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Profile of Student Attitudes subsections -
Classes / Activities / Community participation / College plans / Tolerance and Knowledge of First Amendment / Student - Teacher - Principal - Adult differences / Freedom of speech / Freedom of press / First Amendment education /
Understanding of the Law / Trust in journalists / Sources of news

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A Profile of Student Attitudes

Freedom of the press:  

The majority of principals (56 percent) and a plurality of teachers (49 percent) think the press in America has about the right amount of freedom to do what it wants. About 4 in 10 teachers and principals think the press in America has too much freedom to do what it wants. Students, on the other hand, are more conflicted in their opinion as to whether there is too much or the right amount of freedom of the press. Thirty-seven percent of high school students think the press has about the right amount of freedom to do what it wants. About a third (32 percent) of students think the press in America has too much freedom and 21 percent say they are not sure how they feel about this issue. The opinions of the national adult population fall between those expressed by the principals and teachers and those expressed by the students. Adults are fairly split between thinking the press in America has about the right amount of freedom (44 percent) and that the press has too much freedom(42 percent). Smaller percentages of each group think the press in America has too little freedom to do what it wants (12 percent of adults, 8 percent of faculty, 3 percent of principals and 10 percent of students).

Overall, do you think the press in America has too much freedom to do what it wants, too little freedom to do what it wants, or is the amount of freedom the press has about right?

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