[lit-ideas] Adolescent beliefs
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 21:24:48 EST
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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