Buckle Up!

If this is indicative of the current state of the education of our country's young people, we're in for one rough ride.

First Amendment No Big Deal, Students Say

WASHINGTON - The way many high school students see it, government censorship of newspapers may not be a bad thing, and flag burning is hardly protected free speech.

It turns out the First Amendment is a second-rate issue to many of those nearing their own adult independence, according to a study of high school attitudes released Monday.

The original amendment to the Constitution is the cornerstone of the way of life in the United States, promising citizens the freedoms of religion, speech, press and assembly.

Yet, when told of the exact text of the First Amendment, more than one in three high school students said it goes "too far" in the rights it guarantees. Only half of the students said newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of stories.

Yikes.

Also, to be filed under For What It's Worth:

The high schools that were included in this study are representative of the national high school demographic. The charts below show the percentage breakdown of the schools in the study across types of schools and types of communities.

I'd be curious to see (though not surprised by) what these results would show if they were asking these kids about the importance of the 2nd Amendment, or the rest of the Bill of Rights for that matter. I'm guessing that's not very high on the list of priorities being addressed by our educational system today.

Teach your children well, indeed.