First Amendment no big deal

Monday, January 31st, 2005

First Amendment no big deal, students say

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.
The story goes on to say that only 83% of students surveyed said that people should be allowed to express unpopular views. Other findings reveal:
  • Nearly three-fourths of high school students either do not know how they feel about the First Amendment or admit they take it for granted.
  • Seventy-five percent erroneously think flag burning is illegal.
  • Half believe the government can censor the Internet.
  • More than a third think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.
The survey included over 100,000 students in 544 high schools around the country. That is truly disturbing.

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Comments

thenewnumber2
January 31, 2005

I have nothing to add except a huge wave of nausea.

penance_
February 1, 2005

The even more sick part is that they HAD TO BE TOLD what the First Amendment was because otherwise they wouldn’t know that it even existed.

The next generation is obviously the generation that forgets the past…