"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." 

In case you don’t’ recognize it, it’s the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.

High School students are not very well informed.  They have a very narrow view of what the First Amendment is.  Many of the schools they are attending do not encourage and often condemn free thinking and free expression, while conformity is praised.  How can students possibly come to understand these rights when they haven't even been given a chance to experience them?

A national study commissioned by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and conducted by researchers at the University of Connecticut proves that high school students are not grasping the importance of the First Amendment rights.

According to a survey which included responses from 100,000 high school students, 8,000 faculty members and 500 principals and administrators, more than a third believe the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.  Of those who participated in the survey, 75 percent believe flag burning is illegal, and more than half believe the government can and should censor the Internet.

After the text of the First Amendment was read to the students, nearly a quarter (21 percent) did not know enough about it to even have an opinion.

"These results are not only disturbing, they are dangerous," said Knight Foundation President and CEO, Hodding Carter III.  "Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to our nation's future."

Carter could not have been more correct in his assumption.  Being an American, especially being a journalist, these rights are what I, and many others, live and breathe.  The thought of some misinformed high school students with no respect for the First Amendment and who, one day, will be running our beloved country, absolutely sickens me.

Researchers believe that the more students are introduced to the media in high school, the more they will come to understand and appreciate the First Amendment rights.
"Sadly, most principals think their schools are doing a good job in teaching the First Amendment, but it is clear that too few understand or value the ideas within the First Amendment that they claim to teach," said Scott Olson, senior vice president for academic affairs at Minnesota State University.

However, there is evidence of hope, as the survey also discovered that a majority of students want to be involved, so long as they know they have a voice and that their voice will be taken seriously.

"Being able to question authority and have a voice in how government runs is positively essential,” said Candace Perkins Bowen, scholastic media coordinator for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Kent State University. “Citizens who don't appreciate that won't even realize when their freedoms are eroding.  Students who learn to blindly accept situations they really could and should change will not be the voting, thinking citizens we need in our country,"

The American Society of Newspaper Editor's highschooljournalism.org, Radio-Television News Directors Foundation's high school initiative, J-Ideas, the Student Press Law Center and many other groups have expressed concern and show proof of long hours being spent on trying to help public schools explain the importance of the First Amendment.  But as the Knight Foundation study has shown, no matter the effort, the rights are being left behind. 

A large-scale change is needed now more than ever.  But to simply say a change is needed is not enough.  We have to correct this neglect of the rights that we, as Americans, cherish so much.  If nothing is done to change this, the future of the First Amendment is non-existent.