Annual satirical edition of high school newspaper concerns staff members
By Ricky Sayer
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Members of the Pittsburgh Allderdice High School community are raising concerns about the latest edition of the school newspaper’s annual satirical edition, according to Pittsburgh Public Schools.
It includes headlines like “Local Dice Student Kills PPS Superintendent in Protest” and “One Teacher’s Baby Comes Out Mixed: Science Department Scrambles to Find The Father.”
Another page of the newspaper KDKA-TV reviewed lists betting odds for who the father is.
The fake articles are part of “The Forward”‘s April 1st edition, titled “The Backword.”
Many of the articles are what you’d expect from a satirical high school paper, like “Chaos Ensues as Lunch Policies Fail.”
But it is those other headlines which are turning heads. One fake article said a teacher stormed the Capitol on January 6th and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are investigating students and teachers.
“It’s really just a bunch of crude humor towards people like the teachers,” said freshman student Robert Macon-Connors. “I think it’s funny. I find it really funny. It’s but that’s like my humor. Some people don’t have my humor, who may not understand it.”
A PPS spokesperson told KDKA-TV that while there are concerns among the school community, no students would be disciplined.
“The Pittsburgh Public Schools supports students’ rights to free speech,” the spokesperson said. “School principals may require students to submit materials for prior approval before distribution on school property.”
In this case, the spokesperson said, the student writers followed the rules outlined in the student code of conduct. “However, the impact these articles have had on members of the school and District community cannot be overlooked,” the spokesperson said. “To foster understanding and promote dialogue, District administration has met with the student writers as well as school staff.”
A picture of the superintendent was removed from the paper’s website during that time, but the spokesperson said they were unsure why.
The district also blocked access to the website for The Backword in their school.
“If they didn’t ban it completely. I feel like it shouldn’t have been blocked on school computers,” Macon-Connors said they are “reviewing the longstanding presence and impact of the satirical publication.”
We reached out to the student paper’s editor-in-chief and faculty advisor for comment and did not hear back.
In the paper, it says comments and concerns about an article in the paper can be submitted “to a garbage can near you.”
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