So, the report says our high schools are leaving the First Amendment behind. It says an alarmingly high percentage of them have little knowledge of freedom of speech -- unless, of course, it comes to the racy lyrics on the iPods welded to their ears. It says we're growing a generation of Americans who actually welcome censorship of our media.
What gives!
Is this a genuine problem or just a generational hiccup.
I've asked myself that question for weeks now, ever since our organization was part of a national release of a $1 million study of the First Amendment attitudes of 112,000 high school students and more than 8,500 teachers, principals and administrators. My answer: Yes, the First Amendment is in sorry shape when it comes to our next generation of journalists and citizens. Our schools have left the First Amendment behind, and our kids don't seem to mind.
The study commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut shows that young Americans have a shocking lack of knowledge about the nation's basic freedoms, even at a time when tens of thousands of their peers are risking their lives for freedom. Makes you wonder what they think freedom is.
Consider the results of the high school study:
Seventy-three percent of students polled say they don't know how they feel about the First Amendment or take their rights for granted.
More than 30 percent would welcome press censorship and think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.
Seventy-five percent incorrectly believe that flag-burning is illegal.
Fifty percent incorrectly think the government can restrict indecent material on the Internet.
"These results are not disturbing, they are dangerous," says Hodding Carter, the president and CEO of the Knight Foundation. "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."
In some ways, we shouldn't be surprised.
We've regimented this new generation, controlling their every move -- from soccer practices to music lessons to the kind of algebra they take as ninth graders. Maybe our kids haven't yet learned to think for themselves.
We've sat by idly, as schools have eliminated civics education. Today, only 29 percent of our high schools offer some kind of civics or government curriculum, according to the Institute for Civic Education.
We've been quiet as schools have silenced student media, dismissing youth voices as a nuisance. Parents have been silent as principals operate their high schools as personal dictatorships, not the democracies that would prepare their students to understand their rights as future citizens.
Journalists have abandoned their responsibility to develop and nurture the next generation of reporters and editors.
We have to act -- on a broad front.
We must encourage our schools, school boards and administrators to make the First Amendment the first priority.
Principals must back off and consider our basic freedoms as much a priority as good public relations and safety. Listen to student voices. Encourage expression. Make students a part of the running of a school.
Parents have to speak out. College educators must reach out and work with high schools. They must also look to scholastic journalism and the First Amendment as areas of scholarly research. Local newspapers must mentor students in their communities.
And yes, our high schoolers have to be part of the solution.
Put down your iPod for a minute. Turn off "Fear Factor" and embrace real life. Remember that Jon Stewart is a comedian, not a journalist.
Unless or course, you want to continue to be left behind!
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