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Key Finding 5

Students who take more media and/or First Amendment classes are more willing to answer questions about their tolerance of First Amendment rights. Those who have not taken the classes say they "don't know" to First Amendment questions at a much higher rate.

"Being able to question authority and have a voice in how government runs is positively essential. 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."  

-Candace Perkins Bowen, Scholastic Media Coordinator
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Kent State University

While significant percentages of students in all categories of class participation said they "don't know'' if First Amendment rights are something they personally think about or take for granted, it is clear that the more classes a student has taken, the more willing they are of expressing an opinion about First Amendment issues.

This graphic shows that more than half, or 52 percent, of the students who have not taken these classes said they "don't know'' to First Amendment questions.

Are the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment something you personally think about or are they something you take for granted?

Percentage who responded "don't know" by number of classes taken

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