I know that a school can place limits on what students can write. I have personally asked that students avoid some topics at various points in my career (e.g., please don’t write about abortion). I learned eventually that there were better, and easier, ways to avoid those sorts of papers, of course.

That kind of limiting seems completely different from the new censorship move at Pope John XIII Regional High School. As “Principal curbs kids’ Internet activity” from Asbury Park Press Online explains, students are being forbidden to blog in school OR AT HOME:

Effective immediately, and over student complaints, the teens were told to dismantle their Myspace.com accounts or similar sites with personal profiles and blogs. Defy the order and face suspension, students were told.

That’s right. Students’ independent, out-of-school activity is being limited by the school they attend. My hope? My making the act of writing illegal the school will turn them all into prolific bloggers. Viva la résistance!