so apparently the first amendment can go to hell.
i know that what high school students say on surveys, especially concerning politics and social issues, is usually discounted, but there is something you should know.
100,000 students were surveyed recently, at about 550 schools, and apparently, a good number of high school students couldn't care less about the first amendment. apparently, seventeen percent of them said that expression of unpopular opinions should not be allowed.
apparently, some of them think the first amendment goes too far with the rights it guarantees - about one in three of them, in fact.
and about seventy-five percent of them don't know their rights in the first place - they're under the impression that flag-burning is illegal, and that the government can restrict any indecent material.
and they just don't care.
this terrifies me. you know, if this goes on, if people don't know their rights and if they're not willing to take a stand for them ... what the hell is going to happen here? i've already got visions in my head of a fucking police state, you know.
so maybe once they get to college, the environment will, you know, encourage free thought and such, but it's not bloody likely. if they go through high school with their heads in the sand with this "don't know, don't care" bullshit, then it's likely they'll continue to do so when they're in college.
i guess with all the hooplah recently, people are under the impression that people who clamor for freedom of speech are automatically unpatriotic, that they hate america, its people, and everything they stand for. i remember a few years ago, right after september 11th, when bill maher made a comment that the hijackers were brave, and that american soldiers were the cowards who went in and killed women and children in the night. and i remember the public outrage, and how people were writing angry letters and making phone calls and writing emails to the news networks, screaming to bill maher to get the hell out of america and such. jesus, no wonder they associate free speech with terrorists and all.
i'm getting very scared.