Last week, the results for the annual Students on the Future of the First Amendment survey conducted by the Knight Foundation were released and have they have caused quite a bit of surprise. Contrary to popular belief, the survey demonstrated that today's high schoolers actually show more support for the protections of the First Amendment than ever before. This year, more adults than students believe that the First Amendment goes too far, 90% of students believe that unpopular opinions deserve a vote, and more students than adults believe they should have a say in the classroom. Additionally, students believe that they should have privacy from government surveillance and businesses should not be allowed to track their activity.
As a teenager and student, I do not find any of these things to be shocking. I think it is great that young people are aware of the protections the First Amendment grants. I do, however, find the order that students ranked the protections by importance in a little surprising. The majority felt freedom of speech was most important at 65%, which I agree with. The second one was freedom of religion with 25% of the votes. These are followed by freedom to petition the government, freedom of the press, and freedom to peaceably assemble with 5%, 3%, and 2% respectively. I am truly surprised by religion's reasonably high percentage in a day and age where religion is not a huge focus.
Overall, I found this report to be a very revelatory and interesting read.
Click Here To See The Full Report
No comments:
Post a Comment