Millions of U.S. High School Students Oppose Free Speech
The First Amendment and the freedoms it protects are not appreciated
-- indeed, are actively opposed -- by millions of American high school
students, according to a just-released major survey.
Among the survey’s findings:
* 36 percent of U.S. high school students believe newspapers should
get "government approval" of stories before publishing;
* One in three say the press ought to be more restricted than it
currently is. Asked whether the press enjoys too much freedom, not
enough freedom, or about the right amount, 32 percent say "too much,"
and only 37 percent say it has the right amount.
* Only a bare majority, 51 percent, say the press should be able to
publish freely.
* 17 percent disagree with even this modest statement: "People should
be allowed to express unpopular opinions."
* 30 percent disagree that "Musicians should be allowed to sing songs
with lyrics that others may find offensive."
* 74 percent say it should be illegal to burn or deface an American
flag as a political statement.
These and more shocking results are from a just-released survey of
112,003 high school students across America. The survey was
commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and
conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut.
The survey found not only weak support for fundamental First Amendment
freedoms. It also found deep student ignorance and apathy about the
meaning and importance of the First Amendment -- the cornerstone of
American liberties.
Half of the students wrongly believe the government can legally
restrict indecent material on the Internet. 75 percent mistakenly
believe it is illegal to deface the American flag.
"High school students tend to express little appreciation for the
First Amendment," the study found. "Nearly three-fourths (73 percent)
either say they don't know how they feel about the First Amendment, or
they take it for granted."
Hodding Carter, president of the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, which sponsored the survey, said "these results are not
only disturbing, they are dangerous... Ignorance about the basis of
this free society is a danger to our nation's future."
Mike Maidenberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning publisher and vice president
of the Knight foundation, called the survey a "wake-up call... If
there is not a future to the First Amendment, then this is a very
different kind of country."
Ominously, the results of this survey closely match the feelings of
adults towards the First Amendment found in other surveys in recent
years.
(Sources: Future of the First Amendment web site:
http://firstamendment.jideas.org/Future of the First Amendment press release:
http://firstamendment.jideas.org/professionals/news_release.php )
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