Monday, January 31, 2005

Call for Action--Educate Our Youth! Save the Constitution!

Here's a somewhat disturbing article about high schoolers lack of support for the 1st Amendment. In a survey conducted by the University of Connecticut that over 100,000 students took part in, only 1/2 of students believe that newspapers should be able to publish stories without government approval and over 1/3 of students think that the 1st Amendment guarantees too many rights.

This worries me greatly. I'm not sure however how much worse this has gotten since I was in high school in the late 80s and early 90s. Growing up in a very reactionary city I frequently heard these kinds of views. I would hope that at least some of these kids will change their views once they get to college.

Nonetheless, these numbers, plus the fact that students fell on the side of censorship at a far higher rate than their teachers, suggests that schools are the one place where liberal values must be taught, since churches, the media, and parents aren't doing it. It's no wonder that I consider my classes reeducation camps.