students are even more restrictive than elders

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Quote:
First Amendment No Big Deal, Students Say

By BEN FELLER, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON - The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.

It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high school attitudes released Monday.


The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly.


Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.


"These results are not only disturbing; they are dangerous," said Hodding Carter III, president of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which sponsored the $1 million study. "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."


The students are even more restrictive in their views than their elders, the study says.


When asked whether people should be allowed to express unpopular views, 97 percent of teachers and 99 percent of school principals said yes. Only 83 percent of students did.


The results reflected indifference, with almost three in four students saying they took the First Amendment for granted or didn't know how they felt about it. It was also clear that many students do not understand what is protected by the bedrock of the Bill of Rights.


Three in four students said flag burning is illegal. It's not. About half the students said the government can restrict any indecent material on the Internet. It can't.


"Schools don't do enough to teach the First Amendment. Students often don't know the rights it protects," Linda Puntney, executive director of the Journalism Education Association, said in the report. "This all comes at a time when there is decreasing passion for much of anything. And, you have to be passionate about the First Amendment."


The partners in the project, including organizations of newspaper editors and radio and television news directors, share a clear advocacy for First Amendment issues.


Federal and state officials, meanwhile, have bemoaned a lack of knowledge of U.S. civics and history among young people. Sen. Robert Byrd (news, bio, voting record), D-W.Va., has even pushed through a mandate that schools must teach about the Constitution on Sept. 17, the date it was signed in 1787.


The survey, conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut, is billed as the largest of its kind. More than 100,000 students, nearly 8,000 teachers and more than 500 administrators at 544 public and private high schools took part in early 2004.


The study suggests that students embrace First Amendment freedoms if they are taught about them and given a chance to practice them, but schools don't make the matter a priority.


Students who take part in school media activities, such as a student newspapers or TV production, are much more likely to support expression of unpopular views, for example.


About nine in 10 principals said it is important for all students to learn some journalism skills, but most administrators say a lack of money limits their media offerings.


More than one in five schools offer no student media opportunities; of the high schools that do not offer student newspapers, 40 percent have eliminated them in the last five years.


"The last 15 years have not been a golden era for student media," said Warren Watson, director of the J-Ideas project at Ball State University in Indiana. "Programs are under siege or dying from neglect. Many students do not get the opportunity to practice our basic freedoms."

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...20050131/ap_on_re_us/students_first_amendment
 
Ban certain Rap or Hip Hop groups, or censor the lyrics. Then see how fast they change their minds :lol:
 
In all seriousness it's true. I have a teenager she knows what the Constitution but like alot of Americans unless they are directly effected by an isssue it doesn't apply to them.
 
Well for cryin' out loud IT'S HIGH SCHOOL!! High school is all about fitting in. It isn't until your 20s that you start establishing your own identity and truly find out who you are. What the heck did they expect?
 
Didn't you hear? Highschoolers are going to run the world from now on. Scientists have established that grown ups are obsolete. :lol:
 
03USMC said:
Ban certain Rap or Hip Hop groups, or censor the lyrics. Then see how fast they change their minds :lol:

Yeah, ban Rap culture, Hip Hop and hippie "peace associations".
 
Charge_7 is right, most highschoolers are a little preocupied with girls, booze, and weed to even watch "the daily show" so asking them political questions, what do you expect?

But actually this doesn't surprise me, which how badly the liberal viewpoint has saturated all media. At this point I can't even watch CNN anymore because of all the, basically, anti-Americanism that is on that network.
 
Whispering Death said:
Charge_7 is right, most highschoolers are a little preocupied with girls, booze, and weed to even watch "the daily show" so asking them political questions, what do you expect?

But actually this doesn't surprise me, which how badly the liberal viewpoint has saturated all media. At this point I can't even watch CNN anymore because of all the, basically, anti-Americanism that is on that network.

:shock: We get the same CNN right? Because the one in Canada borders on the Republican News Network......
 
r031Button said:
:shock: We get the same CNN right? Because the one in Canada borders on the Republican News Network......

:shruggs: I don't know but if that's true than that is very sad for you guys.

CNN is always pulling crap like for instance every time they have a story on a poor kid hurt in the crossifre its, "Americans started a fight and this poor kid was in the middle" never "Insurgents caused a fight and this kid was hurt". One that sticks out in my mind was when they went into an amputee hospital a few months before the election and where trying to use these brave soldiers to drum up anti-war sympathy and the whole thing blew up in their face as every one of our heroic men where saying stuff like "Yeah, I lost my arm but as soon as I can figure out how to shoulder an M-16 with this prostetic I'm going right back out to my buddies".
 
I think the main problem with the Rap / Hip Hop is that it celebrates and glorifies being poor, being uneducated and being against the law.
 
the_13th_redneck said:
I think the main problem with the Rap / Hip Hop is that it celebrates and glorifies being poor, being uneducated and being against the law.

It's not a modern delima, people have been romanticising mobsters in America since Bonnie&Clide in the 20s through the godfather in the 70s to the gangs of the 90s. It's rebellious, it's cool, and kids are going to continue to do it until the end of days.
 
the_13th_redneck said:
I think the main problem with the Rap / Hip Hop is that it celebrates and glorifies being poor, being uneducated and being against the law.

At monday i was travelling in bus where sat a pair of hiphoppers. I had a honor to listen their disscussion. One of them was going to buy a case of beer and another told about social insurances wich had arrived his bank account. Then some about court martial case coming soon and about stolen car wich was driven off the road and getting busted for that etc.


If i don't remember very wrong, KGB, soviets and communist/socialist revolutionaries used to support and organize "peace" groups and spreaded "peace propaganda" in western countries during cold war and it's purpose was to turn citizens against their goverments and weaken their efforts. I have sometime even seen a banner where read "Soviet missile is peace's missile".

It's influences are still presented in those "peace" associations like anti-americanism, anti-globalism, anti-capitalism, anti-demoracy etc. everything is disagreed BUT where is the anti-communism?

Don't trust to hippie.
 
EuroSpike you are absolutely right, and you know what is even more messed up? A lot of the leaders of radical, even murderous, "peace" groups like the weathermen now have prominent spots in the American University system. It is insane to me that hardcore anti-American malcontents are now being looked at as the cornerstone of the highest education of our youths.
 
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