John Whitehead's Commentary

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

This is our First Amendment. When you hear these words, what thoughts of your freedoms do they evoke? For an alarming number of high school students, according to the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's poll "Future of the First Amendment," the answer is "not that much."

The goal of this $1 million research study was to discover the familiarity and belief of students, teachers and administrators regarding the First Amendment. The study primarily attempted to determine if there are any links between the beliefs of students and the presence of student media programs and the viewpoints of teachers and administrators. During the course of its research, the Knight Foundation surveyed 100,000 students, 8,000 teachers and 500 administrators at 544 public and private schools across the nation.

The most startling discovery of the survey is the opinions of the students, or one should say the lack thereof. Nearly three-fourths of the students questioned say they either have no opinion about the First Amendment or they take it for granted. More than a third of the students also believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it secures American citizens. Teachers and administrators, however, are much more likely to personally think about their rights. While only about half of the students questioned believe that newspapers should be given free exercise of the press without government interference, 80% of the adults support an unfettered press.

However, when the subject matter is more personal, the students are more apt to support First Amendment rights, with 70% agreeing that musicians should be able to express themselves--even if their lyrics may offend others. Sadly, only 58% of the students believe they have a right to report controversial issues in school newspapers. This is a higher percentage than those who support freedom of the national press. It appears that today's students are not as committed to freedom of the press as previous generations.

The survey also uncovered just how uneducated students are concerning the First Amendment's protected rights. When asked if flag burning is illegal, 75% erroneously said it is. The Supreme Court ruled that flag burning was protected as an expression of free speech in 1989. Students were also asked if the government can legally restrict explicit material on the internet. The response was split to this question, with 49% incorrectly saying the government has the right to this form of censorship.

If students are not educated regarding their rights, we cannot expect them to have a serious commitment to the freedoms our country is supposed to profess. America's educational system has failed to provide our youth with adequate knowledge about the core values of our country embodied in the First Amendment.

Education is the best method of teaching the younger generation the values of their First Amendment rights. The survey shows that those students who have participated in classes where the First Amendment is emphasized are more likely to support basic First Amendment rights. Also, students who participated in a school newspaper are almost 10% more likely to support freedom of the press. This shows that First Amendment rights truly can be taught.

Despite the fact that First Amendment rights can be taught, it is clear from the survey that there is a clear failure on the part of public educators to do so. For example, although most educators who were surveyed affirm that journalism is a priority, more than 80% say that teaching it is not a top priority. Thus, the First Amendment drought will continue.

However, there is another way that public educators are not teaching First Amendment values, and that is by example. This primarily has to do with the draconian application of zero tolerance policies where students are often arrested and charged with crimes for things that at one time were considered child's play. For example, in Ocala, Florida, two boys (ages 9 and 10 respectively) drew stick figure drawings that were considered by school authorities to be violent. They were arrested, handcuffed and charged with a felony. Such extreme behavior on the part of authorities indicates that mistakes by children are punished severely and that traditional rights do not exist.

Clearly, the results of this survey suggest serious ramifications. It is these students who will become our next generation of voters and political leaders. By failing to educate them, our educators have not only done us a disservice but our nation as well. Yet without proper education, how can we expect them to protect the First Amendment? Indeed, the old maxim is that what children learn in the classroom today will be the philosophy of the next generation. If this is true, our Constitution may become a mere shadow.

It is also these students that may be going off to fight and risk their lives in far-off places like Iraq. It is horrible to think that they may do so in defense of rights they do not fully understand. In an editorial, John Seigenthaler, founder of the First Amendment Center, stated, "Our Constitutional liberties are worth fighting for and, when necessary, dying for. And for those young Americans who may find themselves on the front lines, they are worth learning about."

ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.

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