Thursday, September 15, 2011

Constitution Day!

So today is Constitution Day (What is the Constitution?) ... and many of you probably know that the first 10 Amendments to the Constitution are called the Bill of Rights .. check out this article about the connection between teenagers using social media (like facebook) and their appreciation of the first amendment (free speech) ...

In the article, the author writes:

I’m afraid many teachers actually are a drag on First Amendment learning.

The survey says most teachers do not support free expression rights in a school context. They don’t think the school newspaper should print controversial articles. They don’t think students should post things about school on their Facebook pages. And they mostly think social media hurt teaching.

What is your reaction to this? Use your right to free speech to voice your opinion - Do we need to do more to teach the importance of free speech?


52 comments:

  1. I think that it doesnt matter what the teachers disapprove of, those ARE our constitutional rights and teachers have no authority to strip us of them.

    The only way we may be asked to postpone our freedom of expression--for example, having our phones confiscated--is when it conflicts with or prevents a teacher from doing their job; we cannot infringe upon what they are expected to do, in the same way they cannot infringe upon our rights.

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  2. I agree with Eric Newton when he says that a lot of schools/businesses do try and limit the first amendment.

    For example. If you post something that might be just a simple voicing of your opinion about your boss, though reasonable and prudent, can still get you fired. It's almost as though places don't want people to have their own personal opinion.

    I think of it as a way-toned-down version of a communist state where if you speak out against the president/dictator, they can make you disappear. Although you don't 'disappear' from school by saying something bad about a teacher, I have read where there have been instances where children have been suspended for posting certain things on Facebook or the like.

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  3. My main focus is to come and learn teachers opinions don't really phase me much. Plus i believe they shouldnt have the right to take our personal belongings.

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  4. Teachers are hypocrites, most of them have facebooks and print off articles that are bad. Why cant we as students do that? i think it is not fair for teachers to do this, but we get in trouble when we want to do it. it is kind of like a democracy in schools when that happens.

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  5. Students have the right to free speech whether their teachers support it or not, as long as we don't abuse that right by using it to hurt or disrupt others. And teachers can't really do anything about what students post on facebook.

    -Danielle Brown

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  6. My main focus is to come and learn teachers opinions don't really phase me much. Plus i believe they shouldnt have the right to take our personal belongings.

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  7. I think that the teachers do hinder our rights at school. I think that they should not try and control what we post on our Facebook accounts. If they have issues with that then maybe they shouldn't have one. -jacob breshears

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  8. ah politics i really am in the independant state but mostly cause i dont like to read but yeah i agree with most of the people :)

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  9. Knock you out im gonna knock you out!!!

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  10. yea i do believe some teachers do put out the rights of free speech and dont tell u exactually what it really means.

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  11. I believe that school and social media(mainly facebook) should have a line drawn between them. I have heard a few stories about how a teacher will contact a student's parent about how that student's grades are bad. This is something that is quite disgusting in my mind, because facebook is something that is something for social things, not for teacher-parent conferences. But yes, I also believe that if something is posted on there then it should not take any effect into the real life unless it seems life-threatening. It should(and most likely is it's purpose is to) be a place where people can talk and socialize without the threat of being fired or persecuted against for what you said.

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  12. We DEFINITELY need to the importance of free speech and the the actual meaning.

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  13. i think we should be able to do whatever we want to do, as long as its not hurting someone else.

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  14. never leave your mind unsatisfied learn to cater to your mind by attendng periliss journeys into the unknown.a mind unsatisfied is a mind that can never be in a zen mood for they will always have a piece of there whole persona missing ,its give and take.:) kamerin

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  15. i think schools should allow more use of free speech, obviously there are times when you shouldn't just start talking about whatever you want, like when the teacher is speaking or if its off topic. i was recently in a discussion about this topic actually. i was asked if students should be punished for protesting for the use of drugs, it wasn't on school property but it was a school supervised function. students should be able to protest even if the school doesn't agree with there cause

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  16. I think more schools should focus on free speech , because the teachers word is just as important as the students word. don't you agree ? that's the problem with schools these day's , we don't know how to interact with each other during school .

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  17. I think the schools need to work on freedom of speech. We get in trouble most of the time for saying what we want which isnt right.

    -Marissa Allen ,

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  18. i do think school need to work on freedom of speech because were not free to say what we want to say and we get in trouble most of the time when we say it which isnt fair

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  19. yes i do feel the school should practice freedom speech because lot of people feel that they can not speek there mind because they are talking about or something.

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  20. I think that the only reason the school doesn't want us to post about the school on Facebook, Twitter, etc is because they don't want anybody to get hurt. There are lots of cyber bullies out there. Not everyone posts good things about school, true story. I just think the school needs to let us state our opinion. Most teachers don't let you state your opinion.

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  21. I completely agree with the article because we are limited in what we say and how we say, we are also limited by what we can express.

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  22. I think that teachers need to allow freedom of speech in school. Teachers of anyone should not make a big deal when a student expresses themselves. Aren't teachers the ones that are always telling us to express ourselves? Then when we do they tell us we can't. Teachers need to make up their minds.

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  23. I think if the teachers can say or do something than we should be able to. We also get in trouble for speaking our mind which isn't right.

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  24. I do believe that schools should indeed let students have freedom of speech, because they have no idea of what we would like to get off our chest, but it could help and benefit teachers on a good way as well.

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  25. i think we can do whatever we want if is not against the law or hurting anyone

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  26. I have freedom of speech it's my right. smh

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  27. I feel like students should have the right for freedom of speech because there are plenty of things that students need to say but they can't because we always get in trouble. i think this would also benefit the teachers as well

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  28. I think we can do what ever we want on social media websites and crap. It's our decision and it shouldn't matter what teachers think about it, because they obviously don't need to worry about it, because it is our problem. {That is not a correct sentence.}

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  29. i just think teachers could make things more fun when you teach them things. but yah, more people need to know about the freedom of speach they have, and we need to be able to speak what we want (religious wise), swearing at a teacher is just disrespectful. :D

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  30. its not the teachers right to tell what to do in our social, life so as long as we aren't hurting people it doesn't matter what they think

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  31. Peolpe have freedom of speech and you can do whatever you but you can break the law.

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  32. i think that the constitution is a good thing, it protects us as americans and overall human beings. HOWEVER, i dont agree with the fact that some people take their freedoms too far as to hurt someone else, their freedoms should be taken away. we shouldnt be censored as to what we have the right to prtest and speak about ( hints to freedom of speech). teachers and other adults have the right so speak as if they are pirates, but when a teenager does it, its a bad thing. overall im happy we have the constitution, but somethings should be more leniant.

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  33. Constitution Day is one of the most important days in our histroy as a nation. Everyone should take time tomorrow and celebrate.

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  34. I support free speech, within moderation. As long as it's not extremely excessive or harmful.

    PEOPLE
    (屮゚Д゚)屮
    Y U NO STOP COMPLAINING??

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  35. i think we should have freedom of speech bc its our life and our voice
    -brian morton

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  36. We need this day to remeber how we in U.S.A got so lucky to be so free.

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  37. In my opinion I think it is fine that students are posting controversial topics in the paper and talking about school on facebook and other sites, as long as it is not infringing on others rights. We should be allowed as young adults and students to voice our opinion. Most of us want to get involved and I think social media isn't always bad it can help the educational system get more publicity and make more people listen. If using social media is distacting to learning such as the use of cellphones in class, then it should be taking away, but other than that, we should still have our freedom of expression even in a school context, the constition and the bill of rights should still apply even in a school context.

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  38. I think that more students have the freedom and they know they can say what they want butt its a different story when they dont feel comforatble enough to say exactly what they feel. Its not so much the teachers holding them back its more themselves or other students making them feel uncomfortable.

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  39. I FEEL WE GET FREEDOM BUT WE ALSO GOT BE CAREFUL WHAT WE SAY.....

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  40. Every freedom isn't true freedom. Every freedom has limitations. Free speech are definitely one of those freedoms. I also feel this Denell fellow needs to turn off caps lock. (Hey, free speech, bub.) There should be exceptions to free speech, of course. Realists, like George Carlin, completely deserves, or well, deserved, to talk about whatever he wanted. I think you should be able to think it, and maybe confide in other people, but don't say it publicly if it's bigotry, racist, or sexist. Just don't offend anyone. Kids here, I think they should get beat with 'The Redeemer', if you catch my drift...http://images.oneofakindantiques.com/6063_yale_paddle_1.jpg
    -Mike Smith Hour 7 16/9/11

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  41. I like turtles! -David Snyder

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  42. I Believe If Teachers Took The Time To Talk To Us About Free Speach And We Were Open To ore Of It then We Would Know The Exact Defenition Of It And Whats Right About It And Whats Wrong.(:

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  43. I think we should be able to say whatever we want. If its not hurting any other people then it shouldn't matter what we post on fb and all that. Its a free country even tho im mexican. (;

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  44. I think people should be able to do what they want as long as it don't hurt any one!

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  45. I think we should be allowed to have a little more freedom when it comes to writing, but the important thing to remember is that freedom of speech does not apply to every situation.

    Now to grab my pitchfork.
    -ò.ó-Ψ

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  46. I don't understand why teachers would want to keep their students quiet about certain issues. As we grow up and learn about the world around us, we should be able to have our voices heard.

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  47. These Are RIGHTS Given 2 EVERY Citizen In America...
    NO ONE Can Pick Which Freedom Students Deserve...
    And Which One THEY Shouldn't Have...

    If Our COUNTRY Gives Us These RIGHTS...
    Then "Who Are Teachers To Give Their Opinions...?"

    We're Given The RIGHT To Free Speech...
    And NO ONE Can STOP Us From Sharing Our Thoughts...

    TEACHER GOING CRAZY :) ♥ (All Expect Richter) LOL ♥

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  48. This is a bit ridiculous, social media does not deal with school, sure it may cause drama, but most of that the teachers dont have to really deal with, mostly the security has to. No we do not need to learn much about free speech, just know that we have it.

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  49. constitution is a paper that shows all our rights given to every citizen

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  50. Well I dont really like facebook i hate it so i dont really care about any of this

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