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US teens 'reject' key freedoms

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4225013.stm

quote:

A significant number of US high-school students regard their constitutional right to freedom of speech as excessive, according to a new survey. Over a third of the 100,000 students questioned felt the First Amendment went "too far" in guaranteeing freedom of speech, press, worship and assembly. Only half felt newspapers should be allowed to publish stories that did not have the government's approval. The US government has committed itself to spreading "freedom" abroad. In his second inaugural address, President George W Bush said the survival of liberty in the US depended on the success of liberty abroad. Some rights groups have however attacked his administration for restricting civil liberties in measures that followed the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. 'Dangerous ignorance' The two-year, $1m survey across US schools - in which 8,000 teachers were also interviewed - suggested students held a number of misconceptions about the First Amendment, and were more censorious on some issues than their elders. Some 83% of students polled felt people should be allowed to express unpopular views, as opposed to 97% of teachers. Roughly half the students polled wrongly believed the US government had the right to censor the internet, while two-thirds believed it was illegal to burn the US flag - another misconception. The president of the John S and James L Knight Foundation, which conducted the research, said: "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to this nation's future." The survey concluded that better teaching and a bigger emphasis on student journalism could raise awareness of the First Amendment in American classrooms.

I saw something about this earlier today. Too many government educated lemmings and another reason the federal government needs to be less involved in something that should be handled at a more local level. Simply shocking story though, I'll give you that much!

more proof the US is on the decline is all it is for me... I think I am going to start learning Mandarine.

I read that yesterday. It made me want to smash someone's skull in. My forefathers died so that I can have the right to burn the damn flag if I want to.

I can't wait till we get government approved banging Techno music.

yikes! maybe the US should bump up the voting-age requirment to 21 and from 18.

...and i'm not sure what the federal government's involvement in education has to do with this. i don't see a conncetion.

With results like that I question the legitimacy of the study and would like to know more details about how it was conducted and where.

quote:

Originally posted by josh4 With results like that I question the legitimacy of the study and would like to know more details about how it was conducted and where.

Yes I agree... but at the same time this doesn't surprise me. In high school I remember my peers being completely and utterly ignorant to what was happening in politics, both domestic and international.

quote:

Originally posted by Spacey Orange yikes! maybe the US should bump up the voting-age requirment to 21 and from 18. ...and i'm not sure what the federal government's involvement in education has to do with this. i don't see a conncetion.

I read commentary about it on Boortz this morning. This is what he had to say:

quote:

THIS OUGHT TO TERRIFY YOU Those who listen to my show know that I am not what you might call "friendly" to the idea of government educating our children. Every day I try to find at least one government-education horror story to share with my listeners, and every day that task becomes easier and easier. Just two days ago I was telling you about a school district in Rhode Island that had cancelled the annual spelling bee. An administrator said that the spelling bee violated the spirit of "The No Child Left Behind Act" because one child would win, and the others would be left behind. This government employee/assistant superintendent said that a spelling bee was about "some kids being winners and some kids being losers." So ... no spelling bee. Does this asinine thought process exist in your child's school system? Who knows! I can tell you that I see more and more stories like this every day. How can parents not understand that turning over their children to the state to be educated will have consequences? Can anyone truly expect that their child will survive such an experience with even the most shallow understanding of the dangers of too much government? If your child is educated in a Catholic private school you would reasonably expect that your child will come away believing that the Catholic way of looking at things is pretty much on mark. Ditto for a Baptist or a Hebrew school. And you somehow think that government schools don't work the same magic? Doesn't it stand to reason that if you send your child to a government school that your child will "learn," if that's the word, that government is the answer to most of the problems they will face in their lives? Yes, I know government is necessary. I'm not an anarchist. I do believe, though, that the phrase "necessary evil" applies to government more than to any other institution in our lives. I doubt, though, that your child will ever hear that phrase applied to government in their government school classrooms. Nor will they learn that government is the only institution in our lives that can use deadly force to accomplish it's goals. You must know that your children will never be taught that America wasn't created to be a democracy, and that the very people who wrote our constitution and designed our form of government warned us very specifically against the idea of democracy and majority rule. And you certainly must know that your child will never learn in a history class that our founding fathers intended for over 90% of all governing to come from the local level in times of peace. The list goes on. Day after day your children are presented with nothing but a positive image of government and its role in our society as they sit in their government classrooms being taught by government employees in schools administered by government bureaucrats. When your child finally escapes to the private sector they will be fully trained to depend on government to smooth out all of the rough spots in life. Now ... let's take a look at an alarming study of high school attitudes toward one of our basic and most precious freedoms; freedom of the press. Last Spring the University of Connecticut conducted a survey of 112,003 high school students across the country. These students were asked if they believe that newspapers should be required to get permission from the government before they publish stories. If our schools were doing their job in teaching our children about basic freedoms, the Bill of Rights and the proper role of government in a free society you wouldn't be able to find 5 out of 100 high school students who would tell you that they believe government should control what stories newspapers can publish. Well .. brace yourselves. Thirty-six percent of high school students believe that newspapers should get government approval of stories before they are published. Another 13% didn't have an opinion. That makes 49% of our high school students, virtually one-half, who have no particular appreciation for freedom of the press. OK .. so you'll read this, or hear me talk about it on the radio, and you'll shake your head and wonder what is wrong with our schools. Then, tomorrow morning, you'll pack some lunches and send the most precious thing in your life, your child, off to the government for more of this wonderful government education.

