[lit-ideas] Adolescent beliefs

This is not a little scary......who are these kids?  Where do they get  their 
ideas?  Is this what adolescents' parents are  believing/teaching??  Half -- 
yes, one half, of the high school students  think news pieces should be 
subject to government approval.  What  the???
 
_http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/students_first_
amendment_ 
(http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&e=2&u=/ap/students_first_amendment)
 
 
 
First Amendment No Big Deal, Students Say 
Mon Jan 31, 6:04 PM ET
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_ 
(http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/politics/news/ap/ap_on_re_us/students_first_amendment
/14156147/*http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?fr=news-storylinks&p="Sen.
%20Robert%20Byrd"&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw) ,  _bio_ 
(http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/bio/SIG=117tm1v4u/ap/ap_on_re_us/students_first_amendment/141
56147/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/?id=622) ,  _voting  record_ 
(http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/capadv/vote/SIG=11g39t4f5/ap/ap_on_re_us/students_first_
amendment/14156147/*http://yahoo.capwiz.com/y/bio/keyvotes/?id=622) ), 
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."  
___ 


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