The definition of a forum:

For student media to be designated as a public/student forum, the school must either:
• Have a school board- or administrator-enacted policy stating students make final content decisions of protected speech*, or
• Have a student media-generated policy declaring students make all final content decisions and also indicating/verifying that practice has been in effect at least two years, and there is no district or building policy that directly contradicts that practice. During that time, no adult, including the adviser, other faculty members, administrators or publication boards have dictated or changed content
•In both situations, the advisers may, as part of the coaching process, offer advice and comment, but not make final content decisions

* The policy can still limit unprotected speech such as libel, obscenity and substantially disruptive material, but it must give other content control to the students

Freedom map
As instances of censorship and prior have increased, no real visual summary existed to show its spread. JEA's Scholastic Press Rights Commission worked with Kent State University's Center for Scholastic Journalism, to create maps showing prior review and censorship we have documented, as well as states that have passed legislation protecting student expression and schools reporting no prior review. You may access these maps as noted below:

• 2006-07 censor map

• 2008 censor map

• Free expression states

On the CSJ site, you will be able to access the forms you and your students can complete to:

• Report censorship

• Report prior review

• Report that your school is officially free of prior review and censorship, and that your student media operate as public forums

• Examine schools that indicate they are public forums by policy and/or forums by practice