By Zelda Lerner
Student journalists cover stories that matter — not just to peers in school, but to broader communities. They ask hard questions. They report with integrity. They are on the ground, in the hallways, at the protests, and in the conversations that shape our schools. And yet, despite the vital role student journalists play, they are not guaranteed First Amendment protections.
Georgia’s Student Journalist Press Freedom Restoration Act would change that. Georgia House Bill 1561, introduced in the General Assembly on March 16, is vital to protecting press freedoms under threat for nearly four decades.
In 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier gave school administrators the authority to censor school-sponsored student media, as long as the censorship is related to a “legitimate pedagogical concern.” However, what qualifies as “legitimate pedagogical concern” is unclear. The result: School administrators routinely and arbitrarily censor student media, and student journalists regularly self-censor by deciding what to report based on how administrators might react.
Student journalists across the country are seeking a remedy in New Voices legislation that ensures they determine the content that appears in student media — school newspapers, yearbooks, news broadcasts, podcasts and the like. As detailed in a 2021 legal journal article that used Georgia as a model, New Voices legislation aims to prevent direct censorship and limit administrators’ attempts to silence students, for example by delaying publication or distribution until content is no longer timely. Additionally, the legislation seeks to protect student media advisers from retaliation for refusing to censor the work of student journalists. The legislation is designed to restore and protect the rights of student journalists that Hazelwood stripped away.
HB 1561 is Georgia’s New Voices legislation. Enacting it would not mean student journalists in the state could write anything they want. Content that is libelous or slanderous or that creates a material and substantial disruption to a school environment is not permissible under the bill. Rather, HB 1561 gives lawmakers an opportunity to curb censorship of legitimate reporting.
It’s time for change. We call on Georgia lawmakers to join the 18 state legislatures that have enacted New Voices laws by passing HB 1561. Students’ voices matter. Students’ stories matter. And without safeguards against censorship, our state and country risk losing the next generation of truth-tellers.
Author’s note: Working toward the creation of House Bill 1561 has been both exciting and difficult for those of us at the heart of Georgia’s New Voices coalition: high school student journalists from Fulton, Fayette and Bryan counties.
Adopting strategies that student journalists in other states have used successfully, we’ve spread the word through our student media outlets; in a presentation to the 2025 Fall Georgia Scholastic Press Association Conference; and in a February webinar conducted in partnership with the Student Press Law Center, First Amendment Clinic at the University of Georgia School of Law, and Georgia First Amendment Foundation.
We’ve connected with legislators to explain the censorship problem we face and how they can help solve it. We are proud that the bill’s sponsors are from both political parties, and their districts range from Atlanta to Savannah. The bill did not cross chambers in the General Assembly, so its language would have to be added to another bill for the measure to become law this year. If House Bill 1561 does not pass this year, watch for us to show up at the Capitol again in 2027.
>>> Find out more about bills the Georgia First Amendment Foundation is monitoring during the 2026 General Assembly session: gfaf.org/news/legislative-watch