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Key Findings (1)(2)

High School Students’ Attitudes about First Amendment Freedoms

Among all students, the Knight study found that as many as 35% thought the First Amendment goes too far in the rights that it guarantees.  In exploring racial and ethnic differences, we find that African-American students (43%) and Hispanic students (41%) are more likely than white students (31%) to think that the First Amendment goes “too far” in the rights it guarantees.

In part, these racial and ethnic differences are exaggerated by income disparities between the groups.  Among students from upper and upper-middle income families, the gaps are narrower – 41% of wealthier African Americans, 37% of wealthier Hispanics, and 33% of wealthier white students say that the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.

“Based on your own feelings about the First Amendment, please tell me whether you agree or disagree with the following statement: The First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.”

Overall, 83% of high school students say that people should be able to express unpopular opinions in public.  Our racial and ethnic comparisons show that white students are most likely to think people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions (87%); somewhat smaller majorities of  African –Americans (77%) and Hispanics (74%) feel that way. 

Similarly, whites are more libertarian on the issue of whether musicians should be allowed to sing offensive lyrics, with 74% of white students agreeing with that right, as compared to 62% of African-American students and 63% of Hispanics.

White (53%) and Hispanic (50%) students are more libertarian than African Americans (43%)   in thinking that newspapers should be allowed to publish freely without government approval of a story.  On another free press issue, 60% of white students agreed that high school students should be allowed to report controversial issues in student newspapers without the approval of school authorities, as compared to 56% of Hispanic students and 52% of African-American students.

By contrast, more Hispanic students (20%) support the right to burn or deface the flag as a political statement than do white students (16%) or African-American students (15%).

Interestingly, students who were born U.S. citizens are less supportive of allowing flag burning than are immigrant students.  Just 16% of the students who were born U.S. citizens agreed that flag burning should be allowed, 24% of the students who were naturalized and 26% of those foreign students who were never naturalized agreed that such a right to flag burning should exist.

“People should be allowed to burn or deface the American flag as a political statement”

On the other hand, immigrants are less supportive of student free press rights.  Among the foreign-born, 52% of the naturalized students and 48% of the never naturalized students agreed that high school students should have the free right to publish stories without interference, while nearly 6 in 10 (59%) of students who were born in the U.S. felt that way.

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