Creating a newspaper is not easy.

  Through battles with computer programs to formulate flawless layout in InDesign, going through multiple editors for routine grammar checks, and emailing sources from all over the country: none of this matters nearly as much as getting the story.

  Even as a high school journalist, all any of us wants to do is change the world. To write an article that can tell the story of someone else, that can impact even just the community, that can start a conversation — that is the ultimate goal for any writer, no matter how young.

  The newspaper staff of The Voice at Bear Creek High School in Stockton, California had this same goal when they decided to cover a story on an 18-year old senior at their school who was working as a sex worker. Their profile, however, was met with pushback from school administrators, claiming that the article violated “a state education code barring the publication of material that is ‘obscene, libelous, or slanderous.’”

  In addition, the administration said that the story did not follow the “professional standards of English and journalism.”

  The faculty adviser at Bear Creek, Kathi Duffel, objected. Duffel said that the article hadn’t violated any of these. Still, the principal demanded to be given an advanced copy to be approved by him. The administration at the school then took it a step further, threatening “dismissal” of Duffel if she refused to comply.

  The editorial staff at Bear Creek are refusing to compromise the story, which they believe is extremely important to destigmatize the senior who agreed to have her it told.

  As teenagers, it’s not unusual to feel powerless. You put on a front for all your teachers so you don’t get in trouble, you write a super fun, positive, bubblegum, PG-13 essay for your English class just to play it safe, and follow the protocols of administrators. Because you are the subordinate and they are the adults. Your job is to make the school look good while theirs, most of the time, is to suppress any controversy.

  I remember visiting the Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) conference in the fall with the rest of the Voyager staff. Our adviser, Mr. Bowne, and some of our top-tier editors, Maanasi Natarajan, Srishti Ramesh, Shreya Gowda, and Julia Dodd, were giving a short seminar about how we run our paper, the stories we cover, and what our role is in the school. The seminar was called “Let’s Get Political.” There were well over fifty in the room, including other advisers.

  When I looked around the room filled with other high school journalists from other schools all throughout New Jersey, I saw wide eyes and dropped jaws when they heard some of the stories we’d covered. From the juul “epidemic” to the effects of porn in America to the criticizing of our own school, we cover just about anything and everything. Our former political columnists, Jared Gans and Hayley Beluch, have won 1st place in the state.

  However, this isn’t the way it is at other schools. In fact, this isn’t the way it is at most schools. Most high school newspaper staffs have to send their papers in for complete approval to the administration or are flat-out told what to write.

  “If I told my adviser that I wanted to write about the heroin crisis, I think she would have an aneurysm,” I recall one student saying to us.

  The trouble lies in the obvious amount of doubt adults have in students. They think we’re too young to handle mature topics. In reality, all of these so-called “scandalous” issues are ones happening in our very schools. Why cover them up? Why suppress them? Is it just about image? Ignoring the problem does not make it go away. Not writing about vaping in school will not make vaping “disappear” into a cloud of aerosol. It suppresses the voices of those struggling or those who are different or those who need help.

  I went home on the bus that afternoon thinking about how lucky I am to get to write whatever I want. I’m encouraged to stir the pot and start a conversation and make a difference.

  We won’t be in high school forever. There will be a point where all of us go to college and get jobs, and I’ve heard enough stories to know that there is zero sugar-coating in the real world. What’s the point of censoring students now when it’ll only hinder us in the future?

  Take a look at some of the bigger administrations- that of Penn State University, and Swarthmore College.

  The brave journalists at The Voice are an inspiration to young writers everywhere. Fight for the story. Push for what’s right. Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re too young to know what you want. The most brilliant journalists of today were teenagers once, too.