"Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."
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.
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 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.
from Yahoo! News.
I find it fascinating that while we Americans are ignoring our basic rights, there are those halfway around the globe that are expressing their views legally for the first time in half a century.
Say it loud and clear: I am a Sunni, I am an Iraqi and I voted.
Today I can walk tall, I can say I am Iraqi with a proud not only because I voted but also I fought against terrorist with my voting ballot.
I stepped out the car, the voting center was on the other side of the street, young Iraqi teenagers were there giving every Iraqi a candle and saying this is Iraq.
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 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.
from Yahoo! News.
I find it fascinating that while we Americans are ignoring our basic rights, there are those halfway around the globe that are expressing their views legally for the first time in half a century.
Say it loud and clear: I am a Sunni, I am an Iraqi and I voted.
Today I can walk tall, I can say I am Iraqi with a proud not only because I voted but also I fought against terrorist with my voting ballot.
I stepped out the car, the voting center was on the other side of the street, young Iraqi teenagers were there giving every Iraqi a candle and saying this is Iraq.