Monday, January 31, 2005
Teach your children well
From USA Today: "U.S. students say press freedoms go too far"
You don't think by any chance those destined-to-fail constitutional amendments (say, banning gay marriage) might actually be intended to influence public opinion/perception?
posted by Dawkins : 1/31/2005 02:22:00 PM
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 today.
The survey of 112,003 students finds that 36% believe newspapers should get "government approval" of stories before publishing; 51% say they should be able to publish freely; 13% have no opinion.
Asked whether the press enjoys "too much freedom," not enough or about the right amount, 32% say "too much," and 37% say it has the right amount. Ten percent say it has too little.
…
Although a large majority of students surveyed say musicians and others should be allowed to express "unpopular opinions," 74% say people shouldn't be able to burn or deface an American flag as a political statement; 75% mistakenly believe it is illegal.
The U.S. Supreme Court in 1989 ruled that burning or defacing a flag is protected free speech. Congress has debated flag-burning amendments regularly since then; none has passed both the House and Senate.
You don't think by any chance those destined-to-fail constitutional amendments (say, banning gay marriage) might actually be intended to influence public opinion/perception?
posted by Dawkins : 1/31/2005 02:22:00 PM