^^^^^

Yay, let's not have public schools! Then poor people's kids wont be able to be educated at all! Brilliant idea!

quote:

Originally posted by wolverine16 ^^^^^ Yay, let's not have public schools! Then poor people's kids wont be able to be educated at all! Brilliant idea!

Thats pretty much how it goes even with public schools.

quote:

Originally posted by Zild Thats pretty much how it goes even with public schools.

There's inequaility, yes, but they still are able to actually go to school. Think of how many kids don't even go to bad colleges. Privatizing the public school system would only exclude more kids.

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka I read commentary about it on Boortz this morning. This is what he had to say:

well, using that logic:

- Countries with more public schools than the US, such as most countries in the world, would think that governments should censour.
- He more or less say that the government's agenda is to make people think that the governemtn should control the press. I would be scared if I lived in that country...

Clearly those arguments doesnt hold at all.

I think this study is a great example of, "you don't know what you got till it's gone".

Thinking about thisa little more, I really have to say I disagree with Boortz's analysis, because it really only gives you exposure to something and that can have a positive or negative effect on your view. How many people have gone to Catholic school and hated the strictness or getting smacked with a ruler by nuns and aren't really as devout after graduation? Same thing with public schools, lots of kids don't have a good time there and if the argument is that their views of government are shaped by their participation in a government school, they may dislike government more.

As far as what Boortz says about what public schools teach about government, he's basically criticizing them for not teaching conservative ideology, but I'm not really sure where they teach liberal ideology either. What is taught in history and citizenship classes is patriotism and that the U.S. is a power of good throughout its existence, not that social security is the best thing since sliced bread. I'm kind of surprised by Boortz, because he's in favor of keeping "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, not removing the entire pledge from schools though it promotes government and patriotism.

I went to a catholic grade school. The biggest complaint we had was wearing uniforms and it was more strict than a high school ever could be but I would say that of all the people that went there, very few of the kids were devout catholics to begin with, many were just put there by parents who were seeking a higher form of education, not a way to mold their children into perfect little christians. I think many parents are afraid of the way the public schools have become, in our state with metal detectors, armed guards, police dogs, etc, hence even the influx in home schooling.

I can also feel with the second point about hating high school. I hated high school but not because of the government, but because it truly was a waste of my time that could have been better spent learning things that I would use later in life. What I recall though was very little taught about the government at all. Perhaps specific classes on domestic and foreign government would help them gain a better insight into the freedoms that they use everyday and that many people on this planet fight and die for every day.

people, people... settle down


Polls can be manipulated with biased questions.

quote:

Originally posted by wolverine16 As far as what Boortz says about what public schools teach about government, he's basically criticizing them for not teaching conservative ideology, but I'm not really sure where they teach liberal ideology either. What is taught in history and citizenship classes is patriotism and that the U.S. is a power of good throughout its existence, not that social security is the best thing since sliced bread. I'm kind of surprised by Boortz, because he's in favor of keeping "under God" in the pledge of allegiance, not removing the entire pledge from schools though it promotes government and patriotism.

Boortz is a libertarian.

what does this article prove? 1/2 of high schoolers are dumb ignoramouses? i thought we already knew that? besides where do you think all the ppl who voted for bush come from? i bet if you polled them on whether they will re-elect him for a 3rd term they would have said yep.

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Boortz is a libertarian.

Puh-lease! and you know libertarians are none other than the republicans who like to smoke pot!

quote:

Originally posted by biodigit Puh-lease! and you know libertarians are none other than the republicans who like to smoke pot!

lol. Count me in!

quote:

Originally posted by Shakka Boortz is a libertarian.

I didn't say Republican, I said conservative. It's a further to the right ideology than most Republicans. I've seen him criticize "left-wing education" numerous times and argue that the other side should be heard. I've also seen him with Sean Hannity discussing why the Pledge of Allegiance should be preserved as is, which has students in schools recite "and to the republic for which it stands." That's support for advocating government within schools. So maybe he's not as much of a libertarian as he claims to be?

Hey just a little f.y.i.

This survey was taken of highschool kids, the vast majority of which cannot vote and therefore do not contribute to our democratic process. A small, but key part of the article is the fact that the teachers interviewed were far more rational than the kids. They are more mature, hence you wouldn't find half of the teachers surveyed believe that the government should approve of articles written in newspapers, hence the lack of voting rights for the highschoolers. I am only one year removed from highschool and I must say that I am far more mature than I was a year ago. I don't hold the same stupid ass viewpoints I held in highschool, most of which were based primarily on absolutely nothing. The survey is foolish and shouldn't be paid much attention. If the same results did however come up for older age groups I might be frightened.

Re: Hey just a little f.y.i.

quote:

Originally posted by kush paintings This survey was taken of highschool kids, the vast majority of which cannot vote and therefore do not contribute to our democratic process. A small, but key part of the article is the fact that the teachers interviewed were far more rational than the kids. They are more mature, hence you wouldn't find half of the teachers surveyed believe that the government should approve of articles written in newspapers, hence the lack of voting rights for the highschoolers. I am only one year removed from highschool and I must say that I am far more mature than I was a year ago. I don't hold the same stupid ass viewpoints I held in highschool, most of which were based primarily on absolutely nothing. The survey is foolish and shouldn't be paid much attention. If the same results did however come up for older age groups I might be frightened.

I see your point, but the kids are learning from somewhere. Hopefully they'll get a grip!

quote:

Originally posted by Zild I read that yesterday. It made me want to smash someone's skull in. My forefathers died so that I can have the right to burn the damn flag if I want to. I can't wait till we get government approved banging Techno music.

Dang, let's not burn the flag!




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