“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.” --The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Last month, a report from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation on high school students and the First Amendment touched off a flurry of media concern when it revealed surprising limits in students’ support for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Researchers surveyed 112,000 students, 7,888 faculty and 500 principals and administrators. Among other results, they found that one in three students thought the American press should be more restricted. A slim majority (51percent) said newspapers should be able to publish freely; 36 percent said newspapers should get “government approval” before stories are published.

What are we to make of these numbers? Last week, I spoke with Julie Strong, a government teacher at Albemarle High School in central Virginia—whom I’d interviewed for an earlier piece on civics education.

Strong, who has been teaching for 17 years, says she is concerned but not surprised, by the poll results. But she also has concerns about the conclusions drawn by the report and the surrounding media coverage. In particular, the report focuses on schools, saying educators aren’t giving students an appreciation of free speech and free press.

Where does student learning about media and journalism rank among your high school's priorities?(Answered by high school administrators.)

“Surveys can give you statistics but they can’t tell you why,” Strong notes. “The report primarily blames the lack of awareness on inadequate social studies classes, but I think it’s a much more complex issue.” Limited First Amendment classes and scant student media opportunities are a very real concern—but students’ perceptions have been influenced by external cultural forces as well.

For starters, recent events have transformed the landscape against which we measure democratic freedoms. None of the Knight survey questions directly address September 11th or the war in Iraq. Says Strong: “9-11 is the defining moment in this generation’s development, and the government is saying we have to curtail some freedoms for security. Some of my students often agree with [that], at least on the face of it.”

"But" she adds, "I do find that many of my students tend to to question perceived limitations on individual rights by Congress (U.S.A. Patriot Act) and the Bush administration. I think that most of my students who are seniors in AP Government are relatively aware and concerned about constitutional rights in general, and individual rights in particular." The survey findings back this up: the more exposure students have to media and/or First Amendment classes, the more likely they were to agree that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions.

And then there’s the issue of journalism’s battered reputation. In our warp-speed, high-tech news world, getting it fast seems to trump getting it right—as recent reporting scandals at The New York Times and CBS attest. “Let’s look at the faux pas that have happened in the media,” says Strong. “Part of it [the survey results] probably comes from the fact that there are very public cases where the news media has not gotten things right.”

Meanwhile, the open bias of certain news outlets changes our relationship to the news, and the people who bring it to us. News with a partisan bent can get kids excited about current events and politics, but it can also undermine their trust. “There are so many angry talking heads out there with an agenda,” says Strong. “In terms of credibility, I think that makes kids who are exposed to the current media a little skeptical.”

A Closer Look at the Numbers
With this in mind, I returned to the Knight report and found the numbers a little less terrifying than they at first seemed. The full survey reveals what teachers like Strong have known for a long time: making civics relevant to students can be the key to getting them engaged.

One of the report’s key finding is that “students are less likely than adults to think that people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions or newspapers should be allowed to publish freely.”

Adults, teachers and principals are more apt to agree with the traditional forms of expressing First Amendment rights—but students agree at higher rates than adults that certain forms of expression should be allowed (e.g., in music and student newspapers).

But when the issues are closer to the hearts of most high school students, students are more likely to value free expression. Asked whether musicians should be allowed to use lyrics that others might find offensive, students came out strongly in support of free speech, with 70 percent agreeing that musicians should be allowed to sing what they want; only 21 percent disagreed. (In comparison, 56 percent of principals thought musicians should not have this freedom.)

What about student newspapers? While 24 percent of students strongly agreed that mainstream journalists should have to get government approval before printing controversial stories, more—30 percent—strongly agreed that high school students should be allowed to report controversial issues in their student newspapers without the approval of school authorities.
Perhaps, then, it shouldn’t be a surprise that high school students don’t care strongly about the First Amendment in the abstract. Drawing the links between issues they do care about and the freedoms they’re lucky to take for granted is the job of schools.

Much has been made of students’ erroneous belief that flag burning was illegal; 75 percent incorrectly said it was. What’s notable is that 40 percent of teachers also thought it was illegal—62 percent of principals (and 56 percent of teachers) thought that it should be against the law to deface or burn the American flag in protest. Perhaps we could all use a First Amendment refresher.

What Can We do?
The Knight Foundation survey is a strong reminder that we have work to do. Here are some ideas about where we can go from here.

Amount of media activities currently offered at high schools.

Support schools, support teachers. What’s clear from the survey is that schools—non-suburban and low-income schools in particular—don’t offer enough school-based media training and programs. Among the high schools that have no student newspaper, 40% had eliminated them within the past five years and 68% have no new student media.

Most administrators, 85%, said they would like to expand student media programs but lacked the resources.

Let kids talk. Maybe we underestimate teens, and spend too much time trying to shield them from the issues that make us uncomfortable—which are often the same ones upon which we base our beliefs and actions. Students may be better at honest inquiry, and handling nuance and disagreement, than we give them credit for. Witness this exchange between high school students with different views on some issues, including abortion."

Currently offered:

Train teachers to tackle tough issues in classrooms. Many shy away from open discussions of civil liberties because they’re afraid of getting flak from parents or school administrators, or losing control of the class. It can feel like entering a snake pit, particularly if teachers aren’t themselves up to speed.

But classroom discussions of even the thorniest issues can be done without vitriol. Strong’s classroom, for example, functions as a protected space for taking on the tough stuff. With clear ground rules and structured discussions, teachers can foster rational talk and genuine inquiry.

“I strive hard to build an atmosphere for trust and mutual respect so people feel they can say what they want without getting personal,” says Strong. “My role is also to play devil’s advocate ... and bring in voices from the left or right that aren’t coming in … The idea is to present balance to them and get them to think and make decisions for themselves.”

After all, what better place to learn the critical skill of open and responsive dialogue—and discuss cultural events and the media—than a classroom?

Revisit the role of public education in a democracy. Most of the time when advocates and politicians talk about public schools and the Constitution, they’re talking about school prayer, evolution, and abstinence. It’s time to take a step back and ask how well future voters know the Constitution itself.

This is not a merely academic matter—it should be impossible to convince an American adult that going to cast a vote can put a person at risk of arrest for owing back rent or having outstanding parking tickets, as reportedly occurred during the last election.

The Knight report highlights a need for more resources and stronger emphasis on civics and civil liberties in schools. How many states include civics or government in high school-level SOLs? (Virginia tests civics awareness in 8th grade, not in high school.)

That said, the success of our education system shouldn’t be measured by bubble sheets and test scores alone, but by the number of 18-year-olds who vote, tune in to local politics, and consume media and political opinions critically—in short, who grow into Good Citizens.

Resources

• To see how your First Amendment knowledge measures up, check out this simple test.
• View the full study
• www.firstgov.gov is a gateway for all U.S. government services and information. Good for basic searches and for locating specific departments, agencies or services. There are also International and For Kids sections.
• Legislative resources from the Library of Congress are available on Thomas
• Kids and Politics