In March of 2001, before the majority of current WHHS students were born, then-Vice Principal Marvin Koenig suspended the student-run newspaper, The Chatterbox, due to a cartoon published of him being portrayed as the Batman villain ‘Two-Face’. A week after the cartoon was published and the publication had been suspended, over one hundred WHHS students walked out of class and onto Blair Circle in protest. While students climbed trees and sat on Blair’s grass they argued that their First Amendment rights were being violated and refused to go back to class until the publication was brought back.

Students’ wishes were granted and The Chatterbox has been publishing consistently ever since. So what gives Walnut students the right to free press? And the right to peacefully protest? The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does grant students these that many other countries do not possess. However, this mentality is not supported throughout the entire United States.

In 1965, Mary-Beth and John Tinker, along with three other classmates wore black armbands with a peace symbol on the side in opposition to the Vietnam War. The students were asked to remove their armbands, but they continued to wear them and were eventually removed from school. The case was taken to court and its verdict still holds extreme value for students, especially student journalists, today. The Supreme Court ruled that “it can hardly be argued that either students or teachers shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”

The Tinker v. Des Moines ruling has protected student journalists across the country, and even here at WHHS, from censorship and has allowed us to express, freely, our ideas for decades. As this landmark case reaches the 50th anniversary of its ruling on Feb. 23, it’s important to realize the importance of student media and of the free press.

Today, politicians and activists rail against the freedom of the press, claiming that “unfair coverage” should be censored. The value of the Tinker standard is diminishing before our eyes and allegations of “fake news” run rampant throughout the country. Without gathered support of students, faculty and legislators, independent student journalism could be in danger.

You may know students at other public schools in Ohio and even Cincinnati that are not as fortunate as the staff here on The Chatterbox to publish their choice of news and opinion. Unfortunately, many public and private school newspapers are run under “prior review” where a principal or administrator must be allowed to read and approve all articles and content of student-run publications before publication and distribution.

There is no legislation in the state of Ohio that protects student journalists from censorship or prior review, but a new campaign called ‘New Voices USA’ brings hope of a censorship free future in public schools. Only 14 U.S. states guarantee free press without threat of censorship to public schools, but the New Voices movement is moving quickly throughout the United States. This year alone 11 states will introduce student press bills. Staff of The Chatterbox, along with student journalists from around the state have been pushing for Ohio to become the next state to pass New Voices legislation.

While not all of our 3,000+ students and faculty read The Chatterbox regularly, this publication and the millions alike to it across the nation are extremely important to sustaining our First Amendment rights. Without the right to publish free student media, what can stop scandal or shine light on an injustice? Who would tell the stories of students with amazing achievements, or with serious grievances about society or the school administration?

That is why The Chatterbox advocates for New Voices legislation in Ohio. Soon, we will graduate and move on to another school, but what will be left behind? We must do all we can to protect the rights we enjoy now, and ensure that they will always be there for the students that follow us in the future. Without a guarantee of free press like New Voices, nothing stops the next principal or superintendent from censoring The Chatterbox, or one of the other student newspapers in Cincinnati. We must stand up for our rights, to ensure that the ethical, accurate, and truthful journalistic tradition lasts at WHHS, just like it has since 1922