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Sex Article Causes Stir At School
Paper's Articles May Face Review Before Publication
POSTED: 2:50 pm EST February 13,
2008
FRANKLIN, Ind. -- A First Amendment debate is raging at Franklin High School after an article in the school newspaper raised some eyebrows."Electron" editor-in-chief Ricci Warwick said an article on the subject of sex wasn't meant to increase circulation but to educate students about sexually transmitted diseases and contraception, and to dispel some myths around school."One in particular was that if a girl was on top during sex, then she couldn't get pregnant," Warwick said. "We've had 17 pregnant girls in our school from the past year. So, someone obviously isn't speaking to them."
The two-page spread in the paper has no racy pictures or provocative language, but the subject itself was enough to cause a stir."My concerns have nothing to do with the topic. I do think that sex and sexually transmitted diseases are appropriate topics for high school students," Franklin High School Principal Craig McCaffrey said.McCaffrey's beef with the article was that it didn't discuss abstinence or include resources for more information."The goal of the article, according to students, was to educate, which is awesome, which is what we're here for," McCaffrey said. "(But) I think if we're going to educate other students, we need to make sure we're doing it properly so there's not more questions than there are answers at the end of the article."McCaffrey said he is considering reviewing the paper's content before it is released -- something that hasn't been done in the current paper's 25-year history."That's going to affect the writers," said Kristy Peters, "Electron" reporter. "They're not going to be as confident as they normally would be."The school is working on a prior review policy in cooperation with students and faculty -- a policy they hope to have in place by the time the school board meets next month.
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