall
Score one for Ryan and give nothing to those losers in the student activities office who have no idea what Freedom of Thought is all about.
To deny a person's freedom of thought is to deny what can be considered one's most basic freedom; to think for one's self.
Since the whole concept of 'freedom of thought' rests on the freedom of the individual to believe whatever one thinks is best (freedom of belief), the notion of 'freedom of religion' is closely related and inextricably bound up with these.
While in many societies and forms of government, there has been effectively no freedom of religion or belief, this same freedom has been cherished and developed to a great extent in the modern western world, such that it has often been taken for granted.
This development was enshrined in words in the United States Constitution by the Bill of Rights, which contains the famous guarantee in the First Amendment that laws may not be made that interfere with religion "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". Today nearly all democratic nations around the world contain similar language within their respective Constitutions.
A US Supreme Court Justice (Benjamin Cardozo) later went on to reason in Palko v. Connecticut (1937) that:
- "Freedom of thought... is the matrix, the indispensable condition, of nearly every other form of freedom. With rare aberrations a pervasive recognition of this truth can be traced in our history, political and legal."
In other words, without the right to freedom of thought, other rights such as the right to freedom of speech hold little meaning.
Such ideas regarding freedom of thought, as developed over time, ultimately became a vital part of international human rights law. In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), it is listed under Article 18:
- Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.
The Human Rights Committee states that the above Article 18, which became legally binding on member states with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights;
- "distinguishes the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief from the freedom to manifest religion or belief. It does not permit any limitations whatsoever on the freedom of thought and conscience or on the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's choice. These freedoms are protected unconditionally."
Similarly, Article 19 of the UDHR guarantees that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference..."
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"There is no man that has power over the spirit, to retain it; neither has he power in the day of death." Ecclesiastes , The Bible
In other words, trying to control the thoughts of others is as futile as trying to control death.
By trying to control the thoughts of Ryan Fazio the Greenwich High School student activities office has inadvertently given Ryan a larger forum and themselves a well deserved black eye.
