Mark your calendars for Student Press Freedom Day on Jan. 29, 2020.

Join SPLC, student journalists and their allies nationwide as we show our communities and legislators “This Is What Student Press Freedom Looks Like.”

Help the world understand the crucial work you do and let SPLC amplify your message. Then, join the conversation on January 29 using the hashtag #studentpressfreedom.

SPLC has established grants of up to $300 to help you hold public events or campaigns on or around Student Press Freedom Day. Grant applications are due by January 9.

Here are a few ideas to get you started. We encourage you to build on these, and get creative with ideas of your own:

• Write an op-ed for your local community news organization, or pen an editorial for your own publication.
• Create a “Day in the Life (or week)” video or podcast following student journalists and showing how they create their work
• Tell a story with a photo essay documenting what it takes to produce your media
• Discuss a story you produced that was important to your community and why
• Make a short video explaining your challenges and successes

A holiday gift with meaning

Q: Can we wish students a “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah” in our student publication?

A: Generally, yes. Your school officials or even some of your peers may be quick to cite the separation of church and state as rationale for student media to stay away from any specific season’s greetings, but the reality is more complex than that. 

The law does prohibit the government, including your public school, from establishing or favoring a particular religious belief system, but the key thing to remember is that students are not government employees, and the school publication is not the official speech of the school. Laws that prevent a teacher or other school official from expressing their religious views on the job don’t prohibit student journalists from creating or including content regarding religious beliefs or religious holidays, and that remains true even if the school helps to fund the student publication. Student journalists have the same rights to discuss these topics as they do to discuss anything else.