FDL School Board Room Packed For Talk On Censorship

The Fond du Lac School Board meeting was packed last night as people voiced their opposition to new guidelines for student publications at the high school. An article last month in the Cardinal Columns magazine about rape jokes and the rape culture at the high school sparked a review of a 1988 policy and led to the creation of the new guidelines. Sandy Jacoby the president of the Kettle Moraine Press Association questioned what students could possibly learn if they are subject to censorship. Multiple rape survivor Dr. Anna Nelson of Fond du Lac says one of the anonymous victims in the article was five when she was raped, she says even middle and elementary school students should be informed about the subject. District Superintendent Jim Sebert says the article itself was good, but a photo on the inside cover suggesting the upper half of a female student wasn’t clothed, a follow up editorial with graphic wording and an editorial urging students to challenge their teachers by not standing during the pledge of allegiance all led to the review of the policy. No action was taken on the policy it wasn’t listed on the board’s agenda.