WHAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN

A STUDENT REFLECTS ON HOW STANDING UP TO HER ADMINISTRATION HINDERED HER EDUCATION ABOUT THE PRACTICE OF JOURNALISM . By Gillian McGoldrick

During the two years I was editorin-chief of Neshaminy High School ’ s independent student newspaper , The Playwickian , there were many times I doubted myself . More specifically , I doubted myself and our editorial board ’ s stance against my high school ’ s mascot , the “ redskin ” in the pages of the newspaper , because my principal told me I wasn ’ t allowed to do so .

Although I had strong conviction and knew it was right to humanize Native Americans — who are often left out and stereotyped in society — I wasn ’ t confident due to my administration belittling my staff ’ s small efforts to take an educated , well debated stance against the mascot and edit it to become “ Neshaminy ’ s football team ” if ever used or edit it to be “ r-- ----- ” if the person really wanted the word used .

My senior superlative was “ Most Likely to Apologize Unnecessarily ,” so it took a lot out of me when times got tough not to just give up and apologize to my principal and concede despite knowing I was right .

So , the first time I had to use my voice and stand up to my administration for not only my rights , but to humanize an entire group of people again , I was terrified . I sat in my high school ’ s auditorium , shaking and my voice cracking , but it was the most rewarding thing to do . I quickly learned the weight my voice had as a student journalist , and I will continue to use it to speak truth to power .

It was really hard , sometimes . When parents are cyberbullying you constantly , students refuse to read the publication you worked so hard on for them and having to prepare for a fight with the administration every day — it became quite taxing .

When you add on Policy 600 and its several pages of requirements ( like how Neshaminy has intellectual property of whatever I create , or how I can ’ t publish on the website or the minimum 10 days of prior review that made the publication entirely out of date ), it ’ s nearly impossible to stay positive . But I never backed down , even when the pushover inside me demanded I should . I kept the stance against the mascot because it is a derogatory slur , and I kept my feet planted on the ground that this stance does not mean my rights should be restricted as a student journalist .

I wish I had known that all of those stresses I felt so frequently as editor of the paper to make sure that all of the stories would pass prior review would go away once in college . The future of journalism is bright , and I ’ m excited for it , but I hadn ’ t realized how much I missed out because of my administration taking away my