Legislation

The General Assembly considered, but did not act on, legislation ensuring that student newspapers share the same press freedom as other newspapers.

Statewide, Internet filters used by school districts block considerably more information than is required by federal law, often without prior warning, derailing classroom lessons and hindering the ability of students to complete homework.

The ACLU has demonstrated for the past several years that the tremendous overuse of suspensions in Rhode Island’s schools leaves students of color and students with disabilities disproportionately affected, particularly for the less-serious “subjective” offenses.

As technology becomes more ubiquitous, schools statewide have begun handing out school-owned computers for at home. Although these devices are used in the home, they carry virtually no privacy protections and some schools have even informed children the computers are subject to monitoring any time.