Monday, January 31, 2005
Rights schmights
According to this CNN.com article, about 1 in every 3 high school students says that the First Amendment gives us too many rights. Only half of the same students in the study supported a media free to publish without government approval. Only 83% said that people should be allowed to express unpopular views.
Now, this could be a constant view among youngsters that changes with time, or it could be a sign of changing times. We are growing more and more used to having our rights violated in this country, and perhaps young students who have seen both US rights and global rights take a plunge in recent years are beginning to be desensitized to it.
Or it could be just a result of a lack of knowledge about our constitution. One of my favorite ex-KKK Democratic senators, Robert C. Byrd, one of the few democrats who always speaks his mind, is apparently attempting to force schools to teach some constitutional education. The article also states that kids who are involved in journalism-based activities support freedom of speech more, although many schools are making cutbacks in their journalism focus.
Either way, it's an extremely scary prospect if it's not a historically typical attitude for highschoolers, and one that should be addressed immediately.
Now, this could be a constant view among youngsters that changes with time, or it could be a sign of changing times. We are growing more and more used to having our rights violated in this country, and perhaps young students who have seen both US rights and global rights take a plunge in recent years are beginning to be desensitized to it.
Or it could be just a result of a lack of knowledge about our constitution. One of my favorite ex-KKK Democratic senators, Robert C. Byrd, one of the few democrats who always speaks his mind, is apparently attempting to force schools to teach some constitutional education. The article also states that kids who are involved in journalism-based activities support freedom of speech more, although many schools are making cutbacks in their journalism focus.
Either way, it's an extremely scary prospect if it's not a historically typical attitude for highschoolers, and one that should be addressed immediately.
