Are you satisfied George?
It's hard to think of a more disturbing story.
U.S. students say press freedoms go too far
By GREG TOPPO
USA TODAY
One in three U.S. high school students say the press ought to be more restricted, and even more say the government should approve newspaper stories before readers see them, according to a survey being released Monday.
The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36 percent believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51 percent say they should be able to publish freely; 13 percent have no opinion.
Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32 percent say "too much," and 37 percent say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.
The survey of First Amendment rights was commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted last spring by the University of Connecticut. It also questioned 327 principals and 7,889 teachers.
The findings aren't surprising to Jack Dvorak, director of the High School Journalism Institute at Indiana University in Bloomington. "Even professional journalists are often unaware of a lot of the freedoms that might be associated with the First Amendment," he says.
The survey "confirms what a lot of people who are interested in this area have known for a long time," he says: Kids aren't learning enough about the First Amendment in history, civics or English classes. It also tracks closely with recent findings of adults' attitudes.
Although a large majority of students surveyed say musicians and others should be allowed to express "unpopular opinions," 74 percent say people shouldn't be able to burn or deface an American flag as a political statement; 75 percent mistakenly believe it is illegal.
