Free Speech : The Importance Of The Freedom Of Speech

As American universities and colleges grow their demographics, diversity and ideas there is a continued and an accelerated debate regarding freedom of speech within these higher education institutions. College campuses are struggling to simultaneously provide a learning environment that is inclusive to traditionally unrepresented students while also providing an environment that allows for ideas to be challenged and debated no matter how offensive or controversial.

Colleges and universities are places of higher education and learning. Part of this learning comes from listening and understanding opposite views from your own. Positively, these zones have allowed students to avoid any ideas they may not want to hear; however, avoidance is not the way around life. Another positive outcome of free speech on campuses is that students are able to bind together

College is a time when most individuals are experiencing major changes and begin to explore new perspectives. The transition in becoming more independent, creating new insights and peer influence are key factors in changing the perspective of an individual. Students are faced with new ideas from their professors, family and fellow peers. Through that acquired knowledge many students decide that they either agree or disagree with the perspectives that they are taught. Allowing the right of ‘Free Speech’ on public college campuses has become an important issue that many public colleges are starting to address. In college students are capable of

Former president of Harvard University, Derek Bok, in his essay, “Protecting Freedom of Expression on the Campus” published in the Boston Globe, addresses the topic of protection and regulation of freedom of expression on college campuses and argues that rather than prohibiting the expression of offensive speech, it would be better to ignore it. He fails to support his claim by dismissing the emotional discomfort that people might find themselves in, in response to someone’s offensive expressions, and by not being a credible source of information on the topic, but he successfully appeals to the reader by offering logical reasons as to why

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom; and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech.” Indeed, free speech is a large block upon which this nation was first constructed, and remains a hard staple of America today; and in few places is that freedom more often utilized than on a college campus. However, there are limitations to our constitutional liberties on campus and they, most frequently, manifest themselves in the form of free speech zones, hate speech and poor university policy. Most school codes are designed to protect students, protect educators and to promote a stable, non-disruptive and non-threatening learning environment. However, students’ verbal freedom

In the pursuit of education, students strive to learn and develop their understanding of the world that surrounds them. Accordingly, it is the responsibility of the school administration to provide the means to that end. Yet, there is a polarized divide among schools and their interpretation of freedom of speech. This occurrence is experienced primarily at the university level but can be seen at all levels of education. At the epicenter of this dispute is the notion of censorship, specifically whether or not it is feasible to restrict what can and cannot be said by faculty and students alike. Advocates of freedom of speech assert that censorship violates our First Amendment right, a liberty that is inalienable. Proponents also argue that

In the past couple of decades till now, there have been countless numbers of hate speech cases on college campuses across the country. Due to hate speech taking on many forms such as written, spoken, and symbolic, the number of incidents have skyrocketed. While many colleges have attempted to regulate hate speech on campus, other colleges have found that they have limited too much speech and that their regulations are starting to go against the first amendment. Three incidents of hate speech on college campuses in the years 1993-1995 occurred in the college campuses of Penn, UCR, and Caltech respectively.

The First Amendment declares free speech to all types of speech by all of its people. The issue arises in a college setting where “hate speech” does not fall under free speech and is therefore enforced with speech codes. The biggest controversy is determining what is considered hate speech and what is not. So when did it become the governments job to determine a student’s acceptance or disapproval of another individual(s) train of thought? Implying speech codes on a college campus only poses a threat to ones own freedom of expression and thought. Free speech in the form of hate speech should not be regulated on a college campus because it is often times understood differently by others, it also challenges our freedom of assertion and although

In, On the Repression of Free Expression, Mike Bloomberg argues that freedom of speech is needed on campuses. Bloomberg also believes it is not right to take away the privilege of learning from students, just because of other individual students. “we cannot others the right and privileges that we demand for ourselves” (Bloomberg.104). They cannot have campus wide trigger warnings over one individual student. Condensing what students could learn, is not helping their education. Professors should be allowed to teach and discuss the topics they have to without fear. “Ideas can be dangerous” (Bloomberg.105). Not everyone’s opinion will be one to agree with, nor everything a person has to say, but people have to adjust to the real world where everything is not sugar

Imagine being arrested for calling someone a mean name. The first amendment to the United States Constitution grants freedom of expression. Such liberties distinguish the United States from other nations who lack liberties for their people. However, plenty of people claim freedom of speech is abused by people to harass minorities with hate speech. Hate speech is a verbal attack on a person or group due to their ethnic background, race, gender, sexuality, religion or disability. Numerous people demand a ban on hate speech from college campuses. However, in elementary, middle and high school, we were taught to not ridicule other religions, races or sexualities. In college, we are all adults and should be able to carry ourselves accordingly. The campuses should not kick students out because they have different beliefs that are offensive. Even though it is not morally correct to offend or be disrespectful to a person by stripping them of their dignity, it is not illegal. Taking away a person’s voice strips his or her right to express themselves because they are forced to remain silent. Just

Freedom of speech is necessary for freedom to think, criticize, debate, listen, and understand one another. It is a staple of tolerance and diversity – both 21st century aspirations of universities across America, including our own.

College is the time for self-discovery, greater knowledge, and the formation of ideas and opinions. However, when looking at public institutions today, that ideal college experience is just a dream for many students because the restriction of speech lessens the opportunity for them to discover themselves and what they believe. Public universities are institutions of the state, and therefore must play by the same rules, including the First Amendment right of freedom of speech, as all other government run-institutions. Unfortunately, over the years, public administrators have slowly been restricting the speech of students, faculty, speakers, etc. through speech codes, college policies and many more methods. As said by Robert Zimmer, president of UChicago, these actions lead to an education “...that fails to prepare students for the challenge of different ideas and the evaluation of their own assumptions[, and creates] a world in which their feelings take precedence over other matters that need to be confronted” (Stephens). Limiting free speech on campuses has created overly sheltered environments for students, impairing their voice and creating a dysfunctional speech culture for our democracy in the current and coming generations.

One of the most valued amendments written in the U.S. Constitution is the First Amendment, which guarantees Americans freedom of speech. Individuals view the restriction of this right to be “unamerican”. Unfortunately, over the years colleges and universities have experienced an increase of hate speech. Victims of this type of crime may suffer from emotional and psychological distress. Due to this, restrictions have been placed on the ability to speak freely (Garrett). An ongoing debate has been placed in the hands of many people regarding whether Americans should be entitled to speak in an expressive way or if schools should focus on the safety of their students (Darden). Colleges should restrict hateful speech on campus regardless of

With the rise of intersectionality and sensitivity discussions across college campuses, there has been intense discussion regarding the nature of free speech, what is protected, and what is not. Several universities (mostly public institutions) have attempted to implement speech codes for the stated reason of protecting their students from harm. However, these speech codes have largely been struck down when challenged in court. Some scholars have challenged these decisions, arguing that the harm principle should allow schools to protect their students from harmful language. Others push back, arguing that not only does the right to freedom of expression trump these concerns, but that there are actually net harms caused by the restriction of

Students on many campuses are concerned with debate of ideas and therefore also with free speech issues. So I 'll ease the students of a diverse college with an appropriate free-speech policy. The policy should be freedom of speech no matter the topic. Since in the text, “The importance of protecting even the thoughts we hate.” (Volokh, E. (2015, November 2). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com) proves with the sentences;