In May 2021, The Griffins’ Nest a student newspaper from Eric Hamber Secondary in Vancouver, BC, was censored by school administration after reporting on the Vancouver School Board’s decision making process and lack of inclusion of students and teachers.

The article focussed on the VSB’s absence of transparency and disregard for the input of stakeholders when it comes to how the district operates. The Nest recorded the statements of over 100 students across the district and spoke to multiple teachers regarding their stance on the board’s policy-making.

The Nest found that students and teachers were overwhelmingly frustrated and disappointed by the VSB’s lack of consultation, and requested the VSB Communications department provide a comment.

The Communications department provided a comment, but also did something unthinkable: secretly forwarded the request for comment email to The Nest’s school principal.

School administration spoke with The Nest and informed them that the Communications department had forwarded their request for comment and said the article-in-question required the “blessing” of the principal.

The Nest was also told that school administration took issue with several articles, including articles regarding the negative experiences of substitute teachers and the construction of the new school.

With the assistance of the Canadian Youth Journalism Project, Canadian Association of Journalists, and British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, The Nest was able to publish in its uncensored entirety.

Following these events, The Nest’s now-former Editor-in-Chief Spencer Izen and Managing Editor Jessica Kim drafted the Student Press Freedom Act in June 2021 to ensure nothing like this happens to another student journalist in BC.