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White Paper IV Executive Summary and Key Findings

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Curricular and Extra-Curricular Expieriences with Journalism and the First Amendment
High School Students' Attitudes about First Amendment Freedoms
Methodology

Summary

High school students’ attitudes about the First Amendment in general and the freedom of the press in particular are important because each generation of students helps define what freedom means in our society.  Issued on January 31, 2005, The Future of the First Amendment report, sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, found that high school students across America lack basic levels of knowledge and appreciation for the First Amendment.  Most troubling, nearly three-fourths of the students surveyed either said they don’t know how they feel about the First Amendment, or they admit taking it for granted.

The diverse population of the United States is a distinct aspect of the American character.  Of course America’s various racial and ethnic subpopulations often possess strikingly different attitudes about numerous public policy issues.  The wide variety of opinions can be expected as well between immigrant populations and those who were born United States citizens.

Key Findings

Our examination of race ethnicity and immigration status uncovers a number of interesting findings.  Perhaps most striking is the finding that racial and ethnic minorities as well as foreign-born citizens are most likely to participate in student media activities.  Foreign-born students are more likely than other subgroups to participate in student-run newspapers, magazines and television stations.  They are also more likely to produce Internet publications.

Despite the relatively higher level of participation in student media, immigrant students do not support certain First Amendment freedoms to the same degree as U.S.-born students do.  Specifically, U.S.-born students are less likely to think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, and more likely to think that newspapers should have the right to freely publish stories without interference. 

While the study finds that white students are more supportive of First Amendment freedoms than African-American or Hispanic students, income disparities between racial and ethnic groups also contribute to these differences. 

Here are some more important findings from the Knight study with respect to ethnic, racial, immigrant status differences:

• Hispanic students (52%) are less likely than white students and African-American students (60% each) to have access to classes that deal with the First Amendment.  Hispanic students were also less likely to take classes that discuss the role of the media in society.

• However, both African-American students (29%) and Hispanic students (25%) are more likely than white students (19%) to take classes that dealt primarily with journalism skills.

• Racial minorities such as African-American students (43%) and Hispanic students (41%) are more likely than white students (31%) to think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees.

• White students were also more likely (87%) to think people should be allowed to express unpopular opinions; 77% of African-American students and 74% of Hispanic students felt that way.

• Differences among racial subgroups were negligible on the controversial issue of whether flag burning should be a constitutional right – only about 15% of all race and ethnic groups feel that people should be able to burn the flag as a political statement.

• While foreign-born students are more apt to participate in student media activities, they are at the same time less supportive of the First Amendment in general, and free press rights in particular.  43% of immigrant students think the First Amendment goes too far in the rights it guarantees, and less than half of the students (48%) who were never naturalized agreed that high school students should have the right to publish stories without interference.

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