Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Censorship and freedom of speech
Free speech censorship
The negative impact of censorship on children
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Censorship and freedom of speech
The First Amendment The foundation of today's society rests upon the words of our forefathers. The Constitution claims that "the people" shape their own government. Who are "the people"to which this document refers? Americans have long struggled with defining "the people". Blacks, women, and homosexuals all deal with this issue, b ut today youth emerge as a challenged group. Students are often a censored body, thus not enjoying protection under the First Amendment. Schools profess they are protecting the rights of the majority, but in actuality, they are violating the rights of the individual through the denial of their First Amendment rights. Legally, the question is to what extent does the First Amendment apply to students? The First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the freedom of speech...". In 1988, the Supreme Court ruled on a case, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, that would create an obstacle for future students to overcome. In the Hazelwood decision, the Supreme Court said school administrators had the right to censor student publications (Top Ten 1). According to this decision, the First Amendment does not have students under it's protective umbrella. School boards use this ruling to censor students today. A battle against the Hazelwood decision is being fought and won all over the country. According to the Student Press Law Center, winning this battle began in California with the passing of a student-expression bill. California was the pioneer state to add such a bill to it's Constitution, but it is not the only state to have one. Today a total of six states have such bills: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, and Massachusetts (Top Ten 1). This bill reverses the Haze... ... middle of paper ... ...ited: "Connecticut Student Press Thrives with Self-Declared Freedoms." Associated Press. Freedom Forum. 9 November, 1999. Http://www.freedomforum.org/education/1999/11/9conn.asp. Hudson, David. Freedom Forum. 12 March 1998. Http://www.freedomforum.org/speech/1998/3/12michigan.asp. Sauer, Lauri. "Grad's Speech Raises Eyebrows." Daily Press. 15 June 1999. Online Newsbank Infoweb. "Student's Column Prompts School to Halt Distribution of Newspaper". Associated Press. Freedom Forum. 17 December 1999. Http://www.freedomforum.org/press/1999/12/17ORschoolnewspaper.asp Taylor, Phillip. "Michigan Lawmaker Drafts Student-Expression Bill". Freedom Forum. 29 December 1998. Http://www.freedomforum.org/press/1998/12/29studentpress.asp. "Top Ten, The". s.p.l.c. (Student Press Law Center). 20 August 1996. Http://www.splc.org/resources/QUESTIONS?highschool.html
At Hazel East High School, the school has a sponsored newspaper called “The Spectrum” that is written and edited by the students. On May of 1983, the high school principal, Robert E. Reynolds, received the edited version of the May 13th edition. Upon inspecting the paper he found two articles that he found “inappropriate.” The two articles contained stories about divorce and teen pregnancy. The article on divorce featured a student who blamed her father’s actions for her parents’ divorce. The following article featured students at Hazelwood East and their experiences as teen parents in high school. Reynolds immediately asked for the two articles to be withheld from that weeks edition. Reynolds had concluded fairness required the father in the divorce article to be informed of the article and given the chance to make any comments. He also stated that changing the names of the girls in the teen pregnancy article may not be sufficient enough to keep them unidentified. Also, the topic is not suitable for younger students. As a result he forbid the two articles from being published. On October 13, 1987 Cathy Kuhlmeier (a student at Hazelwood East High) claimed that Hazelwood East High School was violating her First Amendment rights, and her case was
A great deal of bills have been written and passed as legislation under the pretense that they would better outline the citizen’ rights and ensure their freedoms. Yet occasionally these laws are created with disregard to what is stated in our Constitution. At times they distort and twist the original meaning of the work, counter acting the purpose of creating the Amendments. The intention of Amendments was to be an outline of the rights of the people. They were to ensure that there would not be a repeat of what the framers had experienced when they set out on their mission to draft a document that would govern our country for years to come. Little by little our elected officials have been discounting our Constitution. There are many resulting repercussions; the most dear to everyone being the individuals rights. The end result of these interpretations being that our people are hurt, as we are slowly being stripped of our rights as U.S. citizens.
On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified effective by Congress. These first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America promised the states certain rights and freedoms which could not be infringed by the government. After all, the founding fathers knew from experience that men in their weakness were often tempted by power. They had become all too familiar with this when under the control of King George in England. Therefore, in order to protect the future people of their beautiful country, they promised certain liberties which could not be taken away. Every single one of these freedoms is important for the United States of America. However, the second amendment is especially important to our nation because it allows the people to protect their freedom and defend themselves and the common good against an overreaching government.
While students have First Amendment rights, there are still some things that the school is allowed to control. Censorship in school is important because it can minimize distractions and other behavioral problems. It also gives parents peace of mind and students the feeling of security. It is also important for a student to be able to express themselves. People express themselves in different ways, and they have the constitutional right to do so whether they’re on school grounds or not. Censorship is a very controversial issue and should not be taken lightly. There are many things to consider when censoring, and it’s important to have balance between censorship and freedom in schools.
This is just down right wrong because it’s unwarranted to give the right to do such a thing to schools and not to government. Thesis Schools have more rights than the government to affect and restrict the 1st Amendment and freedom of speech. Annotated Bibliography Hudson, David L., JR. " First Amendment Center. "
There have been many cases where exceptions have been made over the first amendment, such as in the Tinker vs. Des Moines Community School District Case. Teenagers by the name of Christopher Eckhardt and Mary Beth Tinker had planned to wear black armbands to their school to show their support for a truce in the Vietnam War. When word reached the principle, of Christopher and Mary Beth’s plan to arrive with the black armbands, the principal created a policy stating that, “any student wearing an armband would be asked to remove it, with refusal to do so resulting in suspension.” (The Oyez Project). After being kicked out of school, Tinker’s parents sued them but their case was dismissed due to the fact that the first amendment does not grant one the right to express their opinion at any place nor at any time. Another official claimed that the first amendment is not fully guaranteed to children. While the first amendment may be a boon to the United States, it is not always just. There are limitations, and conditions surrounding the first amendment and our freedom of speech. In Tinker’s case, her armband was seen as disruptive, and distracting to other students, justifying the school’s actions against the student of suspending and eventually expelling
Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” Indeed, free speech is a large block upon which this nation was first constructed, and remains a hard staple of America today; and in few places is that freedom more often utilized than on a college campus. However, there are limitations to our constitutional liberties on campus and they, most frequently, manifest themselves in the form of free speech zones, hate speech and poor university policy. Most school codes are designed to protect students, protect educators and to promote a stable, non-disruptive and non-threatening learning environment. However, students’ verbal freedom becomes limited via “free speech zones.” Free Speech Zones are areas allocated for the purpose of free speech on campus. These zones bypass our constitutional right to freedom of speech by dictating where and when something can be said, but not what can be said.
The First Amendment Center conducts a national annual survey on the First Amendment. “Americans clearly have mixed views of what First Amendment freedoms are and to whom they should fully apply. To me the results of this year’s survey endorse the idea of more and better education for young people - our nation’s future leaders - about our basic freedoms.” (Gene Policinski, VP and executive director of the First Amendment Center 2007)
are expected to tell the truth, even if that truth was to put you in
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” This quote from Benjamin Franklin illustrates how an emphasis on safety can drastically reduce the freedoms enjoyed by citizens of the United States, especially the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which states that “...the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” However, with active shooter situations such as Columbine; the Tucson, Arizona shootings, which nearly killed former Representative Gabrielle Giffords; and recent situations at Newtown, Connecticut; Los Angeles International Airport; and Westfield Garden State Plaza mall in New Jersey, the federal government has questioned this right guaranteed to us as U.S. Citizens. In Congress, it is a back-and-forth battle between the Republicans, who favor less gun control legislation and a literal translation of the Second Amendment, and the Democrats who would like to see more gun control legislation to protect the safety of citizens. However, more gun control legislation would punish law-abiding citizens, be a direct violation of the Second Amendment, and expand the power of the federal government into areas where the Founding Fathers never wanted it.
One reason why schools shouldn't limit students' online speech is that students have the freedom of speech which says that they can express themselves and have their own opinion.
The First Amendment is the first section of the Bill of Rights and is often considered the most important part of the U.S Constitution because it guarantees the citizens of United States the essential personal freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and the freedom to petition the Government. Thanks to the rights granted by the First Amendment, Americans are able to live in a country where they can freely express themselves, speak their mind, pray without interference, protest in peace and where their opinions are taken into consideration, which is something not many other nationalities have the fortune of saying. The Founding Fathers were the framers of the Constitution of the U.S., and the responsible for the elaboration of the First Amendment. The majority of the Founding Fathers were enlightenment thinkers who were in love with liberty, and thought that basic political rights were inevitable for man’s nature. After having experienced the tyranny from their mother countries, the Founding Fathers carefully constructed the Constitution of the United States in a way where tyranny was avoided and a government for the people, by the people and of the people was developed, which is clearly reflected in the Constitution. At the time of inception of the United States, the Founding Fathers created the First Amendment in order to ensure that the government would not interfere with Americans’ basic civil rights. The rights outlined on the First Amendment were considered so important by these leaders that many states refused to ratify the Constitution of the United Sates until there was a conjecture of amendments that would protect individual rights in the future.
The American Association of School Administrators (AASA) defines censorship as: “The removal, suppression, or restricted circulation of literary, artistic, or educational materials… of images, ideas, and information…on the grounds that these are morally or otherwise objectionable in light of standards applied by the censor” (Miner 1998). In schools there are three types of censorship, one type is a “parent who doesn’t want their child to read a particular book. Another is a parent, teacher, administrator, or school board member who argues that no one in the class, or school should read the book in dispute. Lastly, there is censorship that involves someone who is part of an organized campaign, whether of a local or national group, and who goes in ready for a fight and wants to make a broader political point” (Miner 1998). Although there are many others ways that a piece of literature could get censored, most censored works are asked to be removed from classrooms and school libraries.
As violence and murder rates escalate in America so does the issue of gun control. The consequence of this tragedy births volatile political discourse about gun control and the Second Amendment. The crux of the question is what the founding fathers meant when they wrote, “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” Since the writing of the Second Amendment the make and model of firearms has changed dramatically and so has the philosophies of the people. A rifle is no longer defined as a single shot, muzzle-loading musket used to primarily protect families or solely for food. Should the weapons we use today be protected by an amendment written nearly 222 years ago? Should the second amendment be rewritten? Does the Second Amendment apply to individual citizens? These questions spark extensive debates in Washington D.C. regarding what the founding fathers intended the amendment to be. The answer to this question lies in the fact that despite hundreds of gun control articles having been written , still the gun control issue remains unresolved. History tells us gun control debates will be in a stalemate until our judicial system defines or rewrites the Second Amend. This paper will examine the history of the Second Amendment, and attempt to define the framers intent, gun control legislation and look at factors that affect Americans on this specific issue...
Growing up as an American citizen, one is normally taught their rights in each and every history or government class. However, knowing the name and brief purpose of an American right is completely different than knowing its history, background, and how it affects the country today. In America, our rights are listed in the Bill of Rights, which is the first ten Amendments to the United States Constitution. The second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States involves the right to bear arms. This Amendment is the subject of many present day controversies and cases.