School Censors Yearbook Picture
A Newark NJ school district has apologized to a student and issued new yearbooks after they blacked out a picture of two boys kissing in all of the yearbooks.
In the photo, a student Andre Jackson is seen turning his head back over his right shoulder and kissing his boy friend who does not attend that school. It was blacked out after the district’s assistant superintendent who oversees the city’s high schools, was concerned that the photo could upset parents.
The photo was on a personal tribute page, that Andre Jackson paid for himself. Apparently the yearbook had pictures of heterosexual couples kissing throughout the book that were not blacked out.
I am not sure I would want my child’s yearbook to have any pictures of couples kissing, I don’t really think it is necessary. I guess if it were a personal page, which was paid for by the student, censoring it is not right. I personally have no problem. with same sex couples, or anyone showing affection in public, to a degree. I know that I would not like a picture blacked out of my yearbook, that I paid for, if it was an issue of a suggestive picture, it should have been brought up before the books went to press. The boy should have had the option to swap out the picture for one that was less “suggestive” if that was the problem.
What do you think about what the school district did? Do they owe the student a public apology?
newark schools, yearbook censored picture, teens, high school, gay teens
June 26th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Yes, I think they owe him a huge apology. It’s one thing if they have a “no kissing photos” policy, but a whole other thing to discriminate against one student’s picture because it is not to their liking…….especially since it’s a personal tribute page that he payed for himself. That’s just really wrong on the school’s part. I’m pretty disgusted, actually.
June 26th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
I think they definitely owe the student an apology. If there are pictures of heterosexual couples kissing that are not blacked out then there is no reason to black out the boys’ photo.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:13 am
I absolutely agree with all of you - however in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling against the student who held up a “Bong Hits for Jesus” poster across te street from his High School, it appears that schools are not necessarily held to the same freedom of speech and freedom of expression points of the Constitution as other institutions.