PSA to Parents: Have Your Home-Confined Kids Drop the Phone and Champion First Amendment Instead

April 3, 2020 Examiner Media

Our kids are home and we are now their teachers. What better time to consider the important role the press is playing in bringing us the facts we need during this difficult time? Have them join a national student essay competition, titled “Why a Free Press Matters in a Democracy.”

The competition offers students in grades 6 through 8, grades 9 through 12, and those at universities and colleges an opportunity to reflect on the importance of a free press and to compete for $15,000 in cash awards from the Boston Globe Foundation and a full, four-year scholarship (current total value, $152,000) at Westminster College in Salt Lake City.

Many of our students are now at home with far fewer activities and extra time.

“This contest is a great way to consider the crucial role the press is playing during this crisis while competing for significant awards,” observed National Student Essay Competition Director Mary Kay Lazarus.

Essays will be judged on originality and thoughtfulness in addressing the topic of “Why a free press matters in a democracy.” Students are asked to email their essay as a Word document of 500 words maximum, typed and double-spaced, to Examiner Publisher Adam Stone at astone@theexaminernews.com.

All entries must include the student’s name, phone number, e-mail address, mailing address, name and department of the school and grade in which the student is currently enrolled, as well as the name of your participating newspaper, The Examiner in this case. The deadline is April 24. For more information about the competition, the sponsors and the Honorary Advisory Committee, go to https://mklpr.com/national-student-essay-competition.

The competition is funded by the McCarthey Family Foundation. The Boston Globe is the media sponsor. The cash awards and scholarship will be given at the 15th Annual McCarthey Family Foundation Lecture Series: In Praise of Independent Journalism, on Nov. 7 in Salt Lake City.

To participate and learn more:

https://mklpr.com/national-student-essay-competition

@freepressessays

#StudentsForPressFreedom